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About us

The Xper3 team currently involves scientists and developers from three French institutions (Sorbonne University SU, National Museum of Natural History MNHN and the National Center for Scientific Research CNRS). The staff is hosted at the MNHN and the IT services at the DSI (IT System Department) of SU. 

Xper3 was launched for online access in late 2013. It is the latest version in a series of knowledge base management and identification tool software.

The first version was designed and developed by Jacques Lebbe in 1984 and his application to aid in the identification of mushrooms in metropolitan France was even put on the Minitel. (Lebbe J., 1986. Les champignons identifiés par ordinateur. Sciences Vie, oct. 1986, 829 : 126-130). It was quickly followed by biological and medical applications, for instance on Phlebotominae. (Lebbe J., Vignes R. & Dedet J.P. 1989. Computer-aided identification of Insect Vectors, Parasitology Today, 5, 9, 301-304, https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-4758(89)90025-2). The software was entirely redesigned and rewritten by the LIS team (Laboratory of Informatics and Systematics, directed by Régine Vignes Lebbe). The Xper2 version is an embedded software in java, available in all environments (windows, Mac and linux). The Xper3 version allowed to move to an online collaborative mode.

Various collaborators have contributed to the different developments, which have and continue to benefit from the support of the institutions SU (1 dedicated engineer), CNRS (1 Research engineer) and MNHN. Some portions of the software have been part of European projects (API Ikey+). Xper3 contributes today to many programs such as the PIA e-Col+, ANR, doctoral projects and participative science programs.

In 2023, a piloting committee has been established to supervise and guide the evolution of the platform.