As a test of various tools for querying multiple taxonomic name databases I've created a "Taxonomic Search Engine" (http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~rpage/portal/ ) that may be of interest.
The site will search external databases (currently ITIS, Index Fungorum, IPNI, and uBio) for a name. If it finds the name, you can click on the name to get more details, including a link to the original web site that provided the name.
Some examples to try are "Morus", "Physeter macrocephalus", and "Apus apus".
Behind the scenes the application talks to each database in turn and outputs the result in a consistent format (or, as consistent as the very different database outputs will allow).
The search engine also outputs Life Science Identifiers (LSIDs) for each name. Followers of recent discussions on "GUIDs" (Globally Unique Identifiers) for taxonomic names will know that LSIDs are one candidate for assigning a GUID to a name. The search engine provides one way to explore the utility of LSIDs (including links to tools for viewing them).
I'd welcome comments/feedback. Future plans include adding more databases and improving search performance using caching.
Regards
Rod Page
-- -------------------------------------------------------- Professor Roderic D. M. Page Editor Elect, Systematic Biology DEEB, IBLS Graham Kerr Building University of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8QP United Kingdom
Phone: +44 141 330 4778 Fax: +44 141 330 2792 email: r.page@bio.gla.ac.uk web: http://taxonomy.zoology.gla.ac.uk/rod/rod.html reprints: http://taxonomy.zoology.gla.ac.uk/rod/pubs.html
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