Case study: Naturalis

Naturalis strives to share all object descriptions and documents (articles, expedition reports, purchase lists etc). in a coherent way, based on the Dutch taxonomic thesaurus.

Because all this knowledge strongly difference in terms of content and form and the databases have been set up in a different way, the RNA project is experimenting with description models in which all information from the object descriptions and documents can be accommodated, irrespective of the different structures. This takes place in the modern RDF format.

Such a flexible description model can be populated with all sorts of information, and in addition it is also possible to link it to a reference structure in the same RDF format, in this case the taxonomic thesaurus. In this way, all information on the objects and documents can be easily located.

The reference structures of the taxonomic thesaurus are very sizeable. For this reason, the conversion of these structures from their 'old' database format to the modern RDF format has been automated. But how can one check if the end result is error-free? To do so manually requires a gargantuan effort. For this reason, the RNA project uses tools for technically and intrinsically validating the conversions, where possible in an automated way.

There is a great need for 'external' input for websites such as the Dutch Species Register and Natuurinformatie.nl. In the Netherlands a broad spectrum of national and international nature organisation is active. Although all the experts that are active at these organisations cannot be accommodated in the editorial boards of these website for practical reasons, there is an urgent need for their specialist input.

The systems that are used by editorial boards to create web pages are often relatively complex. A web editor does not have to be a webmaster, but still. Morover, the access control for such a content management system (CMS) is very complex. If intrinsic contributions from 'third parties' is are required regular content management systems will therefore not be suitable.

For this reason the RNA project plans to experiment with 'create-and-connect tools'. These are light tools using which internal and third parties can create content and add it to websites in a simple way, without the need for a heavy CMS. These tools also make sure the content is linked to the available reference structures.

The knowledge owned by Naturalis is consulted by all sorts of groups, from scientists to experts and students.

For this reason the knowledge must be offered in various ways, from low-theshold and concise to scientific and elaborate. For this reason, the museum uses various search structures (perspectives) side by side. In this way, students can search for farm animals or ratites. For a scientist, such categories are of little use. The pinguin and chicken are both ratites, but a researcher will not think in such categories. He or she will want to search by scientific names. The nature and depth of the requested information will differ as well. A researcher may look for DNA structures, while students tend to be interested in nice images.

The RNA project experiments with structuringt methods that enable Naturalis to service the various groups with tailored knowledge without having to do the same work twice.

The visitors can consult an entire knowledge network on the basis of various perspective using a single front office. Each user is assisted their search. For instance, Natuurinformatie.nl provides help during the selection of entries and the formulation of search queries. The Dutch Species Register offers the possibility to search with the help of an elaborate search feature (based on free search words or scientific names) as well as a tree structure.