This relational database holds the data in various tables. This allows our database to be fully accessed by anyone with a computer linked to the internet. Maps are made on the fly using the Xerox Parc Map Viewer. All latitude and longitude data used to generate maps are from published sources and are listed in tables and referenced. In most cases, the individual specimens used to populate our database can be tracked to their repository location for verification.
Ecological data is needed to fit cephalopods in global models.
Predator and prey species are listed for 69 and 80 cephalopod species, respectively. We also maintain the International Directory of Cephalopod Workers to help foster global collaboration. OBIS and Web Philosophy OBIS is an important concept and potentially provides a relational mapping function far superior to Xerox Parc Map Viewer. It is critical to recognize at the outset that by adopting the distributed system approach OBIS will acquire a responsibility to a potentially vast clientele that will ultimately expect them to maintain and freeze' their service, just as Xerox Parc did. Once large numbers people came to depend on the Map Viewer, Xerox was essentially forced' to maintain it.