
Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum, Frankfurt	Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem

Abstracts

TDWG 2000: Digitising Biological Collections
Taxonomic Databases Working Group, 16th Annual Meeting
Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, Germany, November 10-12, 2000

Francisco Pando de la Hoz*

Bibmaster - a database application for nomenclature, literature and specimen management

* Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, Madrid, Spain

[Computer demonstration]

Bibmaster is a tool designed to aid the botanist in the task of preparing an account for a flora or a monograph. It serves to enter, store and handle information about taxon names, literature, authors and specimens in a user-friendly way and with a maximum of consistency. It is designed to be used in a range of circumstances, from a specialist working alone to an institution where mayor editing and co-ordination tasks are carried out.
Artificial database keys are generally avoided so that data can be exchange and merged easily.
Data can be accessed and queried in a variety of ways but Bibmaster is not an on-line Flora program. It does not handle descriptive information and identification keys, as DELTA and similar programs do. Characteristics of Bibmaster include:

Management

Literature references management; including key-words and thesaurus
B-P-H and TL-2 abbreviations
Author standard forms
Specimen-level data: distribution, ecology, collectors...

Outputs

Several kinds of reference lists: alphabetical, by library codes, with keywords,... fully formatted and indexed
Name lists: hierarchical, alphabetical, by publications
Check-lists
Specimen lists
Herbarium labels

Technical details

Relational design
Data are stored in standard mdb MS-Access files
Minimum use of artificial keys, which greatly facilitates database merging
A single BIBMASTER installation can manage multiple data sets
Flexible implementation. It is possible to manage several projects with a variable degree of data overlapping.
Fully menu driven in a Windows environment
Part of an comprehensive biodiversity information system
Multi-lingual support. Currently available in English and Spanish. Other languages can be easily added
Allows fast data entry with minimum errors
Automatic detection of nomenclatural inconsistencies
Automatic author standard form checking
Hybrid management, even for those without binomials.
Author and literature abbreviations and taxon names controlled with lookup tables
Nomenclatural type and protologue information recorded
Centralized name management. Names are available via drop-lists.

More information at: http://www.rjb.csic.es/bibmaste/bibmastere.htm

Selected publications prepared with Bibmaster: AEDO, C., MUÑOZ GARMENDIA, F. & , PANDO, F. (1998). World checklist of Geranium L. (Geraniaceae). Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 56(2): 211-252. CASTROVIEJO, S. ... [et al.]. Flora iberica: Plantas vasculares de la Península Ibérica e Islas Baleares. Madrid: RJB (CSIC). MUÑOZ , J. & PANDO F. (in press). A World Synopsis of Grimmia. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard.

TDWG | Participants | Presentations | Senckenberg Museum | BGBM Biodiversity Informatics

This meeting was co-sponsored by the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA)