Approaches to neuroscience data integration.
As the number of neuroscience databases increases, the need for neuroscience data integration grows. This paper reviews and compares several approaches, including the Neuroscience Database Gateway (NDG), Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF) and Entrez Neuron, which enable neuroscience database annotation and integration. These approaches cover a range of activities spanning from registry, discovery and integration of a wide variety of neuroscience data sources. They also provide different user interfaces for browsing, querying and displaying query results. In Entrez Neuron, for example, four different facets or tree views (neuron, neuronal property, gene and drug) are used to hierarchically organize concepts that can be used for querying a collection of ontologies. The facets are also used to define the structure of the query results.
Cheung
Kei-Hoi
KH
Center for Medical Informatics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. kei.cheung@yale.edu
Lim
Ernest
E
Samwald
Matthias
M
Chen
Huajun
H
Marenco
Luis
L
Holford
Matthew E
ME
Morse
Thomas M
TM
Mutalik
Pradeep
P
Shepherd
Gordon M
GM
Miller
Perry L
PL
D003628:Database Management Systems; D016208:Databases, Factual; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D020407:Internet; D009488:Neurosciences / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled