The inventory of Artisanal Fishery Communities in the Western and Central
The CD Builder
The whole data collection system
architecture construction was developed taking into
account the nature of the data, their origin, dynamicity
and so on. The ArtFiMed database was firstly constructed
around such a model and made available to all parties
concerned. At the same time a CD (Cd Rom) model
architecture was also developed taking into account the
end-users requirements, the mass and type of data, the
frequency of updating, the coverage, etc. The whole
architecture was built around three blocks constituting
the CD-Backbone (static), the Data Cruncher (dynamic) and
the CD-Builder, respectively. The static part of this
architecture (the Backbone) was the first to be defined,
finalised and safeguarded (logos, map contours, indexes,
radio buttons, texts, captions, etc.).
Additional
material was extracted from the database, in a structured
way making used of rigid standards and a strict directory
system for subsidiary data. Results from the routine
processing and analysis were memorised according to the
nature of the process needed, type of files, dates,
areas, species, gear, etc. The Data Cruncher searched for
data according to fixed models and/or dynamically built
model according to the situation. Comparative analyses
were constructed and performed by fishery typologies and
communities, on a national and regional basis and
according to the availability of the data. For regional
matching purposes, sometimes, data is normalised and
grouped into macro variables (seasons, gear, species
groups, fishing zones).
The CD-Builder constitutes the
pride of the system. Tables, graphs, statistical
routines, dynamic construction of sentences, estimates,
shaping of maps and positioning of live points, tree-structured
links and net connections are all generated dynamically
by Janus software, using dynamic structures to be finally
assembled in the CD. The result is a CD Rom containing
updated results that can be produced at any time directly
by the users, by just running the Janus program
interfaced to the ArtFiMed DataBase This process is
executed each time a new set of data is included in the
system or when the database is up dated with new data or
edited. The CD Rom is ready to be used.interface A two-way
interface represented by the Roman mythological God two-faced
Janus was developed specifically for this application.
The tool is dual-faced, i.e., it has the CD on one side
and the database on the other. In this context the
database must be a Census DataBase or ArtFiMed.
Simply
speaking, Janus reads, manipulates, crunches, archives,
associates, etc., all the information according to a
model, transforms it into HTML and replaces the old data
with new ones. In fact, in our model, Janus interacts
indifferently from the ArtFiMed DataBase to the CD, or
from the Census DataBase (GFCM-MedStat sample) to the
ArtFiMed Database and again to the CD. Janus has been
found to be a useful tool to also present census data in
Hypertextual format soon after the completion of the
Census. It will also enable the user to compare census
data with the results of the inventory of artisanal
fishery communities, and vice-versa. It is expected that
the extensive use of this tool (or methodology), would
contribute to a better visual assessment of the changes
of artisanal fishery communities or larger areas both at
national and regional level. A c omparative analysis
between different artisanal fishery data domains, by year
and by country, could also serve as a prototype for these
communities management.
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For full documentation see :
S.R. Coppola. Improvement of Fishery Statistical System in Mediterranean Countries under FAO Projects. The Med-Stat Adaptive approach. GFCM-FAO. Rome, May 2001