XVI International Botanical Congess

The International Plant Names Index (IPNI), a distributed database of names and basic bibliographical data of seed plants, will go online at the end of 1999. Based on three databases, Index Kewensis, the Gray Card Index, and the Australian Plant Names Index, merging is underway and will be accompanied by preliminary standardisation and editing using TL2, BPH/2, etc. IPNI includes names at all hierarchical levels and information on the types of many names. Errors of either commission or omission can be sent directly to IPNI, changes submitted will appear in real time, after checking by editors will, whether accepted or not, become part of the permanent record of IPNI. IPNI, freely available on the web, queryable in a variety of ways, and kept current, will be an essential resource for all using names and will obviate the need to recheck basic bibliographic information.