PlantCollections
Encyclopedia
PlantCollections is an electronic database which will combine and store documented records of the diverse living plant collections of 16 botanical garden
s and arboreta in the United States
.
The project plans to significantly promote the sharing of information resources. Audiences served will include curatorial, taxonomic, conservation, weed science, ecology, horticulture, education and visitors.
The project is funded by a National Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) The collaboration is led by the Chicago Botanic Garden, the University of Kansas Biodiversity Research Center and Natural History Museum
and the North American Plant Collections Consortium
of the American Public Gardens Association
(APGA) http://www.apga.org/.
BG-Base, a manufacturer of proprietary software applications for the botanic garden community, has created an export module for participants utilizing their software applications. http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/BG-BASE/interfac.htm#top
The software applications to be utilized include Web Applications for the Semantic Architecture of Biodiversity Information (WASABI) - an advanced generation Distributed Generic Information Retrieval (DiGIR) - for the data provider and portal, Google Maps
for maps and MorphBank for images.
The intended data users were surveyed, and feedback from the eight audiences comprising curators, taxonomists, educators, horticulturists, ecologists, weed scientists, conservation scientists and gardeners defined the 161 fields found in the federated schema.
Deliverables of the project include a federated schema
, improved website for the APGA, development of software applications, servers for each institution and training of staff at each institution.
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
s and arboreta in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The project plans to significantly promote the sharing of information resources. Audiences served will include curatorial, taxonomic, conservation, weed science, ecology, horticulture, education and visitors.
Participating institutions
Sixteen botanic gardens have agreed to participate in two phases to develop, test and implement the project. The institutions are:- Arnold Arboretum of Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
- Chicago Botanic GardenChicago Botanic GardenLocated at 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois, USA, the Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands featuring 24 display gardens and surrounded by four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shores. The Garden is open...
- Ganna WalskaGanna WalskaGanna Walska born Hanna Puacz was a Polish opera singer and garden enthusiast who created the Lotusland botanical gardens...
Lotusland, Santa Barbara, CA - Highstead ArboretumHighstead ArboretumThe Highstead Arboretum in Redding, Connecticut, USA was founded in 1982. It covers 36 acres of woodland, meadow, and wetland and ranges from to in elevation. It hosts both native and cultivated plant varieties...
- Huntington Library Museum and Botanical Gardens
- George Landis ArboretumGeorge Landis ArboretumThe George Landis Arboretum consists of , of which are devoted to noteworthy collections and gardens overlooking the Schoharie Valley near Esperance, New York, USA. It contains approximately 2,000 labeled specimens, with plantings of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials from around the world....
- Missouri Botanical GardenMissouri Botanical GardenThe Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder Henry Shaw, a botanist and philanthropist.-History:...
- Morton ArboretumMorton ArboretumThe Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, Illinois, covers 1,700 acres and is made up of gardens of various plant types and collections of trees from specific taxonomical and geographical areas. It includes native woodlands and a restored Illinois prairie. The Arboretum has over 4,100 different species of...
- Mt. Cuba CenterMt. Cuba CenterMt. Cuba Center 630 acres is a non-profit botanical garden and historical preserve located on Barley Mill Road in Greenville, Delaware, near Wilmington, USA in the gently rolling hills of the Delaware Piedmont...
- Norfolk Botanical GardenNorfolk Botanical GardenThe Norfolk Botanical Garden is a botanical garden with arboretum located at 6700 Azalea Garden Road, Norfolk, Virginia.- Hours of operation :April 1st - October 16th*Gate is open from 9am - 7pm*Garden is open from 9am - 7pm...
- North Carolina ArboretumNorth Carolina ArboretumThe North Carolina Arboretum is an arboretum and botanical garden located within the Bent Creek Experimental Forest of the Pisgah National Forest at 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, southwest of Asheville, North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is open daily except for Christmas Day...
- San Francisco Botanical GardenSan Francisco Botanical GardenThe San Francisco Botanical Garden is a large botanical garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Its 55 acres include over 50,000 individual plants, representing over 8,000 taxa from around the world, with particular focus on Magnolia species, high elevation palms, and cloud forest species...
at Strybing Arboretum - Santa Barbara Botanic GardenSanta Barbara Botanic GardenThe Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is a 26 ha garden, containing over 1,000 species of rare and indigenous plants. It is located in Mission Canyon, Santa Barbara, California, USA....
- Scott ArboretumScott ArboretumScott Arboretum is an arboretum located across the campus of Swarthmore College, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. It is open to the public daily without charge....
of Swarthmore CollegeSwarthmore CollegeSwarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia.... - United States National ArboretumUnited States National ArboretumThe United States National Arboretum is an arboretum in Washington, D.C., operated by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service as a division of the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center...
- University of Washington Botanic Gardens, Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, WashingtonSeattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
The project is funded by a National Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services
Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the mission to "create strong libraries and museums that connect...
(IMLS) The collaboration is led by the Chicago Botanic Garden, the University of Kansas Biodiversity Research Center and Natural History Museum
University of Kansas Natural History Museum
The University of Kansas Natural History Museum is part of the University of Kansas Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, which is itself part of the KU Biodiversity Institute....
and the North American Plant Collections Consortium
North American Plant Collections Consortium
The North American Plant Collections Consortium is a group of North American botanical gardens and arboreta that aims to improve the continent's living plant collections, and enhance the availability of plant germplasm...
of the American Public Gardens Association
American Public Gardens Association
The American Public Gardens Association is an association of public-garden institutions and professionals primarily in the United States and Canada....
(APGA) http://www.apga.org/.
BG-Base, a manufacturer of proprietary software applications for the botanic garden community, has created an export module for participants utilizing their software applications. http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/BG-BASE/interfac.htm#top
The software applications to be utilized include Web Applications for the Semantic Architecture of Biodiversity Information (WASABI) - an advanced generation Distributed Generic Information Retrieval (DiGIR) - for the data provider and portal, Google Maps
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
for maps and MorphBank for images.
The intended data users were surveyed, and feedback from the eight audiences comprising curators, taxonomists, educators, horticulturists, ecologists, weed scientists, conservation scientists and gardeners defined the 161 fields found in the federated schema.
Deliverables of the project include a federated schema
Federated database system
A federated database system is a type of meta-database management system , which transparently integrates multiple autonomous database systems into a single federated database. The constituent databases are interconnected via a computer network and may be geographically decentralized...
, improved website for the APGA, development of software applications, servers for each institution and training of staff at each institution.