Digitisation / Cataloguing of non-textual objects: Reference system of bioacoustic data

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Wildlife sound collections are not only an important tool for zoological research, especially in the fields of animal behaviour and taxonomy, but are widely used for musicological issues or as source for sound installations in exhibitions. Recently modern acoustic methods in biodiversity research require well documented and verified reference sounds. However, current sound collections could still not serve as an effective tool for biodiversity research. Typically recordings in sound archives consist of long sound sequences mostly containing background noises. A reference library should contain clearly separated sound units including typical songs and/or calls of animals.The aim of this project is to create such a reference library of voices of European animal species on the basis of already digitized recordings of the Animal Sound Archive of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, integrating other sources and experts. In the reference system only records will be included that have a high acoustic quality. The determination of the species must be reliable and the location of the recording must be known. A web-based interface will allow access the database without restrictions. The acoustic records and metadata will be made freely available on the website of the project, the GBIF-Portal and Europeana. In addition to searching via metadata, a content-based search will be included. Acoustic pattern recognition algorithms for species determination will be developed and implemented. The application of the system is intended for a wide range of tasks in biodiversity research and conservation. In addition due to its encyclopaedic character the reference system can indicate gaps in knowledge on animal vocalisations and encourage scientists to fill these gaps by targeted research.