Data Tracks

Incoming data are processed in batches (tracks) defined by the time of acquisition or type of data (i.e., specimen vouchered or unvouchered). New data tracks typically contain new records not previously included in the database except in some rare instances (see Instances of Record Duplication). The database is constantly growing and being improved upon and this work can be followed in the table below.

For some data tracks we may provide donor's verbatim data online before our editing process is complete. This will sometimes result in some records not being retrieved in certain online queries. For example if records lack georeferenced coordinates and thus also GIS-derived categorical field assignments (county, drainage, HUC, ecoregion, etc.) they will not be retrieved by queries of those fields. Always search the verbatim fields in addition our edited fields to find all records of interest.

Below is a table describing our datasets and our progress towards getting them included in the online database. Some data tracks may later be combined for processing and uploading depending on progress on each, which is largely tied to project funding. Some details below may change upon closer examination and editing of our datasets. For a complete summary of our project's status users should look at this table as well as Version Tracking, Institutions Contributing Data and What's New.

Data	Track1	Track2	Track3

Data	Track1	Track2	Track3
Data source	Ichthyology collections	Ichthyology collections	Ichthyology collections and various other sources
Voucher type	Museum specimens	Museum specimens	Museum specimens and non-vouchered sources
Data details	Received upon request from numerous institutions	Received upon request from numerous institutions	Received upon request directly from institutions and many downloaded directly from the internet via data aggregators or provider websites
FoTX version first available (see Version Tracking)	1.0 Beta	1.10; released as downloadable spreadsheet; further developed and integrated into database with version 2.0 of website.	3.00
Online availability details	All fields available including FoTX edits. Some data editing errors fixed in version 1.1. Records available are limited to those institutions granting permission (see Institutions Contributing Data)	All fields available including FoTX edits. Records available are limited to those institutions granting permission (see Institutions Contributing Data)	All datasets and fields available including FoTX edits at time of first publication.
Number of contributors to entire dataset (see Institutions Contributing Data)	33	9 new and 29 updates	73 new sources
Number of records (number changes over time as we "split" records due to changes in taxa determinations)	81,218	43,115	6,409
Dates of acquisition	11/1997 to 05/2006	04/2009 to 10/2010	10/2010 to 6/2020
Records compiled/formatted	yes	yes	yes
Records georeferenced	67,190	20,900	Many came with coordinates and very small amount were georeferenced or re-georeferenced by our team
Distinct georeferenced localities	5,729	2,510	?
Collecting events	10,954		?
Taxa synonymized with accepted names	yes	yes	yes
Geographic outliers flagged for verification	3,455	436	?
Geographic outliers verified	ongoing (4,993 lots examined as of 5/15/2015)	progressing (1,241 lots examined as of 5/15/2015)	progressing
Collection dates edited	3,114	yes	no
Collector names edited	yes	yes	no
Date range	1851 to 2006	1853-2010	?