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Creation and Maintenance of the Online Citrus Greening Database

The Citrus Greening Bibliographical Database is managed jointly by the Entomology group at the University of Florida – IFAS in Immokalee and the Florida Center for Library Automation in Gainesville and continues to be a widely used source for information on citrus greening (HLB) for researchers, growers, and students worldwide. The database was designed to be a centralized source of current, relevant information with an accessible, user-friendly interface. Entries represent research from around the world on the various aspects of HLB, including the associated bacteria (Candidatus Liberibacter spp.), the vectors [Diaphorina citri Kuwayama and Trioza erytrea], effects of the disease on plants and vectors, and management tactics. We now have over 2100 citations, 86% of which are linked to their original sources. While the majority of the entries are in English (86%), with remaining 14% of the entries are in Spanish, Portuguese, Afrikaans, Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Vietnamese, Dutch, Farsi, Arabic, Czech, Thai, and Hebrew as the intention of the database is to serve the international research community. During the last quarter (January to April 2012) there were 273 visits to the home page, 143 of which were new, first time visitors to the site. There were 16,400 articles viewed from the site from more than 10 countries. We have continued to increase our audience by expanding outreach efforts in Germany and Brazil through global insecticide research and development groups and introducing it to the members of the Insecticide Resistant Action Committee (IRAC). We have added new, information to the database as well as continued to develop the official Facebook page which continues to expand each month. We now have close to 30 fans of the page. We have also continued to develop the HLB database listserv to encourage open, dynamic communication among individuals around the world who have an interest in sharing information on Citrus greening related issues. This project has been presented to researchers and students in several national and international meetings in the U.S, Germany, Brazil, and Mexico and continues to have increased exposure within the research community through citrus research and extension web pages that have published links to our database (see partial list below). Our goal for the next quarter is to continue mining and uploading the most current HLB related information, enhancing the relevance and visibility of the HLB/Greening Facebook page and the listserv service, increasing our efforts to connect to the international citrus/HLB community, and maintaining the high level of data quality by continually checking the data for accuracy and relevance. Selected external links to the database: (1) Strategic planning for the Florida Citrus Industry: Addressing citrus Greening [http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12880&page=217] (2) FCPRAC request for proposals 2009 [www.fcprac.com/proposals-2009.html] (3)Florida Entomological Society. [www.flaentsoc.org/]. (4) The Grower’s Citrus Greening Resource Center. [www.growermagazine.com/CitrusGreeningResearchCenter] (5) University of Florida Entomology and Nematology Pest Alert. Gainesville FL. [www.entnemdept.ufl.edu/pestalert/] (6) University of Florida- IFAS- Extension CREC. [www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/greening/links.htm] (7) Southern Plant Diagnosis Network [http://www.sepdn.org/webfm_send/158]