IBIS-ID, an Adobe FLEX based identification tool for SDD-encoded multi-access keys
Mircea Giurgiu, Andrei Homodi, Gregor Hagedorn
Abstract
IBIS-ID (Interactive Biodiversity Identification Software) is a software tool created to help the users in the process of identification of species or other taxa, by using the multi-access keys described in a SDD (Structure of Descriptive Data) file. The tool has been developed in the framework of “KeyToNature” (www.keytonature.eu) Project funded in the frame of the EC eContentPlus Programme. It is based on the Adobe Flex technology, a well suited candidate because of its effectiveness for data driven interactive applications and native support for dealing with data organized in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) structured files through the support of the ECMA e4x (ECMAScript for XML) standard.
The SDD format has been developed by the Taxonomic Databases Working Group and is an XML file that holds one or more identification keys (datasets). A dataset is structured into multiple blocks including TaxonNames, Specimens, Characters, CharacterTrees. The important blocks for developing the application are Characters, CharacterTrees and CodedDescriptions. From CharacterTrees the application creates a tree view of the Characters, each character defining its states (values). The CodedDescriptions block holds data that links states to specimens. This block is used every time an identification step is taken. The SDD files can be located on the same server as the application, embedded in a mediawiki page or at a different location on the Internet. Identification is carried out through the interface in which various filter functions eliminate taxa until only one is left.
The application layout is similar to Lucid and consists of four main panels: available features, states, features selected so far and remaining taxa. Identification of a specimen is done by selecting specific states of a feature that the specimen possesses. The lower left panel will keep track of states a user has already selected for a feature. These are the identification steps and by clicking on any step, the user can change his selection. The lower right panel is the most important as it holds possible identification candidates. After each successful identification step, a number of taxa are removed, keeping only those with the features described in the identification steps. The eliminated taxa are less important, but they can still be accessed via a tab in the upper right panel. The tab also displays the number of eliminated taxa from the total number.
The application has been tested with several SDD files and already integrated in the ILIAS (German for Integriertes Lern-, Informations- und Arbeitskooperations System, Open Source Learning Management System) e-Learning environment in order to log the identification steps performed by the users. This approach has been proved to be a successful one, as it allows the extraction of identification key usage statistics with important pedagogical value and with relevance for the creators of SDD-based identification keys. Further developments of tool are planned with respect to access to media resources, exploration of additional data inside the SDD data source, and improved multi lingual support.
The SDD format has been developed by the Taxonomic Databases Working Group and is an XML file that holds one or more identification keys (datasets). A dataset is structured into multiple blocks including TaxonNames, Specimens, Characters, CharacterTrees. The important blocks for developing the application are Characters, CharacterTrees and CodedDescriptions. From CharacterTrees the application creates a tree view of the Characters, each character defining its states (values). The CodedDescriptions block holds data that links states to specimens. This block is used every time an identification step is taken. The SDD files can be located on the same server as the application, embedded in a mediawiki page or at a different location on the Internet. Identification is carried out through the interface in which various filter functions eliminate taxa until only one is left.
The application layout is similar to Lucid and consists of four main panels: available features, states, features selected so far and remaining taxa. Identification of a specimen is done by selecting specific states of a feature that the specimen possesses. The lower left panel will keep track of states a user has already selected for a feature. These are the identification steps and by clicking on any step, the user can change his selection. The lower right panel is the most important as it holds possible identification candidates. After each successful identification step, a number of taxa are removed, keeping only those with the features described in the identification steps. The eliminated taxa are less important, but they can still be accessed via a tab in the upper right panel. The tab also displays the number of eliminated taxa from the total number.
The application has been tested with several SDD files and already integrated in the ILIAS (German for Integriertes Lern-, Informations- und Arbeitskooperations System, Open Source Learning Management System) e-Learning environment in order to log the identification steps performed by the users. This approach has been proved to be a successful one, as it allows the extraction of identification key usage statistics with important pedagogical value and with relevance for the creators of SDD-based identification keys. Further developments of tool are planned with respect to access to media resources, exploration of additional data inside the SDD data source, and improved multi lingual support.