Ardelean

biodivDP is an original information system that can be used both for accumulation and dissemination of biodiversity specific data. This system, currently used by the PlanktonNet website, has an array of features that makes it suitable to projects of which audience range from specialists to general public. The internal organization of this system allows packaging of information at various levels of abstractedness without affecting the quality of primary data. biodivDP has a template system for every level of organization and a true modular structure which ease considerably modifications and additions to its user interface. Because design is separated from database interaction, changes in interface can be done by people with basic programming skills. With inclusion of AJAX, biodivDP comes with a new navigation concept: there are no limits on the number of modules loaded in the interface at a given time feature that makes possible investigation of various types of information at the same time. Flexibility of the biodivDP extends beyond technical aspects deep into the biological realm through a set of features useful both for applications focusing on taxonomic groups, specific habitats, or geographic areas. biodivDP accepts an unlimited number of taxonomic standards and classification schemas. This feature keeps primary information up to date without a need to reprocess data and also accommodates alternative investigation by users with various levels of education, scientific opinions, or scope. Without additional programming, the data model can be extended with an unlimited number of additional fields to accommodate any standard (Darwin Core, ABCD, custom fields). This flexibility makes biodivDP system suitable also for projects focusing on monitoring and specimen collections and to data providers for OBIS or GBIF.