Open Access to the Digital Biodiversity Database: A Comprehensive Functional Model of the Natural History Collections

• Published in: Diversity (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 8; p. 596
• Main Authors: Jackowiak, Bogdan, Lawenda, Marcin, Nowak, Maciej M, Wolniewicz, Paweł, Błoszyk, Jerzy, Urbaniak, Michał, Szkudlarz, Piotr, Jędrasiak, Damian, Wiland-Szymańska, Justyna, Bajaczyk, Rafał, Meyer, Norbert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.08.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Algae; Analog data; Analysis; Applications programs; Biodiversity; biodiversity collections; Biological diversity; Biological properties; Biological samples; Biology; citizen education; citizen science; Climate change; Collections and collecting; Colleges & universities; Data mining; Data retrieval; Digital data; Digitization; Education; environmental management; Flowers & plants; Geography; Humanities and Social Sciences; Information systems; Management; Metadata; Methods; Mobile computing; Multimedia; Natural history; Open access; open-access database; Public sector; R&D; Regions; Research & development; Spatial analysis; User groups; Zoology; Poland; Australia; Europe; citizen science; digitization; open-access database; biodiversity collections; citizen education; environmental management
• ISSN: 1424-2818; 1424-2818
• DOI: 10.3390/d14080596

The Natural History Collections of Adam Mickiewicz University (AMUNATCOLL) in Poznań contain over 2.2 million specimens. Until recently, access to the collections was limited to specialists and was challenging because of the analogue data files. Therefore, this paper presents a new approach to data sharing called the Scientific, Educational, Public, and Practical Use (SEPP) Model. Since the stakeholder group is broad, the SEPP Model assumes the following key points: full open access to the digitized collections, the structure of metadata in accordance with certain standards, and a versatile tool set for data mining or statistical and spatial analysis. The SEPP Model was implemented in the AMUNATCOLL IT system, which consists of a web portal equipped with a wide set of explorative functionalities tailored to different user groups: scientists, students, officials, and nature enthusiasts. An integral part of the system is a mobile application designed for field surveys, enabling users to conduct studies comparing their own field data and AMUNATCOLL data. The AMUNATCOLL IT database contains digital data on specimens, biological samples, bibliographic sources, and multimedia nature documents. The metadata structure was developed in accordance with ABCD 2.06 and Darwin Core standards.