Open Access Databases: Sciences

The archaeobotanical database is part of a research project that investigates the development of prehistoric wild plant floras of the Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean. The geographic area represented in the data, includes Greece, Turkey, Western Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Northern Egypt. The chronological frame comprises the Chalcolithic period, Bronze and Iron Ages, up to Medieval periods.
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Botanicus is a freely accessible portal to historic botanical literature from the Missouri Botanical Garden Library. Botanicus is made possible through support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, W.M. Keck Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Flora of Australia is designed to provide an authoritative synthesis of Australia's native and naturalised vascular plant biodiversity. This includes taxonomic information to support plant identification, including descriptions, distribution maps, images and diagnostic keys.

The Index to Plant Chromosome Numbers was an NSF funded project that aims to extract and index original plant chromosome numbers of naturally occurring and cultivated plants published throughout the world. A committee of voluntary contributing editors, located in various parts of the world, reviews sets of serial titles assigned to them and returns the information to the editors for collation in the Index and database. Chromosome indexes were published at two or three year intervals. The Index to Plant Chromosome Numbers project was based at the Missouri Botanical Garden since 1978. Data from published indexes from 1979 onward are available for consultation through this facility.

Database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of all seed plants. Product of the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew), the Harvard University Herbaria, and the Australian National Herbarium. Formerly known as Index Kiwensis.

Provides access to science collections that have been growing for over 170 years and to data and digital resources that support researchers.

Lebanon e-flora database is significant in being the first computerized tool for analyzing Lebanon’s floristic diversity. The primary objective of the project was to bring together all the floristic information available for Lebanon in a systematic and consistent way, making it accessible to a wide range of users. For each species, an identifying sheet is made available containing the taxonomic identity, synonyms, common name, location of specimens within herbariums in Lebanon, illustrations, detailed botanical description, recent photos, seed characteristics, florescence period, natural habitat, altitudinal range, distribution map, conservation status as well as genome size and chromosome count if available.

A collaborative, open-access web resource for scientists and scholars engaged in paleobotanical research. The goal of Paleobot.org is to bring together the archaeobotany community to share data, information, and expertise for the common purpose of improving the identification of archaeobotanical specimens.

The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.

This collection contains catalog records exported from the University of Michigan Herbarium's Fungus Collection's specimens. The database currently contains more than 24,000 records of the estimated 280,000 specimens in the collection, with collection dates ranging from the 1860s to the present. The records include such information as scientific name, common name, type, collector and collection date, and locality.

This collection contains photographs of fungi specimens, electron microscope spore photographs, and accompanying data records. These images are also the illustrative plates in the fungus monograph collection. They are searchable as a separate database and are linked from the book pages as well.

This collection contains images from the Herbarium's Krieger watercolor collection, along with records that describe them. Louis C. C. Krieger was a mycological artist who spent the years from 1918 to 1928 helping Baltimore physician and amateur mycologist Dr. Howard A. Kelly create a private mycological library. The watercolors shown here are from Dr. Kelly's library, which was donated to the University of Michigan in 1928. The database was created for this project, and resides in the library.

This collection contains specimen data and digital images of nearly 900 type specimens of algae from the University of Michigan Herbarium. These specimens are particularly valuable, since they are ones that are specifically designated to represent the scientific name of an organism whenever an author describes and publishes a new species or other rank.

This collection contains specimen data of the nearly 1800 "type specimens" of bryophytes at the University of Michigan Herbarium. These specimens are particularly valuable, since they are ones that are specifically designated to represent the scientific name of an organism whenever an author describes and publishes a new species or other rank.

The University of Michigan Herbarium (MICH) includes approximately 1.75 million specimens of vascular plants [ferns, gymnosperms, and flowering plants (~1.1 million)], algae (96,000), bryophytes (163,000), fungi (~280,000), and lichens (57,000). Herbarium MICH is known worldwide for the teaching and research conducted here in systematic botany and biodiversity studies and serves as a resource for the wider botanical community. The depth and breadth of our collection often enables us to provide assistance available nowhere else.

This collection contains specimen data of over 10,000 "type specimens" of fungi and lichens at the University of Michigan Herbarium. These specimens are particularly valuable, since they are ones that are specifically designated to represent the scientific name of an organism whenever an author describes and publishes a new species or other rank.

This collection contains catalog records, some accompanied by digital images, exported from the Fungus Collection's specimen collection. It contains more than 60,000 records with collection dates ranging from the 1860's to the present.

This collection contains full-text digitizations of three texts by L. R. (Lexemuel Ray) Hesler and eight texts by Alexander Hanchett Smith.

This digital collection contains specimen data and digital images of the nearly 10,000 "type specimens" of vascular plants at the University of Michigan Herbarium. These specimens are particularly valuable, since they are ones that are specifically designated to represent the scientific name of an organism whenever an author describes and publishes a new species or other rank.

Darwin Online is the largest and most widely consulted edition of the writings of Charles Darwin ever published. It is probably the most extensive scholarly website devoted to any historical figure. This website contains over 219,000 pages of searchable text and 226,000 electronic images, at least one exemplar of all known Darwin publications, reproduced to the highest scholarly standards, both as searchable text and electronic images of the originals. This website also provides the largest collection of Darwin's private papers and manuscripts ever published.

The scope of the GTR includes the test's purpose, methodology, validity, evidence of the test's usefulness, and laboratory contacts and credentials. The overarching goal of the GTR is to advance the public health and research into the genetic basis of health and disease.

Online access to 482 original Illustrated species sheets, with details on biology and distribution, as published by CIESM between 1924 and 1934. Each species sheet provides a comprehensive, detailed historic account of the morphology and biology as well as the geographic and depth distribution of Mediterranean marine species. This Series offers a unique glimpse on marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea, as seen and depicted by pioneers of marine biology.

This collection contains map images showing the locations in which fish have been recorded in Michigan. The atlas contains separate maps for 153 species. Records are keyed to indicate whether a voucher specimen is available in the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.

This collection contains catalog records of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology's Fish Division's specimen collection. The database currently contains more than 58,000 records, with collection dates ranging from the 1850s to the present. The records include such information as scientific name, common name, collector and collection date, locality, and preparation type. (Note: some records contain more complete information than others.)

This collection contains page images of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology's Fish Division's field notebooks, with accompanying data records. The records include such information as collection date, collection location, species collected, and related information. The database was created for this project, and resides in the library. (Note: some records contain more complete information than others.)

This collection contains descriptions of fish species from the Great Lakes region. These descriptions are modified from Hubbs' and Lagler's "Fishes of the Great Lakes Region," 2003, by G. R. Smith. The records include such information as family, scientific name, common name, general and specific descriptions, distribution, and ecology.

This collection contains images and descriptions of specimens from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology's Fish Division representing species found in the Great Lakes region. The database currently contains more than 600 records. The records include such information as scientific name, common name, size, and description.

An online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the University of Michigan. This resource is an online encyclopedia, a science learning tool, and a virtual museum.

AnimalBase is a service provided by the Zoological Institute of the University of Göttingen, Germany. A digital library of 800+ early printed books on zoology.

SORA is the world's first and largest open access ornithological publications archive. This resource is the product of collaborations between the American Ornithologists Union, the Cooper Ornithological Society, the Association of Field Ornithologists, the Wilson Ornithological Society and the University of New Mexico Libraries. SORA provides access to an extensive library of ornithological literature of international scope, and detailed material documenting the history of ornithology in North America over the last 120 years.

The Division of Reptiles and Amphibians maintains a collection that is worldwide in scope. Presently, the research collections contain 197,469 (through catalogue number UMMZ 242,000) catalogued lots representing 433,505 individual specimens. A collection of 37 audio tapes containing hundreds of recordings of anuran vocalizations has been digitized and can now be accessed via the Division's webpage, as well as catalogue records and digital images of all primary type specimens.

The Division of Reptiles and Amphibians maintains a collection that is worldwide in scope. Presently, the research collections contain 197,469 (through catalogue number UMMZ 242,000) catalogued lots representing 433,505 individual specimens. These represent 1,067 genera and 5,323 species of which 13,818 specimens are skeletons.

The Herpetology Field Notebooks Collection consists of approximately 286 field notebooks. These notebooks contain information related to the collection of Herpetology specimens held at the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ). While some of the notebooks are merely logbooks of collections with species identifications for each field number with places and dates, others have much more detailed information including field conditions, habitat notes, specimen descriptions including colors and measurements, as well as detailed maps.

The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Division of Reptiles and Amphibians, presently maintains a collection of radiograph film plates (some with images of caecilians). In order to make these more accessible for research, they are digitizing the film plates and associating them with diagrams of the individual specimens. Approximately 40% of the caecilian specimens are catalogued at UMMZ, while the rest exist in museum collections worldwide. They have borrowed research material from other museum collections with permission to digitize their radiographs. By sharing this collection of digital images associated with the diagrams of the individual specimens, this should be of great value to other museum collections in their efforts.

This collection contains catalog records from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology’s Insect Division's specimen collection. Specimens that have an image associated with the record, such as a label data image, are included here. Some records contain complete collection, preparation, and taxonomic detail, while others only have a specimen data image and limited taxonomic detail. Records include specimen information from the early 1800s through the present and are of global distribution. Most of our databased or digitized records currently are of Orthoptera (grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets), Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), and Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants). There are currently about 300,000 specimen recorded in the database and more specimen record images are being added frequently as the UMMZ Insect Division continues to work on digitizing the estimated 4.5 million specimens in the collection.

This collection contains catalog records exported from the University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology, Mammal Division's specimen collection, and selected specimen images. The database currently contains more than 22,000 records, with collection dates ranging from the 1830s to the present. The records include such information as scientific name, common name, collector and collection date, locality, and preparation type.