3I, a new program for creating Internet-accessible interactive keys

Dmitry A. Dmitriev

Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820, USA. E-mail: proceps@mail.ru

A new program, 3I (Internet-accessible interactive identification), was designed for creating Internet-accessible interactive keys. The program is based on Microsoft Access 2000 database and a set of ASP pages (Active Server Pages).

Examples of 3I keys:

• Leafhopper tribes
• New World membracid tribes (by C.H. Dietrich)
• Genera of the tribe Erythroneurini (coauthored with C.H. Dietrich)
• Genera of the tribe Proconiini (coauthored with D.M. Takiya)

The main features of the 3I keys:

• Multientry polytomous keys, with unlimited number of characters, character states, and taxa.
• Multi-language (possibility to translate the key to several languages). (Example 1 - Eng, Example 2 - Rus)
• After each step of identification, the characters not relevant for further identification are removed from the list.
• Characters are sorted in two ways: according to morphology, or how useful they are for identification (with the best characters at the beginning of the list).
• Characters are hyperlinked to explanatory images. (Example)
• Taxa are hyperlinked to descriptions. (Example)
• Descriptions are generated automatically. (Example)
• Each taxon have a list of synonyms generated automatically. (Example 1, Example 2)
• Distribution map generated automatically. (Example 1, Example 2)
• Descriptions include a list of related literature. (Example)
• The key can handle taxa of different hierarchical levels (species, genera, tribes, etc.). The number of hierarchical levels is unlimited. The program can also be used for phyletic or numerical taxonomy.
• Simple search of the taxon name (including synonyms). (Example)
• Datamatrices can be converted for phylogenetic analysis.
• An option to import an existing datamatrix to the database.
• The key stores individual preferences for all users visiting the web site.
• The database can be used separately for collection management.
• If necessary, all data from the database can easily be converted into another format.