[Nhcoll-l] entirely online database software for a natural history museum?

Tue Oct 29 09:16:53 EDT 2013

Dirk

There is a difference between hosting your database online and making it available to all online.  You can have a cloud based database that has the same access restrictions as a thick client server based database.  Specify software is planning a thin client, browser based version of Specify that would facilitate hosting of data (cloud or otherwise) as well as collaboration etc. but still has a robust login based security system much like the thick client.

Andy

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 Andy Bentley
 Ichthyology Collection Manager
 University of Kansas
Biodiversity Institute
 Dyche Hall
 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
 Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
 USA

Tel: (785) 864-3863
Fax: (785) 864-5335
 Email: abentley at ku.edu<mailto:abentley at ku.edu>
http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu<http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu/>

SPNHC President-Elect
http://www.spnhc.org

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From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Dirk Neumann
Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 2:40 AM
To: Doug Yanega; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu; Margraf Nicolas
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] entirely online database software for a natural history museum?

Dear Doug, Nicolas,

with upcoming legislation regulation access to genetic resources, an entirely online collection database might be feasible for US collections as the US is a non-signatory nation to the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol. European collections face legal challenges and should abstain from entirely online / cloud based databases for the following reasons:

1. With the exception of specimens collected inside the Europe Union (including Switzerland, Norway and Iceland that are as associated Schengen countries "members" of an enlarged European Union with a harmonised legislation), all non-European collection materials "offered" online may be in conflict with different European laws and regulations (marketing and possession restrictions of species protected under European law and CITES). Offering those samples for loaning would (currently) be understood as offering for marketing (especially CITES) and could provoke legal action. Even though this is completely stupid and the EU spends a lot of money to digitalise collections (GBIF, Europeana, etc.), we have no legal certainty for providing this data online  at the moment.

2. The European Union will implement a quite restrictive Access Benefit Legislation on genetic resources next year. Even "genetic resources" that are not utilised (e.g. specimens used only as morphological reference, which, however, could potentially be extracted at any later point) will fall under this regulation. At the moment we receive different opinions on materials (DNAs/tissues vs. collection specimens), time of application (retroactivity), reporting requirements and the planned EU-wide online-register that - as currently drafted - would violate laws mentioned above (sic!). Even though Switzerland is not part of the European Union, it is leading in developing a sound ABS legislation. Until we have legal certainty here, European Collections should avoid providing non-European collections materials online.

So yes, collections should provide access to specimen data of in-house databases on such data portals as GBIF, we are active to receive the required legal certainty, but a clear no for entirely online / cloud based collection databases (at least for European Collections).

All the best
Dirk

Am 28.10.2013 18:24, schrieb Doug Yanega:
On 10/25/13 8:24 AM, Derek Sikes wrote:
Nicolas,
I agree with James in recommending a collections database that is
1) entirely online so you interface it via a web-browser from anywhere (no software to install, like gmail).
2) low-cost
but also would like to emphasize another criterion of importance -

3) serves data to GBIF

There are only three that I am aware of that fit these criteria but there may be more:
- Arctos, which I have been using for over a year now, http://arctos.database.museum/home.cfm
- Symbiota http://symbiota.org/tiki/tiki-index.php
- The Ohio State University Triplehorn Insect Collection Database - http://osuc.osu.edu/databasing.html (the developer, Norm Johnson, has worked with others to mobilize their data onto the web)
To some degree, the examples Derek points out mix two things; the database itself, plus a data portal. Most folks get their data online by using an in-house database and then linking that database to a data portal. A good example is the American Museum of Natural History, who runs an online database (fitting criteria 1, at least) that serves its data to the Discover Life data portal, which also exports all of its data to GBIF. A number of similar institutions, including my own, use FileMaker as our database; it has remarkable flexibility, very easy to use and customize, works on PC and Mac, and can be remote-accessed. The only point about which I'm not entirely certain is that the server version can in fact be configured so that people who do NOT have FileMaker installed can use the interface. I *believe* this is possible (I'm fairly sure this is how the AMNH system works), but do not myself know how this is accomplished.

Sincerely,

--

Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum

Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega

phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)

             http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html<http://cache.ucr.edu/%7Eheraty/yanega.html>

  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness

        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82

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