Try the Submission Forms now! Familiarize yourself with the submission forms and the procedure.
Based on our previous experience with data acquisition,
we learned that the success of the plant virus database VIDE depended on
the willingness of individual plant virologists to contribute their expertise
via completion of lengthy hard copy questionnaires. The larger task of
completing ICTVdB depends on a similar collaborative effort, but will be
facilitated by electronic data input and management on the Web. Data submission
to ICTVdB on the Web can be tested by responding to questions (either multiple
choice, numerical specification or text input) built from the character
list, and/or by offering comments on each character. The character list
is available on the Web as a document,
and as data submission forms, which can be opened via 
.
A link to either site is included at the end of each virus description in ICTVdB.
Identified as EntVir (for enter virus; double entendre for entwirr!, imperative German for unravel), the contributor proceeds to identify her/himself, and follows the prompts, adding data that generate or improve the description of a virus in his/her area of expertise.
Figure 1: Flow diagram of template selection at the start of the data input procedure
A schematic flow diagram of this process is given in Figure 1, showing multiplicity of access to the character list that can be selected by an expert to commence data input. The submission process is being refined to provide access at different taxonomic levels and for different classes of data.
Guided by a coding template (the character list plus already available data will be provided upon request), the contributor proceeds to make additions, or proposes changes, to the data presented in her/his area of expertise. The existing natural language description, with images and links to other databases, can be consulted in the process of data submission. The author welcomes comments now from those willing to test the system thus far. Such comments will speed the development of the data acquisition system which is expected will be opened for general data input by Agust 1999.
Figure 2: Flow diagram of the data input and data review procedure
Figure 2 also shows that, subsequent to submission, data will be subject to review in two steps; by ICTVdB management to check for errors, and by ICTV Study Groups for formal approval. Management will generate a natural language translation of the description from data submitted, and this will be returned to the contributor for checking, and forwarded to the Study Groups for review. The expert team for each virus should begin to familiarize themselves with ICTVdB submission process now. Having later obtained approval of their updated descriptions for the next ICTV Report, it will be a simple mater to complete the ICTVdB submission.
Press now the Data Submission button for
a trial run
Created: July 1996 Last updated: 6 June 2002.