An entomological collections database model for INPA

Abstract

The National Institute for Amazon Research, INPA, has more than 40 years tradition in studying the Amazon, the biggest region of biodiversity on this planet. Millions of organisms, collected from the rainforest and its rivers were deposited in the collections of the institute. They are divided into six botanical, four microorganismal and nineteen zoological collections, consisting of vertebrates and invertebrates. The majority of the invertebrates are insects, which comprise the entomological collection. The aim of this work is to present a database model for this entomological collection. Entomologists at INPA were interviewed and the results have been evaluated to determine the information scope. The models of the Association of Systematic Collections, the Ohio State University and the Museum for Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, were used during the development of our model. The model presented here was constructed using concepts from the method Object Protocol Model (OPM). © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998.