Presenters:  Stephen Scott, Ian Cottingham, and Adam Eck, University of Nebraska, and Emily Brown, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo

Abstract:

The NSF-funded Biofinity Project is a collection of tools for collecting, curating, managing, and sharing taxonomic and genetic data.  The system is constructed through the composition of several existing open source tools and frameworks in order to leverage tools that biologists are already working with on a daily basis.    In this symposium, some of the investigators and users of The Biofinity Project will review how the project has evolved since its inception, how it has been influenced by emerging standards, and where it is headed.  This theme directly matches that of TDWG 2011.

Talk 1:  The Biofinity Project (Stephen Scott, PI)

The Biofinity Project focuses on providing services for researchers and educators in the area of biological sciences and bioinformatics. This talk provides an overview of what we have accomplished, what we are pursuing at present, and our future plans.

Talk 2:  Integrating Open Tools for System Composition (Ian Cottingham, Chief Software Architect)

Our system is constructed through the composition of several existing open source tools and frameworks in order to leverage tools that biologists are already working with on a daily basis.  Our framework was built around these technologies to provide additional value without sacrificing user or data autonomy. Using tools like Google Maps, Google Fusion Tables, and Twitter combined with data standards like GBIF and Darwin Core, we have constructed a data management web application that users can easily use to manage and transfer data.  

Talk 3:  Intelligent User Interfaces for Data Sharing and Documentation (Adam Eck, Student)

An intelligent, active Wiki has been developed to support and facilitate data sharing, documentation, and collaboration.  Beyond conventional Wiki environments, ours not only supports free-form collaborative writing from community members, but also enhances data collection and publication through its integration with databases used within the Biofinity Project.  Specifically, the system can automatically create new documentation wiki pages dedicated to each entity in the Biofinity databases, allowing users to add annotations, comments, and other additional information to their curated data.  These documentation pages are further augmented with a host of intelligent and Web 2.0 features, including ratings, threaded discussion, and automated recommendations to assist users with finding and evaluating relevant content in the Wiki to their interests. We have successfully deployed our Wiki in several educational settings.

Talk 4:  The Use of Biofinity in Outreach Activities (Emily Brown, Educational Coordinator)

The Biofinity Project has been adopted by the Henry Doory Zoo at Omaha, Nebraska in two outreach projects to secondary schools, dubbed the Amphibian and the Butterfly projects.  Both projects are provided the Biofinity features and support.  The Biofinity-supported Amphibian project has been in place for more than one year and has collected more than 200 entries with participants from Nebraska and Iowa.  The Biofinity-supported Butterfly project has just started this summer.