Project

General

Profile

Download (4.11 KB) Statistics
| Branch: | Tag: | Revision:
1
<h1>Introduction to the Taxonomic Editor</h1>
2
 
3
<p>The Taxonomic Editor has been developed as part of the EDIT Cyberplatform for Taxonomy; a collection of tools and services which together cover all aspects of the taxonomic workflow. EDIT is a collection of 28 leading European, North American and Russian institutions formed in the response to a call of the European Commission, issued in 2004, for a "network in Taxonomy for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research".</p>
4
 
5
<p>Development of the Taxonomic Editor is part of EDIT Work Package 5: Internet Platform for Cybertaxonomy: Tools, Sharing, Networking and Integration. The tools are all open access, free, do not require licenses, and are downloadable from the EDIT website. Data stored in the Taxonomic Editor will be linked to other applications of the Cyberplatform via the Common Data Model (CDM) Library, where the data is stored. So, for example, your Taxonomic Editor dataset can be easily published online using the EDIT DataPortal application that can extract your data from the CDM. No data transformation is required by you. The Editor also supports importing and exporting to and from  a range of databases , taxonomic community data formats and import from Excel.</p>
6
 
7
<p>The goal of the Taxonomic Editor is to provide a next-generation tool that moves beyond the form-based data entry of web-based tools like the Berlin Model Web Editor. It has been designed with specific philosophies giving the user:</p>
8
 
9
<ol>
10
	<li><strong>All the benefits of a database without rigid data entry rules.</strong>
11
 
12
		<p>A unique feature of the Taxonomic Editor is its parsing capability. Parsing is the action of recognising distinct elements within a string. This means that data can be entered as 'free' or unstructured text, and as you type the parser separates each element of the text string and puts them into the correct data fields within the database. This makes data entry easy, but also enables manipulation of data as in a standard database.</p>
13
		 
14
		<p>The core workflow involves:
15
		
16
			<ul>
17
				<li>Entering data as a normal text string in a taxonomic style.</li>
18
				<li>The data is parsed as it is entered.</li>
19
				<li>Reviewing whether the data has been parsed correctly and editing if necessary.</li>
20
			</ul>
21
		</p>
22
 	</li>
23
	<li><strong>Ability to enter data in the format required by the user.</strong>
24
 		<p>A second defining feature of the Editor is that it has been designed to minimise system intervention so as not to hinder the work flow. Rather than enforcing data integrity upon input, warnings are given when any rules have been broken. When the mouse hovers over data that has been marked as problematic, the problem will be explained, along with possible corrections, however the software will not force you to change your data.</p>
25
 	</li>
26
	<li><strong>Useability and customisation options.</strong>
27
 		<p>The Editor has been designed to feel intuitive keeping the number of new movements or gestures you must learn to a minimum. Also, the Taxonomic Editor allows for individual customisation of the fields within the data entry sheet to facilitate an efficient data entry process. For example, you can choose which taxonomic relationships and rank types are given as options, and for some data fields you can create your own options. There are also separate configurations for users using the Botanical and Zoological Codes of Nomenclature.
28
 		<p>You will notice that not all of the features of the Taxonomic Editor are yet functional; development of the application and the manual are still ongoing. Version  4 of the Taxonomic Editor will be released in 2011; smaller updates will be made available on the EDIT WP5 website.</p>
29
 	</li>
30
 	<li><strong>Bulk Editing</strong>
31
 		<p>The Taxonomic Editor has a bulk editing facility that allows you to edit several records at one time. This will be useful, for example, if the name of a genus has changed as well as all the species records associated with that genus. This saves time and improves data consistency and integrity. The bulk editor can also be used to merge duplicate records that may be found in large datasets after import, for example.</p>
32
 	</li>
33
</ol>
34
 
(47-47/77)