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Building the book of life UK biologists and scientists are joining experts from all over the world to build an online Encyclopaedia of Life (EoL), recording material on every known species on the planet. 
The owl is one of the species which will make up the Encyclopaedia of Life When it is complete, in about 10 years time, it will detail all the 1.8 million animals, plants and other forms of life known to man. Accessible to all A huge database will be at the centre of what the organisers call "an ecosystem of websites which makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world". The goal, they say, "is to create a constantly evolving encyclopaedia that lives on the internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike". Translating into local languages To make it even more accessible, EoL will be working with people and organisations across the globe to translate the content into local languages. International consortium The Natural History Museum in London and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew are part of an international consortium of leading scientific institutions creating this online resource. When it is complete it will be used to help policy-makers, scientists, teachers, student and others to better understand planet earth and all who inhabit it. Photographs, video and sound Each species will have its own page which will include photographs, video, audio clips and maps, collected and written by experts. The vast database will initially concentrate on animals, plants and fungi, with microbes to follow. Fossil species may eventually be added. Over £30 million in grants The main partners are the US Field Museum, Harvard University, the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Smithsonian Institution and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Over £30 million in grants from charitable foundations and academic institutions have been pledged to the project so far. 
Grizzly bear: signing him up for the Enyclopaedia of Life Building an internet repository James Edwards, the newly-appointed director of EoL which is coordinating the work, says that "over the next 10 years it will build a repository of information on internet pages with pictures, video, sound and location maps of all the earth's species". The sheer volume of material currently available online is extensive, he says, but is scattered throughout hundreds of different websites. Scanning millions of pages What EoL will do, through the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) - a consortium of major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries and research institutions - is scan and digitise millions of pages of scientific literature. Graham Higley, chairman of BHL and head of information services at London's Natural History Museum, says that an important part of the job will be to identify species where information is thin and try to make it more comprehensive and usable. Vetted by experts Everything will be vetted by experts before appearing on the site. There will also be a section for what the organisers call "citizen scientists", individuals and groups who observe the natural world as a hobby. 
建立生命百科全书数据库
英国生物学家和科学家目前正在联手世界各地的有关专家，共同建立一个网上生命百科全书数据库，收集记录地球上每一个已知物种。
猫头鹰被写入生活百科全书 这项工程将历时近十年，详细介绍地球上人类已知的所有180万种动植物以及其他形式的生命。 方便所有人获取 这是一个庞大的数据体系，创办者称之为“网络生态系统中心，便于为世界上每个角落的每个人提供一切关于地球生物的重要信息”。
创办者表示，建立这个数据库的目的就是“在科学家和业余爱好者所提供数据资料的基础上，创建一个不断更新的生物百科数据库”。 语言本土化 为了使数据库资料的获取更为便捷，生命百科全书数据库的成员将与全球相关人士和机构达成合作协议，将网页内容翻译成不同语种。 国际联盟 伦敦国家自然历史博物馆和英国皇家植物园是其中两个参与创建这一网上资料库的国际性科学研究机构。 数据库一旦建成，它将有助于决策者、科学家、教师、学生和其他群体更深入地了解地球以及地球上赖以生存的生物。 图片、视频和音频资料 每个物种将设立专门的网页进行介绍，并在上面附有由专家撰写并收集的对应物种的图片、视频、音频资料以及该物种的基因组。 这个庞大的在线百科全书主要以介绍动植物和菌类为主，以后还会陆续加入微生物。此外，化石类也有可能被最终纳入其中。 捐助资金超过3，000亿英镑 生命百科全书计划的主导者是美国费尔德博物馆、哈佛大学、海洋生物实验室、史密森学会以及生物多样性遗产保护协会。目前，社会各界的慈善组织以及学院机构已经承诺为此项计划捐款，筹款金额已超过3，000亿英镑。
灰熊:确定将它纳入《生命百科全书》 创建互联网数据库 生命百科全书计划新任命执行总监James Edwards来协调该计划的实施。他说：“在未来十年，我们将建成一个丰富的互联网页数据资源库，以图片、图像、声音以及当地地图的形式，为大家提供地球上全部已知物种的详细资料”。 他表示，目前网上专门介绍有关地球生命的资料尽管很多很广，但是却被分散在成百上千个不同的网页。 对数百万网页进行扫描 “生命百科全书”的执行团队所要做的工作就是，通过生物多样性遗产保护协会——国家各大重点自然历史博物馆、植物馆以及研究机构的联盟——的协助，来浏览查询和研究数百万页计的数字科学文献。 生物多样性遗产保护协会会长兼伦敦自然历史博物馆资讯服务处负责人Graham Higley表示，这项计划的一个重要的工作就是，在资料不足的情况下签别物种，并尽可能地充实资料，使其更具价值。 专家把关 所有在资料被上传到“生命百科全书”网站之前，都要经过专家的审核。 创办者还专门设置了一个被称之为“公民科学家”的专栏，以鼓励对自然界感兴趣的业余个人或团体参与其中。 滴答网在此感谢英国驻广州总领事馆提供稿件 |
