Nomencurator: a nomenclatural history model to handle multiple taxonomic views
Nomencurator is a database model designed to assist taxonomists.
A three-layered data model for a nomenclature database has been
developed in order to elucidate the implicit assumptions in taxonomic
nomenclature and as a means to organise and manage a large, dynamic
knowledge-base. In contrast to most other taxonomic databases, the
model is publication-oriented rather than taxon-oriented and dynamic
rather than static. The three-layered structure requires data
integrity localised to each publication, instead of global data
integrity, which relaxes constraints common to taxonomic databases
and permits multiple taxonomic opinions: taxon names are made
available as meta-data within the model. Its prototype
implementation, written in C++, has an autonomous self-identification
mechanism to avoid spurious data-inflation. Self-identification is
also desirable for distributed implementations of the nomenclature
database. The publication-oriented design also makes maintenance
easier than for taxon-oriented databases, with much of the
maintenance workload being amenable to automation. The three-layered
data model was designed for use by taxonomists, but is also able to
provide concise, reduced expression for non-experts required in
biodiversity research, for example.
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