1. The taxonomic process
Data gathering and Interpretation
On-line data resources
Data presentation – online Floras

2. The Taxonomic Process Create Keys Create Initial Proforma
Collect Initial Subject Area Knowledge
Gather Specimens
Crude Similarity Sort Grouping
Identify and Record Characters
Collect Further Related Knowledge
Review and Modify Groups
Write Taxa Descriptions
Check on Missing Data & Data Integrity
Name Taxa /
Handle Synonymy
Decide Diagnostic Characteristics
Interpret Written Descriptions (Check Specimens)
Detailed Sort
The
Taxonomic
Process

3. Data Gathering Taxon names & nomenclature Past publications
Herbarium specimens
Living material
Images

5. Taxon Names & Nomenclature
What names exist
Places of publication
Basionyms
Synonyms
Interpretive materials

6. What Names Exist? - Index Kewensis
Published volumes cover names above species since 1753

7. What Names Exist? - Index Kewensis
Limitations of published volumes
Only infraspecific names published since 1971 are included
Type information only included since 1997 (basionyms for earlier names usually given)
Expensive
Time consuming searching all the published volumes and supplements

8. What Names Exist? - Index Kewensis – CD ROM
Published in 1997 from a database created by image scanning the original printed volumes. Improved search capabilities.
Limitations of CD-ROM version…
Expensive (£1,000)
Optical Character Recognition errors are common – much less reliable than the printed version

9. What Names Exist? - IPNI
Index Kewensis – RBG Kew
Grey Card Index – Harvard University All ranks of plant names of New World taxa since 1886
Australian Plant Names Index - National Herbarium All ranks of vascular plant names of Australian taxa

10. What Names Exist? - IPNI

11. What Names Exist? - IPNI

12. What Names Exist? - IPNI

13. What Names Exist? - IPNI
Freely available via the Internet - however, download speeds may be an issue for those with slow modem connections
Updated periodically with corrections to improve accuracy and conforming with data standards
Reliability and accuracy much improved, providing a good basis for research data

14. Taxon Names & Nomenclature
What names exist
Places of publication
Basionyms
Synonyms
Interpretive materials

15. Literature
Kew Record of Taxonomic Literature
Floras of the World
Web of Science & Online library catalogues
Online books and journals
Standard abbreviations
Online glossaries
Botanical Latin translation

16. Kew Record of Taxonomic Literature
Taxonomic literature published since 1970
Cross-referenced by taxa and authors
Published quarterly

17. Kew Index to Taxonomic Literature

18. Kew Index to Taxonomic Literature

19. Literature
Floras of the World
Web of Science & Online library catalogues
Online books and journals
Online glossaries
Botanical Latin translation

22. BPH and TL2

23. Herbarium Specimens
Index Herbariorum – location for loans
Online herbarium catalogues – specimen data
Online images of specimens
Index of botanical collectors
Geo-referencing

29. Calle Directory of Cities and Towns

31. Living Material
Plant collection catalogues
Online catalogues of living collections
Multi-site queries

32. Online Living Collections

33. Images
Photographs of plants in the wild
Illustrations of plants
Habitat images

34. Images
Index Londonensis
Kew Record
Internet Search Engines

35. Other information sources
General search engines
Internet Directory for Botany
Botanical portals (Species2000, All-Species, NBN, etc.)
Specialist websites

39. Online Floras

40. Online publishing - Advantages
Freely available
Everything published (no size constraint and nothing ‘lost’)
Easily updated (can post early versions)
Final accounts published when ready
Good working tool for collaborative production of accounts

41. Opportunities
Generated directly from database
Multi-user interfaces
User customisable outputs
Interactive identification (keys)
Provide authoritative data to other projects (GIS applications, third-party databases, etc.)