Dataset Information

A unified platform to manage, share, and archive morphological and functional data in insect neuroscience.

ABSTRACT: Insect neuroscience generates vast amounts of highly diverse data, of which only a small fraction are findable, accessible and reusable. To promote an open data culture, we have therefore developed the InsectBrainDatabase (IBdb), a free online platform for insect neuroanatomical and functional data. The IBdb facilitates biological insight by enabling effective cross-species comparisons, by linking neural structure with function, and by serving as general information hub for insect neuroscience. The IBdb allows users to not only effectively locate and visualize data, but to make them widely available for easy, automated reuse via an application programming interface. A unique private mode of the database expands the IBdb functionality beyond public data deposition, additionally providing the means for managing, visualizing, and sharing of unpublished data. This dual function creates an incentive for data contribution early in data management workflows and eliminates the additional effort normally associated with publicly depositing research data.

SUBMITTER: Heinze S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8457822 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A unified platform to manage, share, and archive morphological and functional data in insect neuroscience.

Heinze Stanley S El Jundi Basil B Berg Bente G BG Homberg Uwe U Menzel Randolf R Pfeiffer Keram K Hensgen Ronja R Zittrell Frederick F Dacke Marie M Warrant Eric E Pfuhl Gerit G Rybak Jürgen J Tedore Kevin K

eLife 20210824

Insect neuroscience generates vast amounts of highly diverse data, of which only a small fraction are findable, accessible and reusable. To promote an open data culture, we have therefore developed the InsectBrainDatabase (<i>IBdb</i>), a free online platform for insect neuroanatomical and functional data. The <i>IBdb</i> facilitates biological insight by enabling effective cross-species comparisons, by linking neural structure with function, and by serving as general information hub for insect ...[more]

PMID: 34427185

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Project description:BackgroundNatural History science is characterised by a single immense goal (to document, describe and synthesise all facets pertaining to the diversity of life) that can only be addressed through a seemingly infinite series of smaller studies. The discipline's failure to meaningfully connect these small studies with natural history's goal has made it hard to demonstrate the value of natural history to a wider scientific community. Digital technologies provide the means to bridge this gap.ResultsWe describe the system architecture and template design of "Scratchpads", a data-publishing framework for groups of people to create their own social networks supporting natural history science. Scratchpads cater to the particular needs of individual research communities through a common database and system architecture. This is flexible and scalable enough to support multiple networks, each with its own choice of features, visual design, and constituent data. Our data model supports web services on standardised data elements that might be used by related initiatives such as GBIF and the Encyclopedia of Life. A Scratchpad allows users to organise data around user-defined or imported ontologies, including biological classifications. Automated semantic annotation and indexing is applied to all content, allowing users to navigate intuitively and curate diverse biological data, including content drawn from third party resources. A system of archiving citable pages allows stable referencing with unique identifiers and provides credit to contributors through normal citation processes.ConclusionOur framework http://scratchpads.eu/ currently serves more than 1,100 registered users across 100 sites, spanning academic, amateur and citizen-science audiences. These users have generated more than 130,000 nodes of content in the first two years of use. The template of our architecture may serve as a model to other research communities developing data publishing frameworks outside biodiversity research.

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Dataset Information

A unified platform to manage, share, and archive morphological and functional data in insect neuroscience.

Publications

A unified platform to manage, share, and archive morphological and functional data in insect neuroscience.

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