Wood Identification Collection Enhancement and Web Access Project North Carolina State University
Through a grant awarded to North Carolina State University, Dr. Elisabeth A. Wheeler, Dr. Kathleen R. Brown, and Ms. Deborah Westmoreland will direct a project to create InsideWood, an extensive, Internet-accessible wood anatomy reference, research, and teaching tool. InsideWood will build on existing databases, specimen collections, and photographic images, beginning with those at NCSU. The wood collection databases for fossil (more than 1,500 records) and present-day woods (5,200 records, representing more than 200 families, 2,500 genera, and 10,000 species) have been used for over 16 years. Unfortunately, these collections are not available via the Internet, and the current software is near obsolete and does not use the complete set of descriptors recommended by a committee of the International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA). This project will develop a Web site with non-exclusive, open architecture allowing for long-term use of wood databases with IAWA terminology. The addition of high-resolution images will increase the value of the site and enhance its functionality for wood identification, information retrieval, and instruction. As part of the InsideWood project, the organization of the NCSU wood collection (samples, slides, photographs, and databases) will be strengthened, and the continued availability of its contents for research and teaching will be insured at an archival level. This project will demonstrate the importance of wood collections to a broad audience, with information from the collections' samples and slides incorporated into the InsideWood Web site.
InsideWood will integrate the wood anatomy databases at NCSU and the wood uses database of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, U.K. (Dr. Peter Gasson, collaborator). The databases will be merged and restructured to use the same controlled vocabulary recommended by the International Association of Wood Anatomists. A database structure that allows for continual addition of new data, both text and images, will be designed and implemented, taking advantage of best practices in information science and digital libraries. A public Web interface, including multiple search and display options, will be developed and tested. Recent additions to the NCSU wood collections will be organized and examined to expand the database content. The database will also include a collaborator interface allowing wood anatomists and other subject specialists throughout the world to contribute new data and images to the project and will provide broad accessibility to data and images that might otherwise be lost to the scientific community.
Wood is an important renewable resource and has long had many uses. A publicly accessible wood identification tool, with many images for comparison of unknown woods to woods from research collections, will be useful in many contexts. Wood identification is of practical value to professionals in forensic science and customs law enforcement, and to antique dealers, museum conservators, and those who restore wooden buildings. Identification of ancient woods provides data useful for interpreting climate and vegetation changes through time and the interactions of early humans with their environment. Wood anatomy affects wood's material properties and tree physiology, so wood provides many examples of the relationships between form and function. Images in the database will illustrate variability in wood structure that is functionally significant. InsideWood will provide instructional material on wood anatomy useful for educators and students at the high school and university levels and for professionals such as extension agents and park personnel. This resource will enhance the study of plant relationships, ancient environments, and forest biology and ecology.
