ENHSIN
European Natural History Specimen Information Network
The central aim of the European Natural History Specimen Information Network (ENHSIN) is to enable the development of a shared, interoperable infrastructure of natural history specimen databases in European institutions. Although exciting developments have been made in producing frameworks for connecting global species databases (Species 2000) and for providing access to the wider content of European natural history collections (BioCISE), there is, at present, no corresponding approach to facilitate access to specimen data. ENHSIN is intended to fill this lacuna.
Museums and botanical gardens in Europe house, collectively, a wealth of material in their natural history collections and in associated literature and archival data. These resources form the basis for the region's work on taxonomy - the classification of animals, plants, micro-organisms, fossils and minerals. Europe is the cradle of taxonomy: its institutions house specimens collected from before the time of Carolus Linnaeus (1707-78), the founder of the subject, to the present day.
Powerful personal computers have already been used to store large quantities of data within collections-based institutes, whether in the form of specimen ('unit') data, or 'metadata' - such as names and numbers of species represented in particular collections. Computerization of such data is very advantageous. First, it provides a resource for more effective management of collections. Second, it enables the information to be used in diverse analyses, as, for example, in assessing patterns of species descriptions through time and space. Furthermore, two key developments in information technology provide the potential for much wider access to data currently largely trapped within institutions. These developments are the growth of the Internet and the invention of software enabling users to 'interoperate' across databases in a range of institutions. They will help to satisfy the growing need for access to information about the planet's living and mineral resources.
Seven European organizations are involved in the initial phase of the project. Their aim is to create an operational system for what is hoped to evolve into a pan-European network. Over the duration of the project, which is destined to run for three years, the partners will address such issues as defining data standards and assessing intellectual property restrictions. They will select or develop the most effective interoperability software to enable access to specimen databases. The question of broad user needs is being assessed from the very start of the project.
Partners: their roles and task groups
The Natural History Museum, London (NHM): overall co-ordination of the network and project management; technical advisory task group
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBGK): legal and intellectual property
Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen (Zool.Mus.Copenhagen): specialist scientific-user requirements task group
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid (CSIC (MNCN)): sectoral user requirement task group
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris (MNHN): scientific advisory task group
Botanischer Garten und Museum Berlin-Dahlem (BGBM): technical implementation task group; evaluation task group
Universiteit van Amsterdam (UVA): infrastructure collaboration policy and management