Digital Databases
and Web Tools to Support Teaching and Extension of Plant Pathology
in Brazil
Emerson
Del Ponte and Valmir Duarte
Department of Fitossanidade, Agronomy
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
Brazil
Introduction
The use of the Web to deliver content to support teaching and
extension activities in plant pathology is very recent in Brazil.
Virtually nothing relevant existed prior 2000, and we have seen
an exponential increase in the number of web sites on the subject
in the recent years. Many dozens of websites with pertinent information
on different aspects of plant pathology are now available in the
country. However, not many have made effective use of the medium
either by integrating sophisticated technology or by continuously
updating the content with reliable and accurate information. We
briefly report on our experience in the development of digital
databases and tools for storage and delivery of content over the
web that support the teaching of plant pathology in Brazil. We
present five projects we have been coordinating and briefly discuss
their status, challenges and future directions.
Projects
Project 1
Online Manual for Identification of Seed Pathogens
Established in 2002, we aimed at providing useful information
to aid seed pathogen identification. The database-driven website
allows one to consult a list of pathogens by host or group of
pathogens (fungi, bacteria, etc.), and to do a text-search on
scientific names of seed pathogens. Each pathogen has information
on pathogen preferred name, other names, main and alternative
hosts, importance, detection method, characteristics and references.
Images of pathogen growth on seeds or culture media are presented.
Project 2
Online Compendium of Plant Disease Fact Sheets
Released in 2002, the first version had a few static HTML web
pages. In 2004, a digital database and scripts were developed
to facilitate database management and user requests. Queries are
made first by group of hosts (vegetables, fruits, cereals, etc)
and then by selecting a host under the group. Fact sheets contain
information on: disease name, causal agent, importance, pathogen
description, symptoms, control measures, references and images
of disease symptoms. A glossary of terms, stored in the database,
is dynamically embedded every time a page is requested, and a
definition is shown in a window whenever the cursor rolls over
a highlighted term. Through a web interface, editors are allowed
to edit information on a specific group of hosts or single host,
according to their specialization. This ensures that the content
is edited only by qualified specialists.
Project 3
Crop Protection Photo Gallery
Established in the year 2003, this project aims to organize an
image database of pest- and disease-related problems or activities.
Digital images are taken by students enrolled in the departmental
courses and by staff at the plant clinic. Anyone who wants to
contribute to the gallery can upload his/her own images and input
related information by completing an online form. The uploaded
information is checked by an editor via a web interface. Each
image presents information on name the of the disease/problem,
causal agent, geographical location, description, author, and
date. The webpage shows menus for selecting images by host or
causal agent. There is also a search function for textual information.
Project 4
Plant Pathology Herbarium on the Web
Established in 2003, this project aimed to digitalize all information
on plant disease specimens held at the José Porfírio da Costa
Neto Herbarium. So far, 6969 records have been stored in the database
and are available on the web. Inquires to the Herbarium can be
made by selecting host name (common or scientific), pathogen name,
disease name and collector. A search by the timeframe that specimens
were collected is also available.
Project 5
Online Quizzes
This project, designed to test tools for delivering online quizzes,
is in the experimental stage. The quizzes available were made
with HotpotatoesTM,
a suite that includes six applications that enables creation of
interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword,
matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the web.
Discussion and Future Directions
After five years, we feel that the projects described above have
been well accepted by colleagues and students in Brazil and other
Portuguese-speaking countries, as an alternative to printed materials.
Most projects are the only resources of their kind available in
this language. Although there are remarkable databases worldwide,
students, instructors and even institutions can not afford to
buy several copies or licenses of books, CDs or online subscriptions
that are available. Language is also a barrier for most Brazilian
students and some instructors.
Our projects started as pilot experiments motivated by our personal
involvement and excitement with the potential exploration of the
medium. A minimal budget has been available for hours of dedicated,
course-related, or fellowship-based work by students. So far,
due to the academic nature of these projects it remains a challenge
to get funding from sources external to the University, because
available funds are still limited for such non-research related
projects in Brazil. Although the web is an excellent environment
for collaborative work, and the projects are designed for such,
it has been difficult to improve collaborations with colleagues,
which is crucial for the expansion of specific projects. Some
are reluctant to voluntarily share information or images that
will be freely distributed on the web. Therefore, content growth
rate is slower than we expect and a lot of information is yet
to be collected, worked on and stored.
We believe that the construction of on-line databases adds an
interesting teaching component to plant pathology courses. We
and other colleagues have been advising students on the development
of fact-sheets and image collections. Most students feel excited
when they know their work (and authoring) will be available on
line and not stored in a file cabinet, especially those who envision
a future career in plant pathology. Future work will focus on
the regular use of new technologies to improve the structure and
usability of the websites. A unique database and modular design
framework is desirable to link some projects, avoiding redundant
work. We are also evaluating the generation of content for CD-ROM
because of the low bandwidth and limited access to the Internet
in some regions in Brazil.
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