CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Institutional Argentina has launched a biodiversity data initiative, the National System of Biological Data (SNDB) [1], as part of a national initiative for the organization of large instruments and databases, transversal to all the scientific system [2]. Aims and strategy The SNDB will create a database of biological information for Argentina from multiple sources (taxonomy, ecology, cartography, bibliography, ethnobiology, etc.), with a distributed architecture. The main objectives are: (a) promote the interchange of biodiversity data; (b) increase accessibility, projection and quality of biodiversity data, using virtual networks; (c) strengthen the use of best practices for conservation and management of biological collections; (d) offer outreach products of biodiversity data and training programs. The system is conceived as a distributed network much like GBIF [3], where the data are maintained by institutional providers and published through a national portal. It will maximize the reuse of available tools and standards, applying own resources to developments not already solved by other initiatives. Nodes The central node of the SNDB provides the IT for the national portal and the executive secretary. The institutional nodes are the publishers of primary data, using a provider such as TAPIR [4]. In a first phase these will be mainly specimen-based occurrences from collections and herbaria, but other data types (e.g., observations) will be incorporated subsequently. Lines of action The adhesion and grant applications include a permanent metadata survey on institutions, facilities and data resources, used for evaluation and planning. A financial support line is already open for biodiversity databases, for digitization of collections, equipment for data collection and management, and for conservation of physical collections. The data portal will start as a customization of GBIF portal, including queries, maps, and taxonomy checking. The Argentinean scientific system has a great potential for data mobilization. An extensive survey conducted in 2003 uncovered 190 collections in 56 institutions of 16 provinces, totaling more than 10M specimen-based records. We will collect, create, and distribute shared resources needed by institutional nodes and data consumers, such as toponyms and taxonomic authority resources specific for Argentina. We plan to invest in tools and mechanisms for improvement of data quality, such as the processing of multiple-records feedback from data consumers. References 1. Sistema Nacional de Datos Biológicos [http://www.datosbiologicos.mincyt.gov.ar/] 2. Consejo Interinstitucional de Ciencia y Tecnología [http://www.cicyt.mincyt.gov.ar/cicyt_lineas_accion.htm] 3. Global Biodiversity Information Facility [www.gbif.org] 4. TDWG Access Protocol for Information Retrieval [http://www.tdwg.org/activities/tapir/]

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