Database
During the project a database for the material being deposited at the King Abdul Aziz Marine Museum was constructed on the basis of the Senckenberg collection database SeSam. This is a web-based system that can be accessed with an internet browser from everywhere and with every system. The URL is kaumm.sesam.senckenberg.de. KAUMM stands for King Abdul Aziz University Marine Museum. This museum is planned and will be run by the Faculty of Marine sciences of KAU. So far the material collected in the joint biodiversity project is stored at Senckenberg in Frankfurt and will later be transferred to Jeddah when the installments are operational. The specimens receive KAUMM-catalogue numbers when entered in the database which can also be retrieved by a search.
The database allows full access to taxonomic and locality details. It also includes pictures of the specimens which so far have only been taken for a few species and specimens. Data are gradually entered after final identification. The progress can be seen on the management page of the database.
For collection management, the database has a label printing tool and also a possibility to extract data of a past search. This will be very useful after much more material is included.