A Microcomputer Based System for Computer-Aided Wood Identification

A microcomputer based system (GUESS) was developed for using large databases on small microcomputers for computer-aided wood identification. The extensive user interface makes program operation easy and permits the user to concentrate on sample description. The system is being used successfully for wood identification using the databases computerised at North Carolina State University. The system is flexible and can be used with various suitably formatted databases. The program helps the user to select a small list of taxa that can be critically compared to the unknown sample using reference collections and descriptions in the literature. The lists of features used in the databases are selected for their utility for identification, but these lists of features should not be construed to be adequate for complete taxonomic descriptions.