New perspectives for the Annelida collection (National Museum/UFRJ) database: using data visualization to analyze and manage biological collections
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/Keywords:
Polychaetes, Biological collection, Management, Interactive visual representationsAbstract
Collection management faces many challenges in keeping stored items preserved and the information associated
with them accurate and organized. It is essential for the expansion and use of this biodiversity repository that the
database is unambiguous and that errors are quickly identified and corrected. This work aims to show the use of
interactive visual representations (IVRs) of the collection’s metadata as tools to inspect the data and help solve
these challenges. To do this, we used the Annelida collection database from the National Museum (MN) of the
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Interactive graphs of the metadata within this database (catalog
date, taxonomic identification and determiners, sampling, depth, geographic localization, and collector data) were
created with the Altair library in the Python 3 language. Data analyses using these graphs made it possible to
identify anomalous patterns in the data and fill in missing records. They also provided an understanding of the
spatial and bathymetric distribution of the specimens deposited over time, and the growth rate of the collection in
each family, thus projecting future growth and solutions for the physical organization of vials. Graphs are an ally
in the management of collections with digital entry forms and aim to facilitate the availability of metadata associated
with cataloged specimens. Likewise, IVRs can even be used to give credit to the researchers involved in building
biological collections. Thus, visualization tools are efficient in recognizing global patterns present in databases and
solving biological collection management tasks.
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