Development of a Northern Plant Documentation Center at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Progress Report.

摘要

The primary objective was to develop a computerized data bank of information on the Alaskan flora, based on collections at the Herbarium of the University of Alaska Museum (ALA). To maximize the effectiveness of this data bank, several collections-related activities had to be carried out prior to or concomitantly with data entry. Before the label data from the first specimen could be placed in a computer file it was mandatory that first we (1) prepare an important backlog of specimens from arctic Alaska, (2) develop the protocol for handling specimens, data input, and editing, and (3) define the categories of data to be entered and the conventions for consistent entry. Considerable effort has gone toward processng our large backlog of specimens. This work is almost completed, greatly enhancing our collection and the data bank derived from that collection. A total of 11,251 specimens have been accessioned between June 1980 and the present. With the accomplishment of these preliminary tasks, building the data bank became a matter of more or less mechanically following through various steps: select the taxonomic group to be entered, check to see that the data required are in the correct format, enter the data, edit the file, correct the file, and incorporate the file into the master file with the SELGEM programs. To data, over 2000 specimens have been logged. (ERA citation 06:035439)