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<div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000" size="2" face="Tahoma">This is a bit out of the blue, and I haven't had the chance to look into it fully, but...</font></div>
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<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">is there allowance for Biostatus in the new Dariwn Core format?</font></div>
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<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">An imprtant, and common field - ie Biostatus occurrence, locality, and status, eg "Present Indigenous"</font></div>
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<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">Kevin</font></div>
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<font size="2" face="Tahoma"><b>From:</b> tdwg-content-bounces@lists.tdwg.org [tdwg-content-bounces@lists.tdwg.org] On Behalf Of Nico Cellinese [ncellinese@flmnh.ufl.edu]<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, 10 September 2009 4:04 a.m.<br>
<b>To:</b> tdwg-content@lists.tdwg.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [tdwg-content] NESCent Phyloinformatics VoCamp<br>
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<div>NESCent Phyloinformatics VoCamp<br>
<br>
OPEN CALL FOR PARTICIPATION<br>
<br>
Integrating diverse biological data with the historical process of evolution<br>
is a grand challenge for 21st century biology. The interoperability of data<br>
from diverse fields (e.g., genetics, ecology, biodiversity, biomedicine)<br>
requires a technology infrastructure based on formalized, shared<br>
vocabularies. Developing such vocabularies is a community project. In<br>
order to build controlled vocabularies and ontologies, the National<br>
Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent: <a href="http://nescent.org/" target="_blank">http://nescent.org</a>) is sponsoring a<br>
"Phyloinformatics VoCamp".<br>
<br>
We invite scientists from diverse sub-disciplines to apply for this event,<br>
as explained below. The application deadline is September 18, 2009. More<br>
information about motivation, plans, and preliminary ideas is available<br>
online at <a href="http://bit.ly/VoCamp_Proposal" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/VoCamp_Proposal</a>. Feel free to disseminate this<br>
notice to colleagues who may be interested.*<br>
<br>
A VoCamp (<a href="http://vocamp.org/" target="_blank">http://vocamp.org</a>) is an intense, hands-on, working meeting with<br>
face-to-face interactions between a diverse group of people focused on<br>
vocabulary and ontology design, development and application. The<br>
Phyloinformatics VoCamp will include ontology and vocabulary developers from<br>
relevant efforts, experts on knowledge representation and reasoning, and<br>
users and developers of integrative applications that use these ontologies.<br>
<br>
This event will partially overlap with the Biodiversity Information<br>
Standards (TDWG: <a href="http://tdwg.org/" target="_blank">http://tdwg.org</a>) Annual Conference in Montpellier, France,<br>
November 9-13, 2009. The VoCamp is an activity of the TDWG Interest Group<br>
on Phylogenetics Standards (<a href="http://wiki.tdwg.org/Phylogenetics" target="_blank">http://wiki.tdwg.org/Phylogenetics</a>) and is<br>
partly supported by TDWG and the Université Montpellier.<br>
<br>
GOALS AND ACTIVITIES<br>
--------------------<br>
The objective of the event is to connect previously disparate ontology<br>
development efforts, stakeholder communities, and interoperability<br>
initiatives with shared objectives. Aside from sharing knowledge, expertise,<br>
and best practices, our goal is to build-out existing ontology resources in<br>
a hands-on manner in terms of ontological rigor, semantic richness, and<br>
modularity that supports effective reuse.<br>
<br>
We also plan to have programming expertise and activities present at the<br>
event, such as for necessary large-scale transformations, and especially for<br>
proof-of-concept applications that directly apply the ontologies being<br>
developed.<br>
<br>
On a long-term basis, we anticipate that the event, if successful, will give<br>
rise to similarly structured follow-up events organized by the participating<br>
stakeholder communities, such as TDWG, SONet<br>
(<a href="http://sonet.ecoinformatics.org/" target="_blank">http://sonet.ecoinformatics.org</a>), and OBO (<a href="http://www.obofoundry.org/" target="_blank">http://www.obofoundry.org</a>).<br>
<br>
<br>
ORGANIZATION<br>
------------<br>
The VoCamp will be 4 days in duration during November 7-11, 2009 and is<br>
co-located with the TDWG annual conference<br>
(<a href="http://www.tdwg.org/conference2009" target="_blank">http://www.tdwg.org/conference2009</a>) in Montpellier, France. The first two<br>
days (Nov 7-8) will be dedicated entirely to VoCamp and the remainder of the<br>
event (Nov 10-11) will overlap with TDWG 'workshops days'. Participants<br>
will have the opportunity, and are encouraged, to interact with TDWG<br>
participants and attend conference sessions outside of the VoCamp.<br>
<br>
The specific vocabulary development targets will be selected by the<br>
participants partly in advance through a dedicated area on a wiki, a mailing<br>
list, and one or more conference calls, and partly on-site through an Open<br>
Space activity. The exact agenda for the event will be developed similarly,<br>
but will be largely devoted to ontology and vocabulary development time. At<br>
the event itself, participants will self-organize into small subgroups<br>
focused on particular targets. The VoCamp will conclude with a wrap-up<br>
session, and a report presented to the TDWG conference audience.<br>
<br>
We also anticipate that several "boot camps" will be needed to ensure a<br>
productive event for all participants, for example on ontology design and<br>
engineering, reasoning, and infrastructure for collaborative development of<br>
ontologies.<br>
<br>
We welcome comments and suggestions for issues in ontology development that<br>
are not explicitly addressed here or in our proposal but that could be<br>
addressed at the event. Please email the organizers at <a href="mailto:vocamp1@nescent.org">vocamp1@nescent.org</a><br>
with any suggestions.<br>
<br>
<br>
HOW TO APPLY<br>
------------<br>
The application consists of your cv and your responses to 6 questions about<br>
your experience, skills, objectives, support, and commitment to open<br>
software development. To apply, please fill out the online form at<br>
<a href="http://bit.ly/VoCamp_Form" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/VoCamp_Form</a> by September 18, and submit your CV to the<br>
organizers at <a href="mailto:vocamp1@nescent.org">vocamp1@nescent.org</a>. NESCent will provide funds in support of<br>
expenses, including travel, accommodation, registration, and meals. Pending<br>
the final amount of funds available and the support requested by the<br>
participants, sponsorship may need to be capped. <br>
Logistical and travel details will be communicated to accepted and confirmed<br>
participants.<br>
<br>
We specifically encourage applications from members of under- represented<br>
groups, specifically women and minorities, and from graduate students and<br>
post-docs. If you have questions or are unsure whether to apply, please<br>
contact an organizer or write to <a href="mailto:vocamp1@nescent.org">vocamp1@nescent.org</a> .<br>
<br>
Please understand that funding and space for this event are limited. <br>
We also need to balance a critical mass of expertise in specific areas with<br>
broad participation. Therefore, not all qualified applicants can be<br>
guaranteed acceptance.<br>
<br>
Yours,<br>
<br>
The Organizing Committee<br>
<br>
Arlin Stoltzfus, Chair (University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute) <br>
Nico Cellinese (University of Florida) <br>
Karen Cranston (Field Museum of Natural History) <br>
Hilmar Lapp (NESCent) <br>
Sheldon McKay (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, iPlant Collaborative) <br>
Enrico Pontelli (New Mexico State University)<br>
<br>
<br>
* This announcement is being sent to the following lists: evoldir, TDWG,<br>
SSB, nexml, phylows, CDAO, SONet, GBIF, Ecolog, TAXACOM.<br>
<br>
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