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Resource Identification for a
Biological Collection Information Service in Europe Results of the Concerted Action Project |
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Resource Identification for a
Biological Collection Information Service in Europe Results of the Concerted Action Project |
[Contents] [BioCISE Home | The Survey | Collection catalogue | Software | Standards and Models]
Louis Réchaussat
Pp. 37-38 in: Berendsohn, W. G. (ed.), Resource Identification for a Biological Collection Information Service in Europe (BioCISE). - Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Dept. of Biodiversity Informatics.
Europe has a wide variety of biological resource centres acting as supply and
service organisations for the scientific research community and biotech
industries. CABRI, the Common Access to Biological Resources and Information
service, offers access to some of these centres. This common interest gateway
offers many advantages to both the centres and their user communities. Instead
of having to scrutinise a large number of databases, catalogues and other
sources of information, CABRI offers world-wide access to these databases and
allows one to simultaneously check on the availability of a particular type of
organism or genetic resource and to order the required items once located. Those
include: Bacteria and Archaea, Fungi, Yeasts, Plasmids, Phages, Animal and Human
Cells, DNA probes, Plant cells, and Plant viruses. CABRI also acts as a node in
the BioCISE network, representing an example for a degree of standardization
that other biological collections are still lacking.
The CABRI service has been built around quality and each member resource centre
has therefore contributed to defining the set of technical specifications and
procedures, which define the handling of each resource type. These procedures
are primarily based upon the centres own procedures but they have been peer
reviewed and approved before the catalogue has been mounted online. In this way
users of CABRI are guaranteed the highest quality materials and services. It is
our intention to expand the range of materials on offer by admitting other
centres with acceptable quality standards.
Each of the collections within CABRI has a wealth of specialist expertise that backs up the storage and delivery of cultures. A range of contract services is therefore also available and the centres can provide information on these on request. The adherence to agreed quality standards is assured through testing. The CABRI accreditation scheme for culture collections has been developed by reviewing and collating two principal sources: current methodologies used for accessioning material into member and other collections, and quality control standards already in use and appropriate for each biological resource category. The scheme has been checked by examining samples from each of the collections to compare methods and results.
In future, random checks will be carried out to test delivery performances, and other customer responses will be collected to measure customer satisfaction.
It is the goal of the CABRI member collections to provide customers with a high standard of service. This includes biological resources, information and related services. All of these items must meet the specifications laid down in the quality control guidelines, or the guidelines for catalogue production, which include the instructions for the submission of a flat file for indexing to CABRI.
A CABRI Technical Committee has been established to implement and enforce CABRI standards. This Committee also regularly audits both laboratory practices and delivery standards and thus ensures that the CABRI information procedures as well as content are kept current and abreast of the latest developments. CABRI aims to provide the most user-friendly approach to biological resourcing anywhere in the world.
The guidelines consist of four parts. (1) General guidelines for culture collections, (2) Request and handling deposits, (3) Maintenance of the deposits, and (4) Delivery to the customer. They cover procedures that as far as possible guarantee:
The guidelines are available over the World Wide Web (www.cabri.org). Part 1 provides a common view for all CABRI resources. Thereafter, information is provided at different levels of detail starting with the basic core procedures common to all collections, followed by specific protocols that provide basic information on standard techniques (as far as standardization has been achieved). Finally, there is detailed information on relevant local procedures that might be unique to a member collection. These local procedures have been independently refereed to ensure their scientific soundness.
The role of biological resource centres (BRC) is now recognised by national and international organisations as essential for the development of biotechnology. Networking the BRCs is becoming a priority for an appropriate access to biological and genetic resources. The quality control of biological material and data resources are the key issue of such a network.
CABRI is a first attempt and an original European contribution to the future "virtual" worldwide biological resource centre.
© BioCISE Secretariat. Email: biocise@, FAX: +49 (30) 841729-55
Address: Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem (BGBM), Freie
Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 6-8, D-14195 Berlin, Germany