EDIS - Background

Background

EDIS organisation

The Entomological Data Information System (EDIS) was a co-operative research project jointly undertaken by a number of leading German natural history museums and university institutions in the area of biodiversity informatics. The purpose of EDIS was to facilitate access to information about insects and other arthropods for biodiversity research and for the general public by developing and linking relevant databases and information tools established by EDIS partner institutions. The information provided by EDIS includes data about insects from a wide variety of sources ranging from molecular sequences, digital images and sounds to geographic distribution maps [see also below: EDIS goals].

The EDIS project was co-ordinated at the State Museum of Natural History, Stuttgart, Germany, and comprised six separate sub-projects undertaken by different partner institutions [see below: EDIS contacts]. The databases and information systems developed by EDIS are in the public domain and are all accessible via a central internet gateway developed in co-operation with the Department of Systematic Botany and Ecology at the University of Ulm, Germany, making use of the SYSTAX database system (in German). The individual EDIS sub-projects are implemented independently by the respective research institutions, and focus on specific issues on questions on selected insect groups [see EDIS partners].

The EDIS project was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) under its BIOLOG program through the Department of Biosystems Research (Projektträger Biosystemforschung) of the German Center of Aviation and Aerospace Research (DLR) as implementing agency. The funding regime provided support for a period of 3 years, and the project submitted its final report (pdf-file, 3,55 MB) in 2004. Additional support for the project was provided by all EDIS partner institutions taking part in the implementation of the work program.

The information provided by EDIS is primarily intended for use by research and development, but also for users with other backgrounds with a general interest in insects. All information provided is free of use, but users are requested to pay tribute and acknowledge the origin of the data.

EDIS goals

The EDIS project aims at the following:

	developing and improving methods to access digitized biodiversity data (on insects);
	development and extension of databases on insects using specimen, literature, multimedial and molecular data;
	linking databases containing various insect biodiversity data through a common access point;
	providing a common gateway to a variety of information sources about insects in general.

EDIS workplan

The EDIS project officially started on 1^st April 2000, and the project timeline was for a period of 3 years. During this time a workshop was held each year. These meetings were intended to further communication between the project groups, to present and evaluate preliminary results, to discuss methods and techniques and to channel future activities.

EDIS contacts

	EDIS projects
	Coordination of the EDIS project:

Joachim Holstein
State Museum of Natural History
Rosenstein 1
D-70191 Stuttgart, Germany
Phone +49-711-8936-234
Fax: +49-711-8936-100
Email: jholstein@gmx.de

Christoph Häuser
Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde
Rosenstein 1
D-70191 Stuttgart, Germany
Phone: +49-711-8936-223
Fax: +49-711-8936-100
Email: chaeuser@gmx.de

State Museum of Natural History, Stuttgart

Latest update 2005-05-31

Development of these websites was supported by the
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the
State Museum of Natural History (SMNS), Stuttgart, Germany.
© Joachim Holstein, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany