TT40: BioCatalogue: A Curated Web Service Registry for the Life Science Community (ISMB 2009)

Franck Tanoh

They estimate 3000+ web services in life sciences, and we need to find out information for them beyond even just where they can be found. People who have an interest in such services: users, developers, service providers (big and small), and tool developers. Their curation consists of: free text, tags, CV, automated WSDL ripping and analytics, automated monitor and testing, partner feeds.

Next came a demo of biocatalogue. You can bookmark lots of services, even without signing up. Categories are created based on service function and discipline. There is also a history of who adds what and when, to aid attribution. The state of the service is shown with an icon. You can find the description and information on any costs or licensing restrictions. The input and output of the services have their own description. Soon, they’ll support batch services.

They’ll have test scripts that monitor the services, and they’d love to get loads of people involved.

FriendFeed Discussion

Please note that this post is merely my notes on the presentation. They are not guaranteed to be correct, and unless explicitly stated are not my opinions. They do not reflect the opinions of my employers. Any errors you can happily assume to be mine and no-one else’s. I’m happy to correct any errors you may spot – just let me know!