From wouter at ETI.UVA.NL Wed Nov 2 16:06:25 2005 From: wouter at ETI.UVA.NL (Wouter Addink) Date: Wed Apr 18 16:43:06 2007 Subject: TDWG-2005 SpeciesPages interest group Message-ID: At the TDWG meeting in St. Petersburg the SpeciesPages interest group was formed. This group will discuss the needs to exchange SpeciesPage data and might become a formal TDWG subgroup in the future. I've created a WIKI for the SpeciesPages interest group, which can be found at: http://ip50.eti.uva.nl/TDWGSpecies. The Purposes of this WIKI are to gather information about developments and projects which involve SpeciesPages and to discuss the needs to exchange SpeciesPage data. You are invited to use it and to contribute to this WIKI. Registration is not necessary, except if you want to add files. If you know other people that are interested in SpeciesPages, please inform them about this WIKI! Regards, Wouter Addink ETI BioInformatics ------=_NextPart_000_010A_01C5DFC7.6059A1E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
At the TDWG meeting in St. Petersburg the SpeciesPages interest group was formed.
This group will discuss the needs to exchange SpeciesPage data and might become a formal TDWG subgroup in the future.
 
I've created a WIKI for the SpeciesPages interest group, which can be found at: http://ip50.eti.uva.nl/TDWGSpecies.
The Purposes of this WIKI are to gather information about developments and projects which involve SpeciesPages and to discuss the needs to exchange SpeciesPage data.
 
You are invited to use it and to contribute to this WIKI. Registration is not necessary, except if you want to add files. If you know other people that are interested in SpeciesPages, please inform them about this WIKI!
 
Regards,
 
Wouter Addink
ETI BioInformatics
 
From a.rissone at NHM.AC.UK Mon Nov 7 07:46:42 2005 From: a.rissone at NHM.AC.UK (Adrian Rissone) Date: Wed Apr 18 16:43:06 2007 Subject: Result of ballot on Standards (September/October 2005) Message-ID: RESULTS OF TIME LIMITED BALLOT ON PROPOSED STANDARDS 2005 The following proposed standards were recommended for ratification at the TDWG Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, during the week beginning 11 September 2005. In accordance with the TDWG Constitution and By-Laws a vote by all members in good standing on final ratification of each proposed standard was required. Ballot papers were sent out to all current members in good standing, for return to me (a.rissone@nhm.ac.uk) by 12:00 (midday) GMT on 23 October 2005. The result received up to the originally announced deadline (23 October 2005) was: Members voting 14 ABCD Yes vote 14 ABCD No vote 0 SDD Yes vote 14 SDD No vote 0 TCS Yes vote 14 TCS No vote 0 The poor response and apparent misunderstanding by some members of the proceedures led the Executive to extend the deadline up to 31 October 2005, with the result coming to: Members voting 27 ABCD Yes vote 27 ABCD No vote 0 SDD Yes vote 26 SDD No vote 0 TCS Yes vote 26 TCS No vote 1 One vote was cast 3 days late, fully supporting the three proposed standards. The following table summarises the votes received from the TDWG membership: Total members eligible to vote: 55 Members voting 28 ABCD Yes vote 28 ABCD No vote 0 SDD Yes vote 27 SDD No vote 0 TCS Yes vote 27 TCS No vote 1 All three standards are thus accepted as APPROVED Members in good standing will receive printed copies where the standards or their documentation will be published with the assistance of TDWG. Adrian Rissone Secretary, Taxonomic Databases Working Group A.Rissone@nhm.ac.uk ---------------------------------------- Proposed Standard: ABCD (Access to Biological Collections Data) The Access to Biological Collections Data (ABCD) Schema 2.0 is a comprehensive standard for access to and the exchange of data about specimens and observations (a.k.a. primary biodiversity data). It is based on information models such as ASC and BioCISE and incorporates many existing exchange standards. Further information at: http://www.bgbm.org/TDWG/CODATA/Schema/ Proposed Standard: SDD (Structure Descriptive Data) Major changes are incorporated in the latest version of SDD: All object types are derived from abstract base type. ExternalDataInterface grouping given up, all object types, including SDD ones treated symmetrically. Multilingual representation was simplified (one level of nesting less than previous version). The text character facility was redesigned to be expressed differently in xml, the previous solution was considered unintuitive. This involves element name and structural changes, but no essential changes in functionality. The expression of measurement units was simplified, rather than allowing multiple units within a character (which required structures to define units and their conversion methods), only one unit may be defined, which may be accompanied with different scientific prefix letters (k, c, m, ) in different descriptions. http://160.45.63.11/Projects/TDWG-SDD/index.html http://wiki.cs.umb.edu/twiki/bin/view/SDD/WebHome Proposed Standard: TCS (Taxonomic Concept Transfer Schema) The Taxon Concept Schema (TCS) was developed to enable the transfer of taxonomic name and concept data using an abstract model of taxonomic concepts which can capture the range of models represented and understood by the various taxonomic data providers. The model, presented as an XML schema document, has been through several revisions which have been presented in different fora and discussed on the tcs-lc@ecoinformatics.org mailing list and the TCS Wiki at http://tdwg.napier.ac.uk where all previous versions of the schema can be obtained along with related documentation. At TDWG 2005 TCS v1.0 was voted to be recommended as a TDWG standard. Minor issues were discussed and proposals for minor changes to TCS are being accepted until 30th September at which point TCS v1.0 will be fixed for the ballot. Discussion on minor changes continues on tcs-lc mailing list and the final version 1.0 will be posted on the Wiki. From lspeers at GBIF.ORG Wed Nov 16 08:33:59 2005 From: lspeers at GBIF.ORG (Larry Speers) Date: Wed Apr 18 16:43:06 2007 Subject: GBIF: ECAT Programme Officer Position Vacant in April 2006 - Advertised Message-ID: Employer: GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY INFORMATION FACILITY Position: Senior Programme Officer for the Electronic Catalogue of Names of Known Organisms (ECAT) GBIF is an independent international organisation whose overall mission is to work with its partners to provide free and universal access to the world?s primary biodiversity data. We seek a dynamic individual to join our multinational staff and assume leadership in completing the Electronic Catalogue of Names of Known Organisms (ECAT). Upon completion, ECAT will provide web access to the currently used names and synonyms for all 1.8 million described species of organisms. ECAT is a collaborative venture with other international initiatives and organisations worldwide; the Programme Officer is expected to be conversant with these partners and be able to interact effectively with them at a high level. At the present time, ECAT contains the valid scientific names and synonyms for about 500,000 species, most of them derived from the Catalogue of Life Partnership (Species 2000 and ITIS). The goal is to complete ECAT no later than 2011. The successful applicant must have a deep understanding and broad experience in biological systematics and taxonomic procedures, including either a Ph.D. with a taxonomic or systematic component, or a B.S. in biology or computer science with considerable postgraduate experience in taxonomy. He or she must also be conversant with biodiversity databases, web tools and XML. The position is challenging, requiring excellent management skills, such as the capability to work within the scientific community and with other user groups to develop and carry out long-range plans, including the setting of priorities. The individual must also have good communication skills, excellent written and spoken English, flexibility in approaching problems and people, and enthusiasm for helping GBIF to succeed. In return, she or he will find a stimulating and significant programme of work, excellent opportunities to represent GBIF at major international fora, and a congenial work environment with outstanding colleagues from around the world. The post-holder will be required to work at the GBIF Secretariat in Copenhagen, Denmark. The post is available for a period of 2-5 years starting on approximately 1 April 2006. Salary and benefits are competitive. All applicants will be considered, irrespective of age, sex, race, religion, nationality or ethnic background. Full details about the position, and instructions on applying for it, can be found at http://www.gbif.org/prog/ecat/ecat_position.