About Biota: Major FeaturesBiota 2 builds on the success of Biota 1, with a new interface and many new features based on 7 years of user experience managing specimen-based biodiversity and collections data for ecologists, biodiversity inventories, and collections managers in 40 countries and 47 U.S. states. Its easy-to-use graphical interface harnesses the power of a fully relational database powered by an industrial-grade engine (4th Dimension, www.4d.com ). With a comprehensive, profusely illustrated and cross-referenced Manual on CD and an introductory tutorial to back up intuitive menus and screens, Biota 2 offers a rich array of user-tested tools for rapid data input, update, maintenance, analysis, reporting, and Web publication. ImagesBiota 2 manages images linked to Species, Specimen, Collection and Locality records in any of 10 image formats. Thumbnail image arrays speed specimen identification, with transparent links to full external image files for zooming or editing. You can capture images from any TWAIN compliant device, directly from the Biota record you wish to link it to. ReferencesBiota 2 integrates a capable Reference manager for literature citation records, hot-linked to online sources, with relational links to Species, Specimen, Collection and Locality records. You can import citation files exported by reference management applications (optimized for EndNote). Web PublicationBiota 2 introduces a capable, onboard Web server (enabled with an additional licensing fee) offering Website visitors either easy, query-based access to data and images, or (if you choose) an extensive array of Biota's desktop query and browsing tools. As an alternative (which does not require the additional license), you can export virtually any selection of Biota records (including Species images) as hyperlinked, static web pages, ready to post on any Web server. Data Import And ExportBiota's powerful import tools help you convert your existing data, image, and literature reference files to Biota's relational structure. A wide array of text and image file export tools provides easy access to your data for analysis and publication using other applications. Additional FeaturesBiota 2 's features also include unlimited, user-definable Auxiliary fields and Projects (each with its own set of fields); re-namable core fields; authority/pick-list tools; one-screen input for historical specimens; recursive specimen relations (e.g., herbivore-plant, parasite-host, DNA-specimen); automatic archiving of a specimen determination "audit-trail"; flexible barcode/manual input for record entry, record retrieval, and loan management; and a password security system with multiple privilege levels. Who Uses Biota?Ecologists, Conservation Biologists, Reserve Managers, and BiogeographersBiota offers many advantages to anyone who works with spatially-referenced, taxonomically-classified specimen-based data. From 1 ha vegetation plots, to regional or protected-area biotic inventories, to continental-scale specimen databases, Biota saves you enormous amounts of time, frustration, and errors.
Taxonomists, Systematists, and Collections ManagersBiota offers rigorous tools for recording, updating, and archiving specimen determinations for collections, revisions, and evolutionary studies.
Platforms and FormatsBiota 2 is available for Windows (XP, NT, ME, or 2000) and Macintosh (native OS X, including 10. 4 [Tiger] or OS 9) in two application formats: BiotaAppBiotaApp is a stand-alone, single-user application with an integrated database engine (4D Engine) and onboard Web server. You need no additional software to run BiotaApp . (Continuous use of the Web server requires an additional license.) Biota4DBiota4D, intended for multiuser, networked environments, runs in true client/server mode under 4D Server (www.4d.com) Version 6.8 (not under 4D Server 2003 or 2004). With Biota4D, client machines can use any mix of Windows and Macintosh operating systems. Other than client/server readiness and multi-platform capability, Biota4D is functionally identical to BiotaApp, including the onboard Web server. (Continuous use of the Web server requires an additional license.) You must purchase 4D Server Version 6.8 directly from 4D, Inc. Contact Tracy Roberts at troberts@4d.com or 408-557-4672 for pricing or to place an order for 4D Server or 4D Server expansion licenses. (Be sure to mention Biota.) The basic purchase of Biota4D is licensed for 2 simultaneous users (2 "seats"), and also includes a 2-seat QPix license. (QPix is an image-handling plugin.) You must request the basic QPix license directly from Robert Colwell (colwell@uconn.edu) by email and install it in Biota4D. If you purchase 4D Server for more than 2 seats, you will also need to purchase additional Biota4D seats and an add-on QPix license to match the total (or a greater) number of seats as your 4D Server license. You can purchase add-on Biota4D licenses from Sinauer Associates. You can purchase add-on QPix licenses through Robert Colwell (colwell@uconn.edu) at a very substantial discount over the street price. Interchangeable Data FilesBiota Data Files can be used interchangeably with either BiotaApp or Biota4D, and are fully transportable between Macintosh and Windows operating systems, images and image links. NOTE: Biota 2 's onboard Web server can be used in demo mode one hour at a time; a separate license for a 4D Web Extension is required for continuous operation of the Web server. Biota itself does not require this license for full functionality. The 4D Web Extension must be purchased directly from Sinauer Associates. Download a BiotaApp 2 Demo todayBiotaApp demo versions are the full applications. They run for one hour at a time, including the onboard Web server, for up to 10 sessions. Click here to go to the Download page. For prices and ordering information, click here. Biota 2 Schema/ERDThe logical schema for a relational database such as Biota specifies the the entities (tables) attributes (fields) and relations (logical relationships) for the database, which can be visualized in an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD). Click here to display Appendix A from the the Biota 2 Manual, which provides a detailed description the shema for Biota 2. Published reviews of Biota 1Systematic Biology, Volume 46 (3), pages 574-575 (1997), reviewed by David Cannatella."...systematists, ecologists, and conservation biologists have muddled along without an effective tool for managing precious data. Rob Colwell has crafted Biota, a powerful and easy-to-use information management system that fills that need more than adequately....Biota is an extremely useful and perhaps unparalleled software tool for any biologist who manages biodiversity information." Ecology, Volume 78 (8), pages 2641-2642 (1997), reviewed by David Inouye."The Biota program appears to achieve all that is implied by its subtitle, The Biodiversity Database Manager. It is relatively inexpensive given all that it will do, it is easy to learn how to use, and it is flexible enough to be of use in a variety of applications. I expect that it may be widely adopted, and serve as a model for how a working ecologist can develop a software solution for a particular application, and then generalize it for an appreciative audience." Public Garden, Volume 13 (4), page 26 (1998), reviewed by Richard V. Piacentini."Biota is easy to install and to get up and running. The tutorial program is excellent, and quickly takes you through most of the important features of the program....Probably the most important feature in the program is that users can customize Biota by adding an unlimited number of user-defined auxiliary fields....Biota is a powerful program. It was designed to record collection data on biological specimens and this is where the program excels. Biota has a lot to recommend it, including price. At [the price], one would be hard pressed to find a program that does as much as this one....While Biota could be made to work effectively most gardens, its strongest application would be in those gardens that record and track wild collected data on their collections." Cimbebasia, Volume 15, pages 168-170 (1999), reviewed by Eugene Marais, National Museum of Namibia."Database development is even more difficult in developing countries with limited resources... This is the advantage of Biota--it is an "off-the-shelf," stand-alone application with comprehensive information management tools, costs appreciably less than other patented database applications, and addresses most biological information needs...Even better, it has an extensive and detailed manual...which facilitates training and troubleshooting during rather than before data capture...These features--"plug and play," a detailed manual, truly relational and continuous improvements--are the real strengths of Biota...Biota iscomprehensive, available, and allows full data-capture implementation within a couple of days after minimal training. Answers to questions are only a website or an e-mail away, which is more than can be said for most other products. Biota, as a full working database, costs less than general database application software, and arrives with a comprehensive manual to boot." Biota on the WebVisit these sites to see web pages automatically created by Biota. If your site uses Biota but is not listed, please send the URL. Biota 2 Dynamic Access Website (Running Under Biota 2's Onboard Web Server)A specimen-based arthropod inventory (Project ALAS), with many images:
Links to additional sites driven by Biota 2's onboard Web server will be posted as they appear. Biota 2 Static Pages Websites(All sites below rely on Biota 1's static Web page export, which is also available in Biota 2.) A species-based entomological site with many images: A species-based entomological site:
An elegant museum site with extensive spider collections online:
A field station site: |
