Access nodes may have various specific goals.   Each institution or network of institutions that acts as a node was likely established to fulfill local/regional needs directly or indirectly related to bird monitoring.  In their role as AKN nodes, however, they share AKN-specific goals, including:

• Identify and organize regional or protocol driven datasets
• Provide data archiving and management tools for local data providers
• Provide data in BMDE format to the AKN via the DiGIR tool
• Host/build node-specific visualization and analysis tools
• Act as mirrors of other node databases and tools for backup
• Promote AKN at the local level
• Assist in outreach and development of local expertise