NAPCC PlantCollections
PlantCollections, a database system for web-based querying, will link the databases of 15 participating institutions as a first step in coordinating a continent-wide approach to plant germplasm perservation. The system is being developed by 15 public gardens who are part of the North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC), a part of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA, formerly American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta). PlantCollections will link databases using a protocol developed at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center called DiGIR (Distributed Generic Information Retrieval). Upon completion of this 3-year project, anyone with access to the internet will be able to search up-to-date plant collections data from participating institutions through a Web portal.The NAPCC is a network of botanical gardens and arboreta in North America that coordinates and improves the collective living plant collections of North America and enhances the conservation and availability of plant germplasm for current and future use. Funding for this project was provided by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency in the U.S., and by in-kind contributions from the following participating institutions:
- American Public Gardens Association
- Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas
- Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
- Chicago Botanic Garden
- Ganna Walska Lotusland
- Highstead Arboretum
- Huntington Library, Museum and Botanic Garden
- Landis Arboretum
- Missouri Botanical Garden
- Mt. Cuba Center, Inc.
- Norfolk Botanical Garden
- North Carolina Arboretum
- San Francisco Botanical Garden
- Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
- Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College
- The Morton Arboretum
- United States National Arboretum
- University of Washington Botanic Garden
Examples of other projects using the DiGIR protocol include:
- ORNithological Information System
- Mammal Networked Information System
- herpnet.org: a global network between databases of herpetological collections in natural history museums
- fishnet2.net: search over 20 million fish specimens worldwide
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- Ocean Biogeographic Information System