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NSF - Program Solicitation - Dimensions of Biodiversity
by Lee Belbin 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

The following NSF Program Solicitations look like something that all TDWG members and friends should/must know about- http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10548/nsf10548.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_179 http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503473 <http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503473&org=BIO&from=home> &org=BIO&from=home Lee Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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BBC now using 'Species' microformat
by Andy Mabbett 19 Feb '10

19 Feb '10

The BBC are now using the 'Species' microformat: http://microformats.org/wiki/species-strawman-01 on their BBC Wildlife Finder; for example, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Banded_Mongoose You may remember that I've reported previously that it's already in use on Wikipedia. As the designer of that microformat, I'm happy to answer any questions; or receive any suggestions for its improvement. -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk ** via webmail **

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(no subject)
by leebel＠netspace.net.au 01 Feb '10

01 Feb '10

The TDWG Executive Committee has approved the adoption of TDWG Access Protocol for Information Retrieval (TAPIR) - http://www.tdwg.org/standards/449/ as a TDWG standard. The committee acknowledges the excellent work of the TAPIR Task Group (http://www.tdwg.org/activities/tapir/) and particularly the leadership of Renato De Giovanni. Renato was assisted in writing the standards document by the late Charles Copp. TAPIR represents only one of many areas of Biodiversity informatics where the interest, enthusiasm and support of Charles is appreciated and valued. Thank you Charles. The TDWG Executive Committee appreciates the work of those who have contributed significantly to the development of TAPIR. In addition to Renato, these include Markus Döring, Anton Güntsch, Dave Vieglais, Donald Hobern, Franck Theeten, Javier de la Torre, John Wieczorek, Kevin Richards, Robert Gales, Roger Hyam, Stanley Blum and Steven Perry. The committee also greatly appreciates the work that Piers Higgs has done as the Review Manager for TAPIR. TAPIR specifies a standardized, HTTP transmittable, XML-based request and response protocol for accessing structured data that may be stored on multiple distributed databases in varied physical and logical structures. TAPIR combines and extends features of the BioCASe <http://www.biocase.org/products/protocols/> and DiGIR<http://digir.net/> protocols to create a generic means of communication between client applications and Internet data providers. Congratulations to the TAPIR team and many others who have contributed to the standard! Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat ------------------------------------------------------------ This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au

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LifeWatch Training and Capacity Building Programme - Stakeholder Consultation
by David Ludlow 25 Jan '10

25 Jan '10

Dear Sir/Madam, The LifeWatch ESFRI project (http://www.lifewatch.eu/) is currently in its preparatory phase. The project is preparing recommendations for the development of a research e-infrastructure to support the biodiversity research and policy making communities, with the objective to implement these specifications during the construction phase of the project in Spring 2011. The training and capacity building programme (TCBP) forms a core component of the specification for the future LifeWatch. This program, as with all components of the LifeWatch infrastructure, is being defined in close consultation with all relevant LifeWatch stakeholders. Engagement with the stakeholder community on the development of the Training and Capacity Building Programme is being facilitated by a social networking portal. As a relevant stakeholder in this community we would be most grateful if you could support our work in developing a Training and Capacity Building Programme that fully meets the needs of the biodiversity research and policy making communities. The following simple steps will allow you to offer your comments: Step 1- please click on the following link to the LifeWatch social networking portal http://lifewatch.nhm.ac.uk/drupal/lifewatch/; Step 2 - please register by creating a new account before you participate in the survey questionnaire and discussion forums. Only if you register will you be able to access the TCBP specifications, and participate in discussion forums Step 3 - to make your comments on the LifeWatch TCBP - download the draft specifications of TCBP from http://lifewatch.nhm.ac.uk/drupal/lifewatch/?q=node/37 - see document at bottom of questionnaire page Step 4 - provide your feedback on these specifications using the questionnaire You can also participate in the forum discussions available on the social networking portal. The objectives of all of the above are: i) obtain feedback on the training and capacity building programme; ii) engage in dialogue and identify missing training requirements; iii) identify potential thematic areas and topics for summer schools, workshops and conferences; iv) identify potential research areas which can be targeted for experienced researchers and PhD students; v) identify volunteers for the review process for sabbaticals and PhD student applications, summer schools, workshops and conference thematic areas. Please contact us at David.Ludlow(a)uwe.ac.uk<mailto:David.Ludlow@uwe.ac.uk> and Zaheer(a)cern.ch<mailto:Zaheer@cern.ch> for more details. David Ludlow BA (Hons), DipTP, MSc (Public Policy), MRTPI Member of EU Expert Group on the Urban Environment Centre for Research in Sustainable Planning and Environments Department of Planning and Architecture University of the West of England Frenchay Campus, Bristol BS16 1QY Direct Line: +44 (0)117 32 83223 Mobile: +44 (0) 7818 095327 Institute for Sustainability, Health and Environment http://www.uwe.ac.uk/ishe This email was independently scanned for viruses by McAfee anti-virus software and none were found

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Re: [tdwg] Bioblitz at TDWG 2010?
by joel sachs 07 Dec '09

07 Dec '09

Dear David, That looks awesome. All my wiki pages should be so cluttered! What you describe goes well beyond the level of effort we bandied about in Montpellier. (I know you're well aware of the this, but I think it will bear repeating a number of times. For the bioblitz to be successful as a TDWG event, it will need at least as much enthusiasm from TDWG attendess as from the local organizers.) I'll try to separate out those of your proposals that would apply to any venue (e.g. "submit all photos to the EOL Flickr group, and use the MRTG annotation tool to enhance the metadata"), from those that are Woods Hole specific (e.g. "snorkeling in the eelgrass meadow"). I'll add the "generic" ideas to the wiki, and also add a pointer to your Woods Hole page, together with a summary. Thanks for putting so much thought into this - I look forward to following up. Regards - Joel. On Sun, 6 Dec 2009, David Remsen wrote: > Dear Joel > > A BioBlitz is a fantastic idea. I understand that Woods Hole, MA is one of > the possible venues for the 2010 and, because it is my hometown I couldn't > help but think through the opportunity Woods Hole would present for holding a > TDWG associated BioBlitz. It could really be an event there and Woods Hole > offers a lot of reasons to host it. > > Rather than clutter up the wiki page I assembled some thoughts on a Google > Doc page at > > http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgmbb297_673gvb58nfg > > I could probably help organise this if TDWG is interested and, with enough > leeway, I could probably get the community really lined up behind it. As I > mention in the document I know many of the directors of the institutions > there, in fact we are hosting two at GBIF this week in Copenhagen. Gary > Borisy (MBL director) is on the Executive Board of EOL so I would imagine > they would really get behind it being at their doorstep. > > Anyhow, Id be really excited to get involved if there is interest so please > check out what I assembled and see if there is any followup. > > Best, > David Remsen > > On Nov 30, 2009, at 6:51 PM, joel sachs wrote: > >> Greetings TDWG, >> >> One of the outcomes of our citizen science working session in Montpellier >> is the idea of holding a mini-bioblitz near the conference center at TDWG >> 2010. We thought this would be fun, would bring communities together, and >> would be an opportunity to eat our own dog food, since so much TDWG >> technology could be brought to bare. I think we're going to do it. >> We've started discussion here: >> http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/BioBlitz2010 >> >> Please join the discussion by adding ideas, questions, and concerns. Also, >> if you have experience in, or enthusiasm for, bioblitz-type activities, >> please consider volunteering to help with planning and execution. >> >> Best to all - >> Joel. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> tdwg mailing list >> tdwg(a)lists.tdwg.org >> http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg >

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Re: [tdwg] Bioblitz at TDWG 2010?
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 06 Dec '09

06 Dec '09

Hi Jerry. My thinking/understanding is that this should be closer to the NZ-style Bioblitz but really something even less rigorous. The discussions I had with Joel in Montpellier were around simply using TDWG attendees to photograph as many species as they can in the vicinity of the venue, getting those images up with geolocations and then crowdsourcing (from the attendees and/or their friends anywhere else) identifications and other notes on the images. This would be a chance to play around collaboratively with image management, image metadata, annotations, etc. The final product could be a .kmz or something with all the images and associated data. Such an approach, if packaged, could work really well for schools. Donald Donald Hobern, Director, Atlas of Living Australia CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601 Phone: (02) 62464352 Mobile: 0437990208 Email: Donald.Hobern(a)csiro.au Web: http://www.ala.org.au/

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Bioblitz at TDWG 2010?
by joel sachs 06 Dec '09

06 Dec '09

Greetings TDWG, One of the outcomes of our citizen science working session in Montpellier is the idea of holding a mini-bioblitz near the conference center at TDWG 2010. We thought this would be fun, would bring communities together, and would be an opportunity to eat our own dog food, since so much TDWG technology could be brought to bare. I think we're going to do it. We've started discussion here: http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/BioBlitz2010 Please join the discussion by adding ideas, questions, and concerns. Also, if you have experience in, or enthusiasm for, bioblitz-type activities, please consider volunteering to help with planning and execution. Best to all - Joel.

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call for proposals on GBIF white paper for enhancing fitness-for-use of primary biodiversity data
by Éamonn Ó Tuama 23 Nov '09

23 Nov '09

At TDWG 2009, there was some interest from the Geospatial Interest Group working sessions participants in the call from GBIF for proposals to draft a GBIF White Paper for enhancing 'fitness-for-use' (both taxonomic and geospatial) of primary biodiversity data. Further information on the call is available here: http://www.gbif.org/communications/news-and-events/showsingle/article/enhaci ng-fitness-for-use-of-primary-biodiversity-data/ . or, directly, from Dr Vishwas Chavan (vchavan(a)gbif.org) Please note that the closing date is Nov 25. Best regards, Éamonn _______________________________________________ Éamonn Ó Tuama, M.Sc., Ph.D. (eotuama(a)gbif.org) Senior Programme Officer, Inventory, Discovery, Access (IDA), Global Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, DENMARK Phone: +45 3532 1494; Fax: +45 3532 1480

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FW: Public Review of GUID and LSID Applicability Statement
by Richardson, Ben 23 Nov '09

23 Nov '09

Hi Just a reminder that the Public Review is shortly to close, and that your input is welcomed on the Applicability Statement. (The dates noted below for the review period should state 26th October till at least 26th November, so you still have time.) Thank you to those who have already commented. Cheers, Ben ________________________________ From: Richardson, Ben Sent: Monday, 26 October 2009 14:49 To: tdwg(a)lists.tdwg.org Cc: tdwg-content(a)lists.tdwg.org; tdwg-tag(a)lists.tdwg.org; taxacom(a)mailman.nhm.ku.edu Subject: Public Review of GUID and LSID Applicability Statement TDWG is pleased to announce the commencement of the Public Review of the Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) and Life Sciences Identifier (LSID) Applicability Statements. Applicability Statements provide guidance for use of external standards within the TDWG domain. The GUID statement provides general recommendations and the LSID one covers the specific GUID currently recommended by TDWG. Since being officially submitted, the Applicability Statements have undergone a peer review, a review by the TDWG Executive and multiple revisions. Open Invitation: We invite all who may contribute and/or consume biodiversity information to examine this proposed applicability statement during the Public Review period from 23rd October till at least 23rd November 2009. How to Participate: You can participate in the review of the GUID-LSID AS in two ways; either through lodging a comment through TDWG’s Open Journal System, or you can take the Microsoft Word document and edit it with track changes and resubmit it to the GUID-LSID AS Wiki space. You can post comments to the Open Journal System (which may be anonymous) at http://www.tdwg.org/stdtrack/article/view/150. The abstract is displayed and on the right hand side of the page is a link to add a comment. Please note: you must be registered and logged in to the TDWG web site to post a comment, however registration is free. Down the bottom of the page, there is a link to download the complete applicability statement. You can also comment direct in a copy of the document as follows: · At the previous URL, download a copy of the Microsoft Word format document. · Once you have downloaded it, turn on track changes and make your notes and comments. · Submit that file at http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/GUID/GUIDAndLSIDASReview. Please DO NOT add any comments to the Wiki page, comment only through the two methods outlined above. Questions about the process should be directed to me at ben(dot)richardson(at)dec.wa.gov.au. Please share this opportunity for public comment and review with others you think may be interested. Acknowledgements: I’d like to thank the authors, the anonymous reviewers and the members of the Executive Committee for their contribution to the document. In addition, the guidance of Lee Belbin through the review process has been invaluable and greatly appreciated. Links: · GUID and LSID AS comment area in OJS http://www.tdwg.org/stdtrack/article/view/150. · LSID Wiki space: http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/GUID/GUIDAndLSIDASReview · LSID Resolution Project home page: http://lsids.sourceforge.net/ · LSID Specification: http://lsids.sourceforge.net/quick-links/lsid-spec/ Please accept my apology if you’ve received this multiple times from various mailing lists. Regards, Ben Richardson This email, together with any attachments, is intended for the addressee only. It may contain confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please notify the sender, delete the email and attachments from your system and destroy any copies you may have taken of the email and its attachments. Duplication or further distribution by hardcopy, by electronic means or verbally is not permitted without permission.

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Drupal and biodiversity informatics
by Lisa Walley 13 Nov '09

13 Nov '09

There is a growing number of biodiversity Web applications being built using the Drupal content management system (http://groups.drupal.org/node/30444 ). The nature of Drupal's modular framework lends itself to collaborative development. I would like to invite all interested in building or using Drupal for managing biodiversity data to join the Drupal discussion group Bioinformatics: http://groups.drupal.org/bioinformatics . Up and coming discussions are on improvements to handling bibliographic information: http://groups.drupal.org/node/35334 If there proves to be enough interest then I hope we can pursue a 'common data model' for biodiversity data in Drupal. Essentially building common base content-types that follow the standards outlined by TDWG and compatible with or possibly even make direct use of EDIT's CDM framework: http://groups.drupal.org/node/35338 Please invite any interested colleagues to join the discussions. Kind regards, Lisa Lisa Walley

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