<< Building a classification

Having discovered that the majority of bird names in Chapin fall outside any of the modern checklists available to us we transposed the existing classification within the book itself. This classification was then indexed against our names index and stored as an alternative classification.

The names are passed to the name server where they try to fit the 11,000+ names to one or more classifications. The result is stored as a file. This file contains both hierarchy and circumscription (via synonymy) information. Either of these aspects can be linked to the name server for dynamic updates.

This allows us to customize the hierarchy but still obtain additional synonym and vernacular information as it is added to the name server. The current hierarchy is primarily based on the Aves while some other groups (such as the plants in this text) have not yet been indexed in the server and so are only generally classified.