CELLINESE, NICO. Botany Department, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605. Current address: Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, P.O. Box 208118 New Haven, CT 06520. - FileTaxon: an integrated database for plant systematics research.
FileTaxon is a relational database developed using FileMaker Pro 5.5.
It is designed to store, retrieve, and manage data for plant
systematic research. FileTaxon provides a solution for managing
taxonomic, specimen, pollen and seed data, DNA sequences, SEM and
digital images, original descriptions, and bibliographic information.
Data integration across multiple tables optimizes overall data
management, but is seamlessly transparent to the user. The system
generates automated web links to various sites including the
International Plant Name Index (IPNI), Tropicos, Index Nominum
Genericorum (ING), Lifemapper, GenBank, and TreeBase. These web
links retrieve only data relating to a currently selected taxon name.
This innovative feature allows FileTaxon to be used as a personal
research environment linking locally stored data and valuable
information available on the Internet. A beta version of FileTaxon
will be released in September. A version specifically tailored for
lichen research is currently being developed.
Key words: FileMaker Pro 5.5, FileTaxon, taxonomic databases, web integration.