Access to Biological Collection Data (ABCD) Schema

The Access to Biological Collections Data (ABCD) Schema is an evolving comprehensive standard for the access to and exchange of data about specimens and observations (a.k.a. primary biodiversity data).

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Header section

Title
Access to Biological Collection Data (ABCD) Schema
Permanent IRI (for citations and links)
http://www.tdwg.org/standards/115
Publisher
Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)
Ratified
2005-09-16
Status
Current (2005) standard
Category
Technical specification
Abstract
The Access to Biological Collections Data (ABCD) Schema is an evolving comprehensive standard for the access to and exchange of data about specimens and observations (a.k.a. primary biodiversity data). The ABCD Schema attempts to be comprehensive and highly structured, supporting data from a wide variety of databases. It is compatible with several existing data standards. Parallel structures exist so that either (or both) atomised data and free-text can be accommodated. Versions 1.2 and 2.06 are currently in use with the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility, http://www.gbif.org/) and BioCASe (Biological Collection Access Service for Europe, http://www.biocase.org/) networks. Apart from the GBIF and BioCASe networks, the potential for the application of ABCD extends to internal networks, or in-house legacy data access (e.g. datasets from external sources that shall not be converted and integrated into an institution’s own data, but be kept separately, though easily accessible). By defining relations between terms, ABCD is a step towards an ontology for biological collections.
Citation
Access to Biological Collections Data Task Group. 2005. Access to Biological Collection Data (ABCD). Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) http://www.tdwg.org/standards/115

Parts of the standard

This standard is comprised of 2 documents.

Access to Biological Collection Data (ABCD) Primer

Title
Access to Biological Collection Data (ABCD) Primer
Permanent IRI
http://rs.tdwg.org/abcd/doc/primer/
Created
2006-07-27
Last modified
2006-07-27
Contributors
Neil Thomson (author) - Natural History Museum, London
Markus Döring (author) - Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Renato De Giovanni (author) - Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
Javier de la Torre (author) - Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Walter G. Berendsohn (author) - Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Wouter Addink (author) - Expertise Centre for Taxonomic Identification, Amsterdam
William Ulate (author) - INBioparque, Santo Domingo de Heredia
Publisher
Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)
Abstract
This primer is intended to provide an easily readable background to ABCD and should take anyone with no knowledge of the standard to the very point where they would be able to understand the principles and the more detailed technical specification. Examples are given which are complemented by references to the normative texts.
Citation
TDWG Access to Biological Collections Data (ABCD) Task Group 2006. Access to Biological Collections Data (ABCD) Primer. Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG). http://rs.tdwg.org/abcd/doc/primer/

Access to Biological Collection Data (ABCD) XML Schema

Title
Access to Biological Collection Data (ABCD) XML Schema
Permanent IRI
http://rs.tdwg.org/abcd/doc/xmlschema/
Created
2007-06-13
Last modified
2007-06-13
Contributors
Walter G. Berendsohn (lead author) - Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Publisher
Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)
Abstract
XML schema document for the Access to Biological Collection Data standard.
Note
See also https://raw.githack.com/tdwg/abcd/master/2.06/rddl-2007-10-18.html
Citation
TDWG Access to Biological Collections Data (ABCD) Task Group 2007. Access to Biological Collections Data (ABCD) XML Schema. Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG). http://rs.tdwg.org/abcd/doc/xmlschema/