Modifiable digital identification keys

Abstract

The Open Key Editor (OKE) is a tool for editing and enriching existing identification keys and to produce localized ‘minikeys’ that apply to local flora and fauna, such as in parks, nature reserves and school gardens, or keys that apply to a particular season. The minikeys are easier to use than their originals, simply because of the fact that they deal with less species, their language can be adapted to a particular audience (e.g. pupils), and because they always point to species that are known to be present. OKE also allows the inclusion of user-generated content in any minikey (new text, images, hyperlinks etc.). The output of minikeys can be automatically tailored for display on computers, smartphones or PDA’s.