Central Siberian Botanical Garden, SB RAS, Novosibirsk
Head of the Institute:
Igor Yu.Koropachinsky, Academician of the RAS
101 Zolotodolinskaya Srt., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
Tel.: (383 2) 35 41 01, Fax: (383 2) 35 49 86,
email: root@botgard.nsk.su
Principal researchers:
A.M.Fedotov, Professor, Deputy director
Tel.:(3832) 342351, Fax: (3832) 341342
email: fedotov@ict.nsc.ru
Project objectives
The provision of systematization and comprehensive access to knowledge of diversity of the flora and vegetation of Siberia on a basis of advanced information technologies.
Elaboration of the single standards for formalization of the descriptive characteristics and cataloguing of biodiversity (taxonomic groups, ecosystem and territories).
Elaboration of the information technologies for establishment of the Digital Library and is presentation in the Internet. The provision of the comfortable ways of inputing the various data (including the opportunity of removed access): data of biological institutes, scientific journals, monographs, handbooks and collections.
The final objective is elaboration of the concept and development of the Bank of Knowledge “Biodiversity of the World”. The Bank will concentrate and update information about species of plants, ecosystem types and ecology of regions. It is suggested that the Bank will solve the traditional tasks of ordering and accumulation of the information at advanced level and serve as global virtual museum of nature and herbarium.
Background and significance of objectives
The Digital Library will serve as informational basis for development of the regional and all-Siberian projects on ecology, nature conservation and natural resources evaluations. It will provide a basis to concentrate the information and efforts of researchers from different regions for performance of joint projects on biodiversity.
The Digital Library will serve as global information system for education of stuff of government ecological organizations and students of the Universities and Institutes.
At present, the similar Digital libraries are absent in Siberia and Russia.
Research plan: approaches and methods
It is suggested that the common approaches of systematization and maintenance of dissimilar botanical and ecological information, integration of the information in the Geographical Information System and access through the Internet will be developed.
The Digital Library will include the related thematic database containing the information of unique biological collections, data of field researches, data from literature sources. The main modules of the Global Database will contain taxa names, information about diversity of species and ecosystems, introduction and distribution of plants, resource properties of species and Red Data Books.
It is suggested that the thematic databases “Taxa”, “Flora”, “Herbarium”, “Local Floras”, “Diversity of Plant Communities”, “Red Data Book of Siberia”, “Protected Natural Areas”, “Guide-Books of Plant Taxa”, “Medicine Plants” will be developed for quick search of the information on important groups of plants, ecosystems and natural territories.
Expected Results
The open information system on biodiversity of Siberia which allows quick search and selection of biological and ecological data will be created in the WWW server of the SB RAS.
The system will provide the opportunity of addition of new data to the database on the basis of common standards and using of the removed access. It will also make possible easy exchange of data among the researchers inside and outside of the Russia.