New Zealand BUGS bibliography and database - Abstract
This document is a slightly modified version of the abstract and introduction originally published in the Bulletin of the Entomological Society of New Zealand 11, February 1992, ISSN 0110-4527 and on the Silver CD-ROM `BUGS' on- disc (J. A. Jasperse, editor), September 1992, ISBN 0-908654-43- 0.
This version was prepared by Trevor Crosby, 31 March 1996.
Ramsay, G. W.; Crosby, T. K. 1992. Bibliography of New Zealand terrestrial invertebrates 1775-1985, and guide to the associated information retrieval database BUGS. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of New Zealand 11: 1-440.
This bibliography and its associated information retrieval database, BUGS, cover all the available literature concerned with non-marine invertebrates of the New Zealand subregion for the 210-year period 1775 to 1985. The bibliography lists approximately 14500 references to information in about 950 periodicals and numerous books, as well as about 750 theses and projects of New Zealand universities. Literature concerning both endemic species and those which are adventive or introduced is included: many of the introduced species from the Northern Hemisphere and Australia are pests of agricultural and horticultural significance, and form a significant proportion of the New Zealand economic literature.
The references are arranged in 19 independent sections, with each section being a separate bibliography: Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Residual Insect Orders, Arachnida, Residual Arthropoda, Annelida, Mollusca, Nematoda, Platyhelminthes, Protozoa, Residual Invertebrate Phyla, Aves, Mammalia, Residual Vertebrates, University Theses and Research Projects, and Pesticides. It is estimated that the coverage for all terrestrial invertebrates is 95% of the core literature and at least 60% of the popular literature.
The introductory section includes a history of the development of the project and a brief review of computerised information retrieval. The standards used in compiling the bibliography and the BUGS database are set out and fully explained. A detailed guide is given with examples on how to search the database. The information content of references was recorded using a thesaurus of 4000 content descriptors; these descriptors are listed to demonstrate the depth of indexing of the information and the very wide range of topics and aspects it is possible to search, e.g., vertebrates as hosts or as predators of invertebrates, chemicals and other materials and techniques used in pest control, or medical or veterinary topics concerned with invertebrates. Searches may be narrow or wide-ranging, e.g., on a particular pest species or on all members of its family. The bibliography has no detailed subject index for the references, as this function is fulfilled by the BUGS database.
Keywords: bibliography; literature; thesaurus; New Zealand subregion; terrestrial invertebrates; computerised information retrieval; BUGS computer database; agriculture; horticulture; medical entomology; veterinary entomology; ecology; biodiversity; endemic species; introduced species; pest species; control methods; Arthropoda; Insecta; insects; Coleoptera; beetles; Diptera; flies; Hemiptera; true bugs; Hymenoptera; wasps; Lepidoptera; moths; butterflies; Arachnida; mites; spiders; centipedes; millipedes; crustaceans; Annelida; worms; Mollusca; snails; slugs; Nematoda; round worms; Platyhelminthes; flat worms; Protozoa; Vertebrata; Aves; birds; Mammalia; mammals; fish; amphibians; reptiles; university theses; pesticides.
Introduction
Aim
The aim of this bibliography and its associated database is to document the sources of written information about the non- marine invertebrates of the New Zealand subregion, and to provide a key to the knowledge contained therein.Recorded knowledge can be considered to be the single most important tool of the researcher. Therefore, in order that productive and efficient research may be carried out, it is essential that information be easily found and obtained. There is always the possibility that existing knowledge may be missed or ignored, resulting in research being unnecessarily duplicated. It is hoped that the bibliography and database will minimise such a problem. Every publicly available source of information about New Zealand non-marine invertebrates is listed.
The information retrieval service is available using BUGS database on the 1992 CD-ROM Silver and the 1994 CD-ROM Spectrum (which contains a further 1500 references 1985- 1993). The actual literature may be obtained or borrowed from the Mt Albert Research Centre Library, Auckland (where copies are held of every source listed in the bibliography, except university theses and projects), or from other scientific libraries.
We consider the special features of this bibliography and database to be their completeness and the detail with which the information content of their reference sources has been indexed. All aspects of information about non-marine invertebrates have been covered, including all early literature from as far back as publications dealing with insects collected on Captain James Cook's first voyage to New Zealand in 1769. Literature concerning both endemic species and those which are adventive or introduced is included: many of the introduced species from the Northern Hemisphere and Australia are pests of agricultural and horticultural significance, and form a significant proportion of the New Zealand economic literature. The database can be searched for a wide range of topics, including medical and veterinary topics concerned with invertebrates, vertebrates as hosts or predators of invertebrates, chemicals and other materials and techniques used in pest control, and references to a particular pest species or family.
Knowledge of the New Zealand fauna may be regarded as part of the nation's scientific capital, and the return on this is the use that is made of it. We suggest that the role of the bibliography and BUGS database is to increase and facilitate use of the resource, thereby increasing the return on the capital investment. At Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, Mt Albert Research Centre, Auckland, a complete service is available for the non-marine arthropods of the New Zealand subregion, especially insects and mites -- specimens are identified (using the New Zealand Arthropod Collection), sources of information about them are found (using the bibliography and BUGS database), and the information itself is available in the Library.
Alternative information sources
This bibliography and database are not the only sources of information about New Zealand non-marine invertebrates. New Zealand bibliographies such as Miller's (1956) "Bibliography of New Zealand Entomology 1[7]75-1952 (with annotations)" and Grover (1980) are available, as are New Zealand databases such as STIX (New Zealand Science and Technology Index) which is accessible on KIWINET. STIX is the public version of SIRIS (Scientific and Industrial Research Information Service) -- a bibliographic database of New Zealand science started in 1980 (mainly DSIR staff publications, and work published by DSIR). This is also now available on the Spectrum CD-ROM published in 1994.International databases, such as those available on CD-ROM or DIALOG, e.g., CAB Abstracts and BIOSIS, or international abstracting journals such as Zoological Record, Biological Abstracts, and Entomology Abstracts (available as either printed copies or online), are good sources of information for the core literature.
Bibliography
The bibliography lists the references on which the BUGS database is built. It may be consulted for various purposes in addition to providing authoritative reference data. How many papers did an author produce on a particular subject? Over what period was certain work published? Missing citation data can be found. It is even useful for browsing through when inspiration and ideas are needed.
BUGS Database
BUGS is a database of the information contained in the bibliography references. It provides authoritative listings of references to general or specialised topics according to the search criteria specified. The references can be displayed on a computer screen, printed onto paper, or written to a computer file.BUGS is relatively simple to use, listing information sources about any topic or combination of topics included in the Thesaurus. It should facilitate the preparation of reference citations. Further, it is possible to discover gaps in our knowledge easily and with confidence.
Journal titles
This section comprises an alphabetical listing of the standard abbreviations for the 950 periodicals cited in the bibliography, together with their full titles. The abbreviation standards followed are those of ISO 833 and BIOSIS.
Thesaurus
The thesaurus is a listing of approximately 4000 unique terms.These terms are organised alphabetically and hierarchically, and have been used to process the information content of the references listed in the bibliography. The thesaurus is, in effect, the detailed subject index to the bibliography and should be consulted when accessing the BUGS database.
A hierarchical list of the numerical codes is provided so that the coding system can be studied, and also so numerical codes can be translated should they appear on printouts in response to special retrieval requests.
Comments and queries about this document to Trevor Crosby, curator NZAC / Email
