In one of the most ambitious collective intellectual undertakings in human history, scientists from Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution and the Atlas of Living Australia will compile a comprehensive online encyclopedia of all the known species on Earth — that's 1.8 million entries. The project is expected to take 10 years.

The database, the Encyclopedia of Life (www.eol.org), will be freely accessible to anyone in the world with a computer. Species descriptions will be accompanied by "pictures, maps, videos, sound, sightings by amateurs and links to entire genomes and scientific journal papers," according to the Associated Press.

As the encyclopedia's future executive director told the AP, the end result will be "an interactive zoo" housing every species in the world.

It's hard to know exactly what to say in looking ahead to such a breakthrough in information.

Beyond the huge importance of the database-to-be for members of the scientific community — particularly those in regions of the world lacking modern library resources and research facilities — the founding of the Encyclopedia of Life signifies an important international gesture in a global climate fraught with contention.

It is refreshing to see such a concerted effort put forth by a diverse group of scientists from around the world without any overt political or economic motivations.

A Smithsonian official speaking to the AP about the encyclopedia said it best: "The democracy of science can't be overemphasized."

The new effort begs the question, if scientists with expertise in biology and other life sciences are able to pull it off, what's to stop experts in other fields from doing the same thing?

Unlike the pages of popular online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia, all of the official content in the Encyclopedia of Life will be reviewed and edited by recognized experts so that entries will make up a legitimate academic database.

Imagine the possibilities for similarly comprehensive databases in the physical sciences, social sciences, humanities or the arts.

Further, the Encyclopedia of Life will be available at different levels of complexity, from a full-detail "expert" level to a just-the-basics "novice" level. This in itself is an intriguing concept, but the notion of an all-encompassing virtual textbook with adjustable complexity could revolutionize the way we teach these subjects.

If Bill Gates' recent predictions on the phase-out of printed materials in the near future prove accurate, Web-based education will become markedly more widespread in our lifetimes.

Theoretically, a core of online databases or single integrated online database covering material across the disciplines could eventually form the basis for quality, standardized public school curricula around the world. Standardized testing might even start to make some sense if such a reality ever comes about.

In the face of the ecological disaster that global warming threatens to bring about in the coming decades, it is essential that children everywhere are given a solid foundation in science learning. The interactive nature of the Encyclopedia of Life will likely be of particular interest to children, especially once the planned section on dinosaurs is added.

And, in what is perhaps a sad twist, immediate updates to the encyclopedia's content, including population data, will enable children and scientists alike to watch as various species become endangered or extinct.

The new database may be described as a number of things: an inspiring example of international cooperation for the greater global good, a progressive model for education in the future and even a tool for ecological vigilance.

The Encyclopedia of Life is going to set a new high standard for academic databases, and probably also change the way we think about going to the zoo.

Reach columnist Andrew D. Brown at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.