Multiple-Entry Keys

Multiple-Entry keys offer a major advantage over the Dichotomous Keys used traditionally in most of Botany and in many other fields in which species identification is important.  While Dichotomous Keys present a major roadblock to inexperienced users, there is also a different problem with Multiple-Entry keys that has so-far not been overcome in keys intended for use by inexperts.

This page covers different aspects of Multiple-Entry keys - - especially those built using the XID system for publishing Multiple-Entry databases. A mostly downloadable copy of an XID Test Database has already been described under Identify the Family of your plant. A mostly equivalent version of the same database in the Lucid Multiple-Entry system for execution from the Internet is linked below.

Of special interest in the San Diego community is the XID database covering Wildflowers of San Diego, and published on CD in late 2007 by Flora-ID Northwest.  

Descriptive papers and User-Guides:

• Search Strategy for Wildflower CD on San Diego Wildflowers by Flora-ID NW - - PDF Version
    
  
• Taxonomic Databases for Inexperienced Users - Missing-Data Problem  - - 
  • PDF Version
  • Teacher-led Web-Conferencing discussions of our ID Method
    

Identification Exercises:

• Plant Photos with No Species Identification
    

Test Database in Lucid:

Lucid is a system for building Multiple-Entry databases that competes with XID.  You can now run a Lucid key that contains most of the data exported from XID for this same test database.  To start the Lucid key, or read pages that compare the two systems, go to Lucid Key to SD Families.

This page last modified on 21 May, 2009 ======== Return to Ken Bowles' SD Wildflowers page