similar constellations of characters for phyletic and phylogene¬ 
tic studies; and so on. The taxonomic matrix is amenable to 
practically every standard and some highly innovative techniques 
used by systematists, and is therefore both highly useful and 
repetitive in nature. We anticipate continued preparation and 
maintenance of matrices by specialists working with individually 
selected groups, since this is what is currently taking place. 
Thus, a matrix including all the genera of snakes from Central 
and South America is maintained in the Division of Reptiles of 
the National Museum, with constant revision and 
place as new information becomes available, and 
currently functional as an identification tool, 
under the contract of the Museum with a private 
is available for use by workers anywhere in the 
right now, under special circumstances. Were there a national 
biological network it would still be maintained at no expense 
to anyone else, since it is a current research tool for the staff. 
It is expected, of course, that those with matrices in other 
areas would make them equally available at no cost to the National 
Museum, and this should be part of the thinking with regard 
to a national network. 
addition taking 
the matrix is 
It is maintained 
contractor, but 
United States 
Several papers and abstracts have been published concerning 
the taxonomic matrix, and additional material is in press. 
Copies of available materials were attached to the NSF material. 
3. REPETITIVE QUERIES. Since the thinking with regard 
to MUDPIE has been primarily by museum biologists, it is natural 
that some work has been done in the direction of use of time- 
shared computers in the public exhibit area. Both the American 
Museum and the National Museum have prepared operational systems 
which have been actually tested in exhibit areas, and there can 
be no question but that it is completely feasible to make time¬ 
sharing a direct adjunct to and an educational extension of 
the standard museum exhibit. A manuscript concerning this use 
has been submitted to the "Museum Journal," and a copy of it was 
attached,to the NSFmaterial. 
This particular device has been of considerable interest 
outside the museum research community, since it is of fairly 
obvious use and significance to museums which are strictly ex¬ 
hibit oriented. Our original thinking was that each museum 
could take responsibility for a sector of knowledge, and each 
would make his file available to the other participant museums. 
This was demonstrated as viable by the two museums mentioned 
above, with the American Museum writing a file on mammals, and 
the National Museum doing one on reptiles and amphibians. The 
two files, stored with CEIR, could be accessed from either mu¬ 
seum, and questions on mammals originating in the National Mu¬ 
seum were easily answered from the American Museum file. It 
seems very likely that this system could be implemented in such 
a way that non-participant organizations, such as trail-side 
museums, would pay a small fee for each access to the files 
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