9726045 Blum This workshop would bring together experts from several fields to develop reasonable protocols for handling authority files that are needed to efficiently computerize natural history data. The absence of the protocols and therefore the files themselves has hampered the development of biodiversity informatics. WWW access to such data is critically needed by decision-makers and scientists both nationally and internationally. This workshop project represents a strong partnership among the Bishop Museum, the USGS/Biological Resources Division, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System project, and the digital libraries and natural history collections communities. Careful planning will be undertaken by all concerned parties so that the results of the workshop will be concrete and will further the development of a biodiversity informatics infrastructure for the U.S., which will in turn be part of a global biodiversity informatics infrastructure.
