History

In 1972, Ernst Rudolf Reichl founded this institution, then under the name ZOODAT. Originally, ZOODAT focused on entomological and faunistic research. In 1993, ZOODAT moved to the newly established Research Institute for Environmental Informatics at the Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museum.

In 1999, ZOBODAT was taken over by the state of Upper Austria and was simultaneously renamed ZOBODAT, as it was expanded to include the field of botany. Since 2000, the database has been accessible online. The current third version of ZOBODAT was developed in collaboration with the company Interactive Systems and has been available since 2014.

Objectives

The web offering of ZOBODAT serves as a supporting tool for individuals conducting or interested in natural science research. ZOBODAT provides data on:

• Literature with zoological, botanical, and geoscientific background
• Information on specimens from the Upper Austrian State Museum. The long-term goal is to digitally represent all analog content from the institution's collections.
• Information on numerous species of animals, plants, and fungi
• Biographies of biologists

A particular focus is placed on data related to Austria and, to a lesser extent, Germany.