Curated databases

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Curated databases are databases that are populated and updated with a great deal of human effort. Most reference works that one traditionally found on the reference shelves of libraries – dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers etc. –are now curated databases. Since it is now easy to publish databases on the web, there has been an explosion in the number of new curated databases used in scientific research. The value of curated databases lies in the organization and the quality of the data they contain. Like the paper reference works they have replaced, they usually represent the efforts of a dedicated group of people to produce a definitive description of some subject area.