Data Entry procedure

If you are a first time user of the online ICTVdB data entry you must register before you can log on and start the submission process. The system is secure and only you will have access to the data records. All data are stored in a database, a "holding bin" for your records. After a submission is completed the "raw data" are emailed to you and the ICTVdB Mangement. The ICTVdB Management is checking the data for coding errors and will send you a copy of the record in readable ouput format (Natural Language Translation) for final corrections, before the submission is added to the main database.

How does the online data entry work?

1. Log in or register
2. Select a virus record from previous submissions for editing
3. Create a new virus record
4. Make a copy of an existing virus record
5. New virus record has been stored in database
6. Special data entry screen designed to simlpify isolate submissions.
7. Java script checking for submission errors (i.e. omissions) on special screen
8. Conventional EntVir data entry form prompted when editing a record
9. Save data at end of each form to EntVir database, NOT the main ICTVdB database
10. Final submission of data which sends an email to yourself and the ICTVdB Mangement
11. On-the-fly translation of the submitted data

Some questions on that first screen are mandatory (marked by an asterisk) and need to be provided before you can proceed with the submission.

The complete questionnaire contains about 3000 questions covering all aspects of all different type of viruses. A directory tree (document map) in the left side panel is provided for easy access to the different topics such as morphology, nucleic acid, genome, biological properties. Only a few question will be applicable for a given virus, thus we provided a mechanism to streamline "on the fly" the entering process. For example, if a virus is enveloped the next applicable questions will deal with the nature of the envelope, however, if the virus is not enveloped, all questions concerned with the envelope become inapplicable because they are irrelevant for the given virus. The system is prompting only those questions that are relevant to the choices you made. At the end of each screen save your data before proceeding to the next applicable screen which will be automatically prompted or by choosing from the directory the next relevant section for which you have data.

Data Entry History

The plant virologist have already been through such an exercise when they helped more than 15-20 years ago to gather data for VIDE, the plant virus database, which was the test model for ICTVdB. Dr Adrian Gibbs, the main player in this venture, has given ICTVdB the permission to incorporate all these data into ICTVdB. However, those data show their age and many are outdated. They are in urgent need of update.

The virus database is not only a depository to hold all the information in one place, but because of the standardized data input ICTVdB provides a uniform data structure necessary for interactive communication (interoperability) between other systems and for data manipulation and interrogation. Data from ICTVdB can be distributed to other systems because stored data can be translated into different formats. One of the formats is used to generate reports in natural language for virus descriptions that are accessible on the ICTVdB web site. An interactive identification tool is also available. The software needed for the identification program is free and must be downloaded on to your PC before you can to run an interactive identification session on the Web with the ICTVdB dataset.

Addtional reading

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