Through the looking glass: visualising taxonomic histories on the ARGA user interface for richer provenance.

The Australian Reference Genome Atlas (ARGA) empowers researchers to search for genomic data derived from Australia s biodiversity through a number of lenses, for example, taxonomy, ecology, and biogeography. Searching for data using taxonomy can be uniquely challenging. Genomic data are stored in repositories under the taxon name given to them when the data were generated, presenting snapshot views of specimens and their identities; but, specimen identifications can be fluid, particularly in light of genomic data, as can the taxonomy used to classify organisms. The changeability of taxonomy and specimen identifications makes name-driven searching fragile; this can be overcome programmatically using expansive alternative name frameworks, but, to be useful, these classifications must be maintained. Taxonomies are subject to expert opinion and are time-intensive to curate. Moreover, interpolating nomenclatural changes post-hoc onto genomic datasets introduces confusion, which reduces overall data transparency for end-users. If data indexed by ARGA are discovered via an alternative taxon name, is that because the organism identification was revised, or because the nomenclature changed? ARGA has developed timelined specimen and taxonomic histories, which enable users to see, in one platform, the full history of specimen identifications, and track changes in the nomenclature for those identifications. All identification and taxon metadata are displayed with metadata attributions, enabling ARGA users to visit sources as wanted. The ARGA metadata chains are critical for helping users: understand when, why and how any names have changed; and keep currency, so data may be reused with the identifiers that best describe accepted taxon concepts.