Missouri Botanical Garden Open Conference Systems, TDWG 2013 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

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Towards a Global Names Architecture: A Names-Based Backbone for Integrating Global Biodiversity Data
Richard L. Pyle

Building: Grand Hotel Mediterraneo
Room: Sala dei Continenti
Date: 2013-10-31 09:00 AM – 09:15 AM
Last modified: 2013-10-07

Abstract


Biological data exists in literature, specimen databases, taxonomic catalogs, ecological datasets, government agency databases, and countless other digital sources. Due to a lack of effective integration, this enormous wealth of biological information remains largely underutilized. Although some projects have built data integration platforms, the majority of biological data remain disconnected, severely limiting broader analyses and handicapping research. To address these problems, the Global Names Architecture (GNA) was conceived in 2007 and initially developed through support from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), and the U.S. National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII). The concept and core components of the GNA were defined and refined by a collaboration among an international team of experts in both taxonomy and data management, in coordination with the Biodiversity Information Standards body (TDWG), through a series of 13 “NOMINA” meetings from 2007 through 2013. The basic goal of GNA is to use names and associated information to cross-link existing sources of biological data, thereby empowering these data through more effective integration. Several key components of the GNA have been developed and are currently in various stages of implementation. The two largest components developed exclusively for the GNA are the Global Names Index (GNI; an index of 22 million text-string scientific names combined with a suite of services for parsing, reconciliation, and discovery of scientific names), and the Global Names Usage Bank (GNUB; a robust index of Taxon Name Usage instances combined with a suite of services for tracking name usage histories and cross-linking data). A third critical component of GNA is the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL; a major repository of page images from historical literature). GNA is now implemented as a successful proof of concept, including ZooBank (the official nomenclatural registry for Zoology) and a growing platform of nomenclatural infrastructure to support better integration among biodiversity datasets.  The next phase in GNA development involves tighter integration of other previously existing components (major nomenclators, taxonomic catalogs, and biodiversity data aggregators as well as primary data sources), and scaling the content and services associated with GNI and GNUB to transform the proof-of-concept to an internationally adopted production-level enterprise.