SOFIA - Development of a Digitial Library of Biological Information

The information systems project addresses the need for timely, high-quality and relevant information through the development of a digital library for the South Florida ecosystem. The digital library and related services will provide a comprehensive and coherent information system that facilitates the exchange, analysis and use of high-quality information resources across the diverse agencies, disciplines, and communities concerned with Everglades research, restoration and resource management.

To enable all stakeholders of the south Florida community to use sound science as a basis for informed planning decisions and resolution/prevention of resource-management problems, efforts to synthesize, manage and disseminate high-quality scientific information about the greater Everglades ecosystem have gained increasing support and urgency. The resulting digital library will provide a coherent, widely available, and enduring online repository that documents the scientific knowledge and tools created through USGS-related studies in south Florida. It will also complement and interoperate with other federal agency information systems such as the South Florida Information Access (SOFIA) (http://sofia.usgs.gov/), developed and sponsored by the USGS South Florida Ecosystem Program; the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Clearinghouse (http://www.nbii.gov/index.html) maintained by the USGS Biological Resources Division; and the National Digital Library (http://memory.loc.gov) maintained by the Library of Congress. The digital library is also designed to work together with leading state-sponsored initiatives such as "Everglades Online" (http://everglades.fiu.edu/eol/), and "Linking Florida's Natural Heritage" (http://susdl.fcla.edu/lfnh/).