MorphBank: Web Image Database Technology for Comparative Morphology and Biodiversity Research

佛罗里达州立大学被授予增强MorphBank图像数据库的奖项。许多生物学学科的数据主要依赖于对适当准备的标本的观察。一些例子包括比较解剖学、组织学、形态系统发育学和分类学研究。需要获得合适的标本是在这些学科中迅速取得进展的一个重大障碍。然而，在许多情况下，可以从标本的照片而不是从标本本身产生质量相当的数据。快速互联网连接的发展和低成本高质量数字成像技术的可获得性目前正在为这些学科的研究和教学带来革命性的变化，近年来，网上生物标本的2D和3D图像数据库迅速激增。MorphBank(www.morank.net)，不要与MorPhoBank混淆，是一个可搜索的网络图像库，用于比较形态和生物多样性研究，最初是由瑞典、西班牙和美国的系统昆虫学家联盟构思的。它目前包含大约6,000张图像，记录了形态系统发育分析、新描述的分类群和与GenBank序列相关的凭证标本。MorphBank自2003年初以来一直向用户社区开放，用于上传图像，并作为可搜索的图像存档运行良好。标本图像数据库开发的下一步重点是三个项目，每个项目都举例说明了这类数据库的一个重要用例：(1)大型系统发育学项目；(2)自然历史收藏的远程注释；(3)比较组织学项目。由生物学家、计算机科学家、数学家和信息检索专家组成的跨学科研究小组将开发通用技术，这些技术可以很容易地适应每个用例的具体需求，促进将来纳入更多的用例。特别是，该团队将开发社区注释技术，使研究人员能够将他们的观察结果与特定图像联系起来，而不会损害原始图像，并使他们的同事能够搜索、处理和评论这些注释。该团队还将开发MorphBank用户界面，包括一个新的图像处理客户端，开发支持数据库功能的网络技术，大幅修改和优化表格结构，并实施更复杂的数据过滤和备份技术。最后，该小组的目标是建立一个支持MorphBank或与MorphBank兼容的图像数据库的国际机构网络，并推动生物图像数据库国际标准的发展。MorphBank项目通过开放获取生物图像和相关信息，为支持教育和外联活动提供了大量机会。

Florida State University is granted an award to enhance the MorphBank Image database. Many biological disciplines rely for their data primarily on observations of appropriately prepared specimens. A few examples include comparative anatomy, histology, morphological phylogenetics, and taxonomic research. The need for access to suitable specimens constitutes a significant hurdle to rapid progress in these disciplines. However, in many cases data of comparable quality can be generated from photographs of the specimens instead of from the specimens themselves. The development of fast Internet connections and the availability of low-cost high-quality digital imaging techniques is currently revolutionizing research and teaching in these disciplines, and recent years have seen a rapid proliferation of 2D- and 3D-image databases of biological specimens on the web. MorphBank (www.morphbank.net), not to be confused with MorphoBank, is a searchable web repository of images for comparative morphology and biodiversity research, originally conceived by a consortium of Swedish, Spanish and American systematic entomologists. It currently contains about 6,000 images documenting morphological phylogenetics analyses, newly described taxa, and voucher specimens tied to GenBank sequences. MorphBank has been open to the user community for uploading of images since early 2003 and works well as a searchable image archive. The next steps in the development of specimen image databases focus on three projects, each exemplifying one important use case for such databases: (1) large phylogenetics projects; (2) remote annotation of natural history collections; and (3) comparative histology projects. The interdisciplinary research team, which includes biologists, computer scientists, a mathematician, and information retrieval specialists, will develop general technology that can easily be adapted to address the specific needs of each of these use cases, facilitating the incorporation of additional use cases in the future. In particular, the team will develop community annotation technology, making it possible for researchers to link their observations to specific images, without compromising the original image, and enabling their colleagues to search, process and comment on these annotations. The team will also develop the MorphBank user interface including a new image-handling client, develop networking technology to support database functionality, substantially revise and refine the table structure, and implement more sophisticated data filtering and backup technologies. Finally, the team aims to build an international network of institutions supporting MorphBank or MorphBank-compatible image databases and to spur the development of international standards for biological image databases. The MorphBank project provides ample opportunities for supporting educational and outreach activities through its open access to biological images and associated information.