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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>Sorry for crossposting: but I think the
essence of the posting below ought to be discussed….</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Donat <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>EO Wilson recipient of the TED award<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>http://www.ted.com/conference/flashpage.cfm?conferenceKey=2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On March 8, EO Wilson will receive the TED Prize. It is a very
prestigious award by the 1000 thought-leaders, movers and shakers in
Technology, Entertainment and Design. The winners receive USD100,000 and can
formulate a wish which the members of the TED community pledged to help to
fulfill.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Congratulations to Ed Wilson to yet another great award, another
confirmation of his outstanding achievements!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Let’s speculate that Ed Wilson is going to fulfill his boyhood
dream of an encyclopedia of life for ants. So, what would be needed to make
this dream reality? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Ants are already on of the best documented group of animals in the
world. There is an online catalogue of all the ants of the world updated as
soon as another species is added to the currently known 11,981 species.
This includes a digital library linked to from the species citations to pdfs of
all the non-copyrighted descriptions. Currently, all these over 4,000
publications are being transformed to text by the Internet Archive, and the
special mark-up schema, taxonx. is added for species and treatments or the
descriptions of the species. There are an estimated 6,500 species
documented with high resolution, magnificent standard images, even well worth
printing in large scale and hanging them on your wall. Through Brian
Fisher’s and Jack Longino’s superb collecting efforts in such
biologically important areas as Madagascar and Costa Rica, ants have most
likely one of the best documented surveys for any group of animals world wide,
easily accessible online. The evolution of ants is well documented through
large scale DNA-based analysis. On top of this, data aggregator such as
ispecies are using mash-up technologies to collect all these information
automatically – information which is added by a large, sprawling
community worldwide. This infrastructure and its content already has a broad
impact beyond the ant world, especially into education and other life sciences
sectors<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>What is missing? There are three issues, that is building up and
maintaining the global infrastructure, the transfer of legacy data, that is
publications and specimen data into the digital realm, and the generation of
new research as input into such a system, which . <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>TED could help make advances in each of these three areas. Most
likely, the biggest impact, and one with an impact well beyond ants alone,
would be to get the TED crowd to agree to build up a Digital Object Identifier
(DOI) repository and resolver for all the systematics legacy publications, the
descriptions of the species, the species names, and the specimens. These are
the basic building blocks of systematics through which the entire information
on animals and plants could be pulled together now, but especially in a
semantic Web or Web2.0 environment. It would also be the best complement
to the Biodiversity Heritage Library by the large US and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region></st1:place> natural history museums and
institutions which will free knowledge hidden in millions of published
literature.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Linking a statement with its evidence<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Such a DOI based system would allow linking any comment made on the
distribution or behavior of a species to its original observation or
reference specimen with an attached Global Positioning System record.
This will allow to pinpoint not only the proper name of and the specimen
itself, but also its precise geographic origin which is living up to and can
made the best out of high resolution satellite or map data, such as now
publicly available at Google-Earth. Mash-up technologies would allow getting
all additional information needed automatically, such as DNA-BarCode sequence,
conservation status, studies on the biology or medical use or the increasing
number of images and movies on Youtube or Yahoo as examples.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Open access to biodiversity knowlege<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>An agreement by the publishers to allow open access to all the articles
in their journal covering the description of species, or even better
biodiversity and conservation will have a similar impact as the applications of
DOI’s. Alternatively, the use of specific mark-up in their journal
articles, delimiting the description allowing automatic data mining and
extraction and thus building up the global Encyclopedia of Life.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Imaging<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Finally, taking images of all those groups of ants which are
increasingly used in surveys and to measure the loss of biodiversity ought to
be another priority, since images are by far the most important element to
identify species. This would ideally complement ongoing world wide efforts by a
rapidly increasing crowd of specialists and amateurs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Getting this infrastructure up would enable anybody in the world, from
E.O. Wilson in his little home town in Alabama to any place in the developing
world to participate in this feast of knowledge and motivate more people like
Awatif Omer in Khartoum to pursue the discovery of new species in such places
like Sudan. The usage of all this information by the crowd, rather then
expert’s opinion, would then decide what the most authoritative
contributions are<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><u><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Catalogue of the ants of the World</span></font></u>: <a
href="http://antbase.org/">http://antbase.org</a> (in collaboration with the
Hymenoptera Name Server): literature digitized with partial support from the Atherton
Seidall Foundation at the Smithsonian Institution.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><u><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Online scientific images of ants</span></font></u>: <a
href="http://antweb.org/">http://antweb.org</a>; <a
href="http://www.evergreen.edu/ants/AntsofCostaRica.html">http://www.evergreen.edu/ants/AntsofCostaRica.html</a>,
<a href="http://mcz-28168.oeb.harvard.edu/mcz/FMPro">http://mcz-28168.oeb.harvard.edu/mcz/FMPro</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><u><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Mashups</span></font></u>: ispecies ( <a
href="http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~rpage/ispecies/?q=Proceratium+google&#x0026;#x0026;submit=Go">http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~rpage/ispecies/?q=Proceratium+google&#x0026;#x0026;submit=Go</a>)
and http://ispecies.blogspot.com/<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><u><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Biodiversity Heritage Library</span></font></u>: <a
href="http://bhl.si.edu/">http://bhl.si.edu/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Taxonx: an example of a systematics specific mark-up schema:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/taxonx<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><u><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>An overview of the global ant community</span></font></u>:
<a href="http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21146/21146.pdf">http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21146/21146.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dr.
Donat Agosti</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Science Consultant</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Research Associate, <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">American</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceType>
of Natural History and Naturmuseum der Burgergemeinde <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Bern</st1:City></st1:place></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Email: agosti@amnh.org</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Web: </span></font><a
href="http://antbase.org/"></a><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a href="http://antbase.org">http://antbase.org</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
lang=DE style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Blog: </span></font><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://biodivcontext.blogspot.com/"><span lang=DE>http://biodivcontext.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></font><span
lang=DE><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Skype: agostileu</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://antbase.org/agosticv_2003.html">CV</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://antbase.org/agosti_loc_bern.kmz">Current Location</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dalmaziquai 45</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>3005 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Bern</st1:City></st1:place></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on"><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>Switzerland</span></font></st1:country-region></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>+41-31-351 7152</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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