Hobart

Seminar abstract

Friday 31 August 2007, 11.30 am
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Tony Rees
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research

Computer matching of species names (including misspellings) – a data management perspective

The use of species scientific names as identifiers is fundamental to all biological work in this Division and in the wider biological community generally. Information is typically retrieved from biological data stores or published sources by a query on scientific name, and the same method is used to join databases for common queries that cannot be satisfied by any single one, or to merge (import) content from one database to another. However, the fact remains that scientific names of species can be very difficult for even experts to spell (how about “Cirrhitichthys oxyrhynchos”, or “Syzygotettix boettcheri”), and simple errors of as little as one character can mean that appropriate data or information is not retrieved, or “phantom” taxa are created owing to the presence in the same database of multiple, undetected variants of the same species name.

This presentation considers the nature and extent of the “species name matching” problem, and describes unique tools and approaches developed at CMAR over the past 6 years to attempt to overcome it, with particular reference to the “CAAB” master taxonomic database for Australian marine species maintained at the Division, and ongoing work with OBIS Australia and OBIS International, systems that aim to provide portals or gateways to species occurrence data held in multiple locations around Australia and the world.

[back]

Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Karen Wild-Allen, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5010
Thomas Kunz, (Biological seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
(03) 6232 5076
Annabel Ozimec (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5462
Sandra Zicus, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 7888
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 21/08/07