Electronic Guide to Wildflowers: Maintaining an Online Database for Natural Areas

Abstract

An online guide to wildflowers of the Saylorville Lake Recreation Area, Des Moines River Basin, Polk Co., Iowa, is maintained as a public information project in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Each wildflower is represented by a digital image and scientific description. Digitally created diagrams of leaf and flower structure are also included. Issues associated with maintenance of the online guide are discussed. These include: (a) collection of data and online delivery methods, (b) features of a traditional guide compared to those of an electronic guide delivered online, (c) an electronic guide as a database, (d) incorporatig online data in CD-ROM and PDF formats, and (e) publishing online data through the peer review process.