It is probably best described as an information manager. It is not a database, nor is it a programming language, though it contains features of both. The HyperCard program is difficult to classify.
#LINAEUS AND FILE CARDS SOFTWARE#
The Macintosh computer, which is easy to use and provides impressive graphics capabilities (Estep and Sieburth 1986), and the recently introduced HyperCard software (Goodman 1987, 1988) make this type of system possible.
The intent was to improve on written keys and to add rapid access to written and pictorial information, including the explanation of unfamiliar terms. The system was to be used in a manner similar to the written schemes known to taxonomists as keys-descriptions of each distinguishing feature of a taxonomic group that are arranged to guide identification of specimens. One of us (K.W.E.) has worked for several years to create a taxonomic identification system inexpensive and simple enough for the average biologist to use on his or her desktop personal computer. Currently such powerful artificial-intelligence systems are run on mainframe computers, which are not accessible to the average biologist.
#LINAEUS AND FILE CARDS UPDATE#
These systems collect a large amount of taxonomic information in a single database, retrieve information rapidly, and update information easily. The advent of computer databases that collect and apply the expertise of specialists has led to proposals for computer systems to assist in identification of organisms by scientists who are not taxonomists. Despite more than 200 years of collection and identification, only approximately 10% of the 3-10 million species of organisms now alive (Margulis and Schwartz 1988) have been recorded and identified. Until recently, preparation and maintenance of botanical and zoological collections was the major task of biologists.
Naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) invented the binomial system of nomenclature and was responsible for the organization of the present taxonomic system. Since the 1700s, when naturalists began to collect and classify what they thought of as the order and beauty of God's creation, taxonomy has been prominent in biology.
Linnaeus: Interactive taxonomy using the Macintosh computer and HyperCard
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