![]() The main results of the testing activity, as summarized by Martellos and Nimis ( 2015), were: The main outcome, mainly based on Focus Groups involving 676 persons and on more than 25.000 questionnaires, brought to a new design of the query interfaces. Feedback was collected from a wide range of users, differing in age, skills, background and interests, in the framework of the European Projects KeyToNature (Nimis 2010), VIBRANT (Dave and Smith 2010), Open Discovery Space ( ) and SiiT ( ). We have addressed several issues related to the usability of online biodiversity resources by analysing feedback from users, customising the query systems and interfaces accordingly. The creation of a computer-aided identification tool for all lichens of Italy is a challenging task, involving an understanding of principles, technologies, domain knowledge and terminology, as well as pedagogical skills. The present paper details the main features of the new keys, which are produced using FRIDA, an original software (Martellos 2010) that generates both multi-entry and classical dichotomous keys, integrated into a single query system. Separate, nationwide dichotomous keys to given families and/or genera are also being produced, which will be eventually integrated into a complete national key they are available online at. A first comprehensive key, including all species known from Northern Italy (2.239 infrageneric taxa) has been already published online for testing (Nimis 2019). This first step can be followed by either a field-guide-like page, illustrating the remaining taxa, or (as in the case of our keys) by a dynamically generated single-access key to those taxa only.Īfter the completion of a new checklist of the lichens of Italy (Nimis 2016), and its incorporation into ITALIC, the online information system on the lichens of Italy (Nimis and Martellos 2002 Martellos 2012), work has started on the preparation of a computer-aided lichen flora of the country, containing keys and descriptions. While in a free-access key users must select a single character state at each step of the identification process, multi-entry keys permit to use several characters at the same time, via a multi-character query-form. Well-known free-access key for lichens are those provided by LIAS (Rambold et al. 2000 onwards), NaviKey (Neubacher and Rambold 2005 onwards), and Xper3 (Vignes Lebbe et al. Examples are DELTA-IntKey (Dallwitz et al. Although printable free-access keys do exist, they are most suitable for computer-aided identification tools, and have a long development history. Thus, a free-access key is the set of all possible single-access keys that arise by permutating the order of characters. Whereas in a single-access key the sequence of choices (decisions) is fixed by the author (providing a single path to each result), in a free-access key it is up to users, which, at every step, can select from a list one character state at a time. ![]() Free-access keys (also known as matrix keys) are alternative to single-access keys. ![]() The advent of computers has allowed the generation of other types of keys, such as free-access and multi-entry keys (Hagedorn et al. The equivalent term in computer science is “decision tree” (Hagedorn et al. ![]() The generalizing term “single-access key” is used here to include both dichotomous and polytomous keys. Dichotomous keys are a special case of polytomous keys, and a key may be also a mixture of simple polytomous and complex dichotomous choices. All leads that need to be evaluated for a single decision form a “couplet”. The structure of such keys typically consists of a series of alternative statements, called “leads”. Traditionally, most identification tools for lichens were paper-published as dichotomous, or more rarely polytomous keys. ![]()
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