All Rights Reserved. The retrospective data capture of all records was completed in June 1989 at which point a total of 216,000 records had been entered. The proof reading project was completed in 1995. In 1994 the Department of Herpetology, California Academy of Sciences and the Department of Herpetology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, developed an Internet site with the intent to afford researchers the ability to obtain basic information regarding collection holdings electronically. The Combined index to Herpetology Collections is a searchable database that summarizes the holdings of US and foreign museums.
Data are limited to genus, species and number of specimens per taxon for most institutions.
Currently, the database contains information for more than 25 museum collections. In 1994 the Department of Herpetology also introduced an Internet searchable list of the CAS holdings. Data available were limited to genus, species, country, and the number of specimens per taxon per country. In 2000, a searchable database containing all specimen related data was posted on the Internet. The database can be queried by 20 fields or by a combination of data fields.