Collaborative Research: NEODAT II: An Inter-Institutional Database of Fish Biodiversity in the Neotropics

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9632673 Schaefer The original NEODAT data base project was the first large-scale effort to build a centralized multi-institutional collection catalogue in ichthyology. This effort was aimed at improving the infrastructure for, and facilitating access to, computerized collections resources with a specific focus on Neotropical fishes. There are two primary emphases in this renewal proposal. The first is to continue the progress of the NEODAT project in accumulating and distributing catalogue-based specimen data, and associated literature and species descriptions. The second emphasis is to create a network-based infrastructure for Neotropical ichthyology, incorporating technological advances made in Internet access methods since the original grant was funded. Currently, there are nearly 300,000 catalogue records from over 74,000 localities in the NEODAT system. The system receives approximately 800 searches per month. Additional records are now available, and when entered the database will have over 450,000 catalogue records. The technological advances in Internet services allow for greater user-friendly service to those using the database. Thus, as part of the second goal, software and hardware modifications will be implemented to improve the utility of the database. NEODAT is an important international, multi-institutional cooperative effort. All products of this effort are made available to the international scientific and lay communities through the Internet. In addition, this project, in particular, can serve as a model for other large-scale database development efforts.