A COMPREHENSIVE DATAMODEL FOR KARYOLOGICAL DATABASES

A project-independent data model for the entire range of karyological information provides a comprehensive picture of all data items present ly used in karyological research and characterizes their logical inter -relation. It is presented in the form of a hierarchical decomposition of the subject matter down to attribute-level data items. The applied analytical methods are relevant for the structuring of information in other branches of biology. Only sporadic and inconsistent efforts hav e previously been made to make the huge amount of available karyologic al information accessible in electronic form. In the view of growing d emand for the availability of scientific data on computer networks, fu rther attempts are to be expected presently. The present data model pr ovides a framework for the design of individual databases and ensures compatibility of the resulting datasets.