Loxodonta africana. Gerald and Buff Corsi ©California Academy of Sciences

University of California, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

IPT FAQ

Unsure about IPT and your hosting options? Take a look at answers to frequently asked questions, below.

Ready to decide?
Yes, I'd like VertNet to host my resources.
Yes, I'd like to host resources at my own institution.

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Integrated Publishing Toolkit frequently asked questions

  1. What is the Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT)?
  2. Should we host our own IPT or let VertNet do it for us?
  3. How long will it take to set up our IPT?
  4. How much work is involved in maintaining our IPT?
  5. Do we need special computer hardware, software, or expertise to start or update our IPT?
  6. How much control do we have over what and how we publish?
  7. We have repatriated georeferenced data from the MaNIS, HerpNET, and/or ORNIS georeferencing projects that we've never incorporated into our database. Is now a good time to do that?
  8. To what conditions are we committing by publishing our data through IPT?
  9. What will happen to our DiGIR provider?
  10. Will my data still be searchable through a portal?
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  1. What is the Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT)?
    The Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) is a free, open-source, web-based data publishing tool developed by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), with significant support from the broad informatics community, including VertNet.

    The IPT is an open source web application designed to publish primary occurrence data, species checklists and taxonomies, and associated dataset metadata available for use on the Internet. Data are published as web-based Darwin Core Archives (simple ZIP files that contain tab-delimited or comma-separated text files organized using the Darwin Core Standard). The IPT is used by a growing number of data portals and aggregators globally.

    To learn more about the IPT, it’s key features, and technical attributes, please visit GBIF’s IPT web page.

  2. Should we host our own IPT or let VertNet do it for us?
    VertNet can either host your IPT, or you can host it yourself with VertNet support. There are benefits to both hosting options. The VN-hosted option, for example, eliminates the need for you to maintain a server. Hosting your own IPT would allow your institution to publish more than vertebrate records. In both cases, you retain control over all of your data (see #6 below). To help you decide, please take a look at the simple flowchart we’ve put together. However you choose, members of the VertNet team will help you to get everything set up and ready to go.

  3. How long will it take to set up our IPT?
    In most cases, installation times will range from a few hours to a few days — depending upon your availability, the availability of a VertNet team member to assist you, and the complexity of your data.

    In all cases, we will work with you to verify that you are able to extract your data, that your data are properly mapped to the Darwin Core Standard, and that you update the metadata associated with your publishable data set(s). If you choose to host your own IPT, we will ensure that VertNet, GBIF, and others have access to your data set(s).

  4. How much work is involved in maintaining our IPT?
    If VertNet hosts your IPT, there is no additional work required to maintain a server or other equipment.

    If you host your own IPT, there will be some routine maintenance on your part to assure the proper operation of the server on which your IPT resides.

    In all cases, you will continue to manage your data locally. It is up to you update the data set(s) in your IPT as often as you choose. We will discuss these options with you when we work together to publish your data in VertNet.

  5. Do we need special computer hardware, software, or expertise to start or update our IPT?
    If VertNet hosts your IPT, you will not need any special hardware, servers, or software. You only need to export data from your database into a text file (something a VertNet team member will confirm with you).

    If you host your own IPT, you will only need the free IPT software plus a stable, dedicated server computer that can be accessed persistently by VertNet to collect your data.

  6. How much control do we have over what is published?
    You decide what to publish and how often you update your data set(s). VertNet does not claim any ownership of your data. You will have the opportunity to set the terms of use and restrictions for your data set(s) prior to publication — a VertNet team member will discuss this with you when we begin your transition to IPT.

    Data for an entire organization can be published in one data set, or in data sets specific to independently curated collections. From the perspective of VertNet, we prefer that records from vertebrates are independent of records from other taxa. When we begin working with you to publish via IPT, we will discuss the details of the best way to accommodate the needs of your organization.

  7. I have repatriated georeference data from the MaNIS, HerpNET, and/or ORNIS georeferencing projects that I've never incorporated back into my database. Is now a good time to do that?
    Yes, now would be a great time to integrate your repatriated data back into your database. This will guarantee that your data are as useful and up-to-date as possible. A member of the VertNet team can discuss the best workflow to complete this process.

  8. To what conditions are we committing by publishing our data through IPT?
    The expectations for participation in the VertNet data portal remain the same as they have been since MaNIS was created in 2001. As a VertNet data publisher you are making a commitment to:
    • Maintain an accessible repository of high-quality specimen data.
    • Provide terms of use for these publicly accessible data.
    • Provide accompanying metadata about the collection.
    • Register your organization and data resources with GBIF so that users, search engines and portals can locate your data access point.
  9. What will happen to our DiGIR provider?
    We will help maintain your existing DiGIR provider until we launch the new VertNet publishing systems. Once we are confident that the new network is providing equivalent or improved services over those provided by the current networks, we will notify you. At that time, you may disable the DiGIR provider.

  10. Will my data still be searchable through a portal?
    Yes, your data will be available and searchable via the VertNet and GBIF data portals. We will harvest the data from your IPT instance and make it available for visualization and analysis, just as we do right now. The MaNIS/HerpNET/ORNIS/FishNet portals will continue to serve your data until the new VertNet provides services equivalent to or improved over those provided by the current networks.

    If you serve your data to other data portals, and those portals can harvest data from an IPT, your data will continue to be available via those services. If those other portals require a DiGIR provider, you will need to continue to maintain your local DiGIR server to continue your connection to those services.

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Ready to decide?

Yes, I'd like VertNet to host my resources.

Yes, I'd like to host resources at my own institution.