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<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear TDWG Members
and Friends,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial size=2>Those of you who
attended the conference in Perth last year will remember Annie Simpson's
explanation of how hard it still is for a group like the Global Invasive Species
Information Network (GISIN) to take TDWG's work and apply it directly to solve
data integration issues in their community.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial size=2>As I have previously
suggested, I believe we should look closely at GISIN's requirements and make
sure that those in a similar situation have all the tools and documentation
required to start connecting data easily in ways that are compatible with
TDWG standards. We have most of the pieces in place. We just need to
organise and document them better.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial size=2>Invasive
species are of great significance to many countries. This means that
addressing GISIN's requirements is directly relevant to a large number
of TDWG participants. However their scenario is also a template for data
sharing in many other biodiversity-related projects. They need to
aggregate information from many sources to populate several inter-related data
models (BioStatus, Occurrences, ProfileURLs, ImpactStatus, ManagementStatus and
DispersalStatus). Several of these are very close to existing data
models based on TDWG standards (for example, the Occurrence model can
be considered to be extended Darwin Core). Others are examples
of the kind of community-specific data which all biodiversity projects need to
share. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial size=2>TDWG's goal should
be to ensure that GISIN and similar groups can follow a simple set of
instructions (a "cook book") and use standard tools to build a network of this
kind, and that they can do so in a way which ensures that related
communities can also benefit from the data they share. For example,
if GISIN members use the GISIN toolkit to share data, we ought to make sure that
no further steps are required for GBIF, OBIS and others
to integrate GISIN Occurrence data into their own indexes of
species occurrences, or for EOL, ALA and others to integrate GISIN ImpactStatus,
ManagementStatus and DispersalStatus data into their species
profiles.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am therefore
writing this email as an appeal for TDWG members to step forward and help to
complete the work we have started. I am setting a challenge for us to do
whatever still needs to be done to our standards, tools and data sharing
recommendations so that we can produce such a cook book by the end of
2009. I don't believe this is an unrealistic goal. We can start work
now on identifying and resolving issues. We can plan activities at the
2009 TDWG conference in November to resolve any issues still outstanding at that
point and to hold hackathon activities to fill any gaps in our tool set.
This work also aligns well with the e-Biosphere conference's plan to develop a
roadmap for biodiversity informatics for the next 10 years.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial size=2>We have added a page
to the TDWG Invasive Species wiki to seed discussion of what we need to do - <A
href="http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/InvasiveSpecies/GisinRequirements">http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/InvasiveSpecies/GisinRequirements</A>.
Please take the time to look at this page (and at the information on GISIN's
requirements at <A
href="http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/InvasiveSpecies/WebHome">http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/InvasiveSpecies/WebHome</A>
and <A
href="http://www.niiss.org/cwis438/websites/GISINDirectory/Tech/ProtocolSpecification.php">http://www.niiss.org/cwis438/websites/GISINDirectory/Tech/ProtocolSpecification.php</A>).
Append comments and suggestions on what else we may need to do to the wiki, or
simply reply to this message. In particular, if you are interested in
being involved with the relevant TDWG Interest Groups in addressing some of the
listed requirements, please contact me or the relevant Interest Group
leaders.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial size=2>I believe this is
the most significant thing that TDWG can do right now to support the work of
biodiversity informatics worldwide. Please consider making your
own contribution to make it happen.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial size=2>Best
wishes,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=736345722-24032009><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Donald</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
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style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Donald Hobern,
Director, Atlas of Living <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
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w:st="on"><st1:country-region
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style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">CSIRO Entomology,
GPO <st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on">Box 1700</st1:Street>,
<st1:City w:st="on">Canberra</st1:City></st1:address>, ACT
2601</SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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