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Science 26 June 2009:
Vol. 324. no. 5935, pp. 1632 - 1633
DOI: 10.1126/science.324_1632
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News of the Week

Biodiversity:

Biodiversity Databases Spread, Prompting Unification Call

Claire Thomas

Scientists increasingly recognize the value of collaborative, open-access data sharing for understanding the world. But there's still a wide gap between wanting to share and figuring out how to do it right, discovered those who attended an international meeting on biodiversity this month. The goal of e-Biosphere 09, a meeting for creators and users of the Encyclopedia of Life, the Consortium for the Barcode of Life, the Catalogue of Life, and other major efforts to build and manage open-access biodiversity databases, was to figure out how to combine data from at least 100 systems into one gigantic, online, open-access database that will eventually cover all life on Earth, with lots of information, including primary research. But whether these researchers are ready to create one-stop shopping for biodiversity remains to be seen.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
'Omics Data Sharing.
D. Field, S.-A. Sansone, A. Collis, T. Booth, P. Dukes, S. K. Gregurick, K. Kennedy, P. Kolar, E. Kolker, M. Maxon, et al. (2009)
Science 326, 234-236
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Barcoding of Plants and Fungi.
M. W. Chase and M. F. Fay (2009)
Science 325, 682-683
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »

E-Letters:

Read all E-Letters

Biodiversity Needs More than Databases
David C. Campbell
Science Online, 26 Aug 2009 [Full text]

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