Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center at Indiana University

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Project Summary The Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (BDSC) collects, curates, maintains and distributes strains of the fly Drosophila melanogaster to support the biomedical research community. It is the largest and most comprehensive Drosophila stock collection in the world and central to the success of many research projects including over 820 active NIH grants. It promotes the effective use of its strains through information supplied on its website and consultations. The BDSC maintains extensive strain information as well as ordering, financial and account information. To manage these vast and complex records, it has invested heavily in custom programming to efficiently retrieve and validate data, enter and update records, prepare reports and present user-friendly information to the public. Unfortunately, the primary information management software used at the BDSC is no longer supported by its developer, so routine operating system updates pose significant risks because they may result in software incompatibility and failure. The BDSC has begun the process of replacing this key software by restructuring its database to be compatible with newer, standard information management software and by transferring parts of this new database to a server in conjunction with creating a new website. The aim of this proposal is to carry out the final and most complex step of developing a new information management system with the help of contracted programmers from Indiana University IU Studios. The new system will provide up-to-date and efficient tools for editing, managing and querying the new database, a more robust system for file backup and retrieval, and a platform for more effective collaboration among BDSC scientists. Moving data and related processes from the unsupported software to a new, stable and future-proof system is a clear and urgent need. The funding requested here will accelerate the process appropriately and address this critical need in a time-effective manner.