ASC Draft Information Model Available

[Jim Beach]

The ASC Draft Information Model for Biological Collections is now available
via anonymous FTP on huh.harvard.edu and via the Biodiversity and Biological
Collections Gopher (see below).  The Postscript format is by far the most
readable and it is the one to choose if you are able to print Postscript.
ASCII text and WordPerfect formats are also available.


Background on the model:


 The Association of Systematics Collections Committee on
 Computerization and Networking met at Cornell University in Ithaca,
 New York from August 18-24, 1992.  Co-chairs Julian Humphries and
 Janet Gomon organized the meeting with assistance from Elaine
 Hoagland of ASC.  The focus of the workshop was to start the
 process of establishing data standards for biological collection
 information.

 Workshop participants agreed that previous standardization efforts
 had primarily focused on individual elements of collection
 information and that no interdisciplinary model of this information
 existed.  We decided that for a cross-disciplinary effort to
 succeed, a high-level description of biological collections must be
 created.  We undertook the effort of producing an information model
 as our first, and ultimately only, order of business.

 After extensive discussion and effort the group produced a draft
 entitled: "An information model for biological collections."  The
 document underwent revision in late 1992 and early 1993 and is
 now available in its current version dated March 1993.

 The document and associated figures are available on the Taxacom FTP
 Server via anonymous FTP to the computer huh.harvard.edu.  Files are
 located in the /pub/standards/asc directory.  Various formats of the
 document are also available in the Biodiversity and Biological
 Collections Gopher (gopher to huh.harvard.edu) in the "Standards
 Organizations and Reports" directory.

 There is considerable interest within the biodiversity collections
 community for the information standards which may result from this
 model.  Comments and discussion about the model or subsequent infor-
 mation standards are welcome on the TAXACOM Bitnet mailing list.  Send
 comments, queries, reactions to: Taxacom at harvarda.harvard.edu. Mail
 to that address will be copied to all of the Taxacom mailing list
 subscribers.  Mail sent to that list is archived in the Biodiversity
 and Biological Collections Gopher in the directory "Taxacom Services."

Funding for the the initial workshop was provided by the National Science
Foundation (DEB 9209099) to Julian Humphries.  Stan Blum, Smithsonian
Institution, graciously served as Technical Editor.

 The coordinators:

   Julian Humphries (jmh3 at cornell.edu)
   Janet Gomon (mnhod003 at sivm.bitnet)
   Elaine Hoagland (ehoaglan at nas.bitnet)

 Discussion on content to: taxacom at harvarda.harvard.edu