May 2009 - tdwg-content - lists.tdwg.org

[tdwg-spm] SPM side meeting at e-Biosphere
by Cynthia Parr 28 May '09

28 May '09

Thanks for those who responded positively regarding an SPM meeting while at e-Biosphere in London next week. It looks like there may be up to 8 of us. One option is to have dinner together on Tuesday, June 2. The other option is to find a quiet place during Session 12, the afternoon of Wednesday. I have inquired if there is any meeting space available for Session 12, but as requests for that space were due back in April I do not expect we will be accommodated. Please contact me privately at parrc(a)si.edu if you would be able to attend an informal dinner on Tuesday night. I will post the final time and location on a bulletin board at the conference on Monday, and I will also send a message to the group. Thanks in advance, Cyndy -- Cynthia Sims Parr Director of the Species Pages Group Encyclopedia of Life http://www.eol.org Office: 202.633.8730 Fax: 202.633.8742 parrc(a)si.edu Mailing address: National Museum of Natural History P.O. Box 37012 MRC 106 Washington, DC 20013-7012

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[tdwg-spm] Species Profile Model side meeting at e-Biosphere '09
by Eamonn O Tuama (GBIF) 20 May '09

20 May '09

Apologies for repeat posting. From: Parr, Cynthia [mailto:parrc@si.edu] Sent: 15 May 2009 16:51 To: tdwg-spm(a)lists.tdwg.org Subject: Species Profile Model side meeting at e-Biosphere '09 Greetings, We had an informal meeting to discuss SPM at the TDWG meeting in Australia. In order to move the standard forward, I agreed to help coordinate future development of the standard. At the next TDWG meeting we should have a more formal session to do some real work on the standard. However, there are a few things we can do in advance. 1) we can rejuvenate this mailing list, making sure that everyone who wants to be involved is part of the discussion, and 2) we can have a side meeting at the e-Biosphere meeting in London June 1-3. My understanding is that there are free spaces available for this and I will look into availability and timing. How many people on this list would be able (and interested) to attend such a meeting? Those who are not already planning to be at e-Biosphere we could involve via the mailing list. Thanks, Cyndy Cynthia Sims Parr Director of the Species Pages Group Encyclopedia of Life Office: 202.633.8730 Fax: 202.633.8742 <mailto:parrc@si.edu> parrc(a)si.edu Mailing address: National Museum of Natural History P.O. Box 37012 MRC 106 Washington, DC 20013-7012

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Re: [tdwg-content] issue tracker?
by John R. WIECZOREK 14 May '09

14 May '09

Dear all, I have surfaced for a few hours, only to head back into the puna before the water freezes solid. I can only address the most important issues right now and I will take the rest of them back with me into the field to work on over the next few days (it doesn't freeze inside the pickup if there is a warm body and a running laptop in there). I think it best that the Issue Tracker is great for public review from the perspective of the Darwin Core Working Group. Having everything there to organize and "track" is exactly what that is for. I have updated the code site "Home" page http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/ to be more explicit about the location and use of the Issue Tracker. I think that is a better place for specific issues about the documents than the tdwg-content list. I think the tdwg-content list is the best place for more philosophical discussions (non-decisive ramblings) that don't point out specific errors or make specific requests. Once the philosophical discussions result in action items, that's when they should go into the issue tracker. What I don't know, and would very much appreciate someone new to try, is to see what submitting public review commentary would be like. It's all too natural to me at this point to have an realistic perspective for new contributors, which almost everyone will be. Also, this is the kind of thing I for which I would have to be connected to the internet to properly visualize from other possible perspectives. I won'thave that luxuryfor another week or so. As I said, I embellished the darwincore Project Home page with respect to the issue tracker. Non-owners and non-project-members will be able to use one of two currently existing issue templates - Report Error (the default) and New Term. These templates can be changed to be more helpful, more can be added if necessary. Anyone with a few spare minutes could give these a try and let us know how it can be made more clear. Don't be afraid to submit a false issue, just note them as such in the summary and/or description. Then, when you have a suggestion, submit it for real as an issue! Thanks, John On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 7:31 AM, Gail Kampmeier <gkamp(a)illinois.edu> wrote: > Regarding the message sent last night on using this list for the > public review, I have now run into another prospective method on > http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/ --the "Issue Tracker" but it has > no link... where is this? Is this it > http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/issues/list ? Is it suitable for > public review or should this be more internal to your working group? > > Would you rather I be using something other than this list to post > questions? I know John is in the field, but please someone else jump > in if you can help. I am hoping to send this to the Exec once I > finish going through it myself. > > Thanks! > Gail > Review Manager, DwC > _______________________________________________ > tdwg-content mailing list > tdwg-content(a)lists.tdwg.org > http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content >

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Re: [tdwg-content] Darwin Core review
by Peter Desmet 11 May '09

11 May '09

Thanks Marküs, Would it be possible for you to answer the two following questions? - Is Darwin Core now officially in public review? - If yes, how should people comment on DwC (see also emails from Gail Kampmeier): through this mailing list or using the (better suited?) issue tracker on Google Code, where more than 130 term pages are missing for discussion (404 errors)? In other words, can I forward DwC for review to the Canadensys community now or do you want us to wait? Peter On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 8:43 AM, "Markus Döring (GBIF)" <mdoering(a)gbif.org> wrote: > thanks for this mail, peter! > john is currently on fieldwork in argentina, so he is offline for lots of > time, so please excuse his silence over long periods. > He will be glad to see your comments I will imagine. > > cheers, > Markus > > > On May 7, 2009, at 9:11 PM, Peter Desmet wrote: > >> Hi everyone, >> >> As Marküs informed me last time, I should post all my Darwin Core >> remarks on this list. >> Most of my remarks are about missing information in the complete >> historical record (see below), except the following: >> >> 1. Great work!! I haven't had time to read the full documentation yet, >> but I'm very glad everything is so well documented now. It answers a >> lot of questions and it will greatly facilitate the adoption of the >> standard. Over the last 2 years I have given several presentations >> about Darwin Core to data publishers, but with all the current >> improvements, it will be a blast to do this! Especially the use of >> classes (instead of core and extentions) makes it much easier to grasp >> conceptually. >> >> 2. Is Darwin Core now officially in public review? Will we receive an >> invitation email to review (which I could forward)? >> >> 3. What is the reasoning behind changing all the term names from >> UpperCamelCase to lowerCamelCase? >> >> 4. HABITAT >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/index.htm#habitat >>> >>> I don't think I agree the best practice for this term is to use a >>> controlled vocabulary. This field can contain plenty of text information >>> that may be lost if one switches to a controlled vocabulary. >> >> 5. GEODETICDATUM >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/index.htm#geodeticDatum >>> >>> So you need to use the same geodetic datum for the verbatim coordinates >>> as for the decimal lat & long? >> >> 6. PREVIOUSIDENTIFICATIONS >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#previousIdentifications-2009… >>> >>> Under the current definition (and examples) of previousIdentifications, >>> this list can include person names and dates. This is significantly >>> different from the previous definition: "A list (concatenated and separated) >>> of previous ScientificNames to which the sample was identified". In my >>> opinion this old definition should be kept in the complete historical >>> record, with a "replaced by" link. >> >> >> ------------ MISSING/INCORRECT INFORMATION ------------ >> >> 1. The following historical classes cannot be found (anymore) in the >> complete historical record. If added, they should have a "replaced by" >> link and the new term should have a "replaces link" (except if new >> term is part of Dublin Core). >> >>> Sample (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#Occurrence-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingEvent (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#Event-2008-11-19) >>> SamplingLocation (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#Location-2009-04-24) >>> SampleAttribute (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#MeasurementOrFact-2009-04-24) >>> EventAttribute (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#MeasurementOrFact-2009-04-24) >>> AccessConstraints (now >>> http://dublincore.org/documents/dcmi-terms/#terms-accessRights) >>> Generalizations (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#dataGeneralizations-2009-04-…) >>> SampleRemarks (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#occurrenceRemarks-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingEventID (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#eventID-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingEventRemarks (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#eventRemarks-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingEventAttributes (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#dynamicProperties-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingLocationID (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#locationID-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingLocationRemarks (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#locationRemarks-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingAttributeID and EventAttributeID (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#measurementID-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingAttributeType and EventAttributeType (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#measurementType-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingAttributeValue and EventAttributeValue (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#measurementValue-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingAttributeAccuracy and EventAttributeAccuracy (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#measurementAccuracy-2009-04-…) >>> SamplingAttributeUnit and EventAttributeUnit (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#measurementUnit-2009-04-24) >>> SamplingAttributeDeterminedDate and EventAttributeDeterminedDate (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#measurementDeterminedDate-20…) >>> SamplingAttributeDeterminedBy and EventAttributeDeterminedBy (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#measurementDeterminedBy-2009…) >>> SamplingAttributeRemarks and EventAttributeRemarks (now >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#measurementRemarks-2009-04-24) >> >> 2. There are plenty of missing discussion pages on the Google Code >> website. See attachment for full list. >> >> 3. See remarks per term. >> >> OCCURENCE >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/index.htm#Occurrence >>> >>> Details links to 2008-11-19, not to the more recent 2009-04-24. >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#Occurrence-2009-04-24 >>> >>> Date modified: 2008-11-19? >>> No "replaces" link to 2008-11-19 >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#Occurrence-2008-11-19 >>> >>> Date modified: 2008-04-24? >>> Status: recommended? >>> No "replaced by" link to 2008-04-24 >> >> ----- >> LOCATION >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#Location-2009-04-24 >>> >>> Status: recommended? >>> No "replaced by" link to dcterms:Location >> >> ----- >> TAXON >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/index.htm#Taxon >>> >>> Details link to 2008-11-19, not to the more recent 2009-01-23. >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#Taxon-2008-11-19 >>> >>> No "replaced by" link to 2009-01-23 >>> Status: recommended? >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#Taxon-2009-01-23 >>> >>> No "replaces" link to 2008-11-19 >> >> ----- >> INFORMATIONWITHHELD >> Some of the examples in >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/index.htm#informationWithheld are better >> placed in >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/index.htm#dataGeneralizations >> ----- >> RELATEDINFORMATION >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#RelatedInformation-2007-04-17 >>> >>> No "replaces" link to >>> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#RecordURL-2005-07-10 >> >> ----- >> CONDITION >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/index.htm#reproductiveCondition >>> >>> The reproductive condition of the biological individual(s): should >>> include plural? >> >> ----- >> BEHAVIOR >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#behavior-2009-04-24 >>> >>> The decision >>> (http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/decisions/index.htm#Decision-2009-03-0…) >>> mentions SamplingEvent and Sample, two now historical classes. >> >> ----- >> CATALOGNUMBERNUMERIC >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#CatalogNumberNumeric-2003-06… >> Is now historical, but there is no "replaced by" link (probably to: >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#otherCatalogNumbers-2009-04-…) >> ----- >> EVENTDATE >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#eventDate-2009-04-24 >>> >>> Split the replaces link in two: EarliestDateCollected & >>> LatestDateCollected >> >> ----- >> EVENTTIME >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#eventTime-2009-04-24 >>> >>> Split the replaces link in two: StartTimeOfDay & EndTimeOfDay >> >> ----- >> BINOMIAL >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#binomial-2008-11-19 >>> >>> Is not used in the DwC terms, but has the status: recommended. >> >> ----- >> RELATEDRESOURCETYPE >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#relatedResourceType-2009-04-… >>> >>> Is not used in the DwC terms, but has the status: recommended. >> >> ----- >> RELATEDBASISOFRECORD >> >> http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm#RelatedBasisOfRecord-2008-11… >>> >>> Is not used in the DwC terms, but has the status: recommended. >> >> >> Regards, >> >> Peter >> >> >> -- >> Peter Desmet >> Biodiversity Informatics Manager / Directeur de l'informatique de la >> biodiversité >> Montréal Biodiversity Centre / Centre sur la biodiversité de Montréal >> Canadensys - www.canadensys.net >> >> Institut de recherche en biologie végétale >> Université de Montréal >> 4101 Rue Sherbrooke Est >> Montréal, Québec, H1X2B2 >> Canada >> >> Télé / Phone: 514-872-5249 >> Télécopie / Fax: 514-872-9406 >> Email: peter.desmet.cubc(a)gmail.com >> <missing_discussion_pages.txt> > > -- Peter Desmet Biodiversity Informatics Manager / Directeur de l'informatique de la biodiversité Montréal Biodiversity Centre / Centre sur la biodiversité de Montréal Canadensys - www.canadensys.net Institut de recherche en biologie végétale Université de Montréal 4101 Rue Sherbrooke Est Montréal, Québec, H1X2B2 Canada Télé / Phone: 514-872-5249 Télécopie / Fax: 514-872-9406 Email: peter.desmet.cubc(a)gmail.com

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another typo; acronym expansion; list pointing
by Gail Kampmeier 08 May '09

08 May '09

Dumbledore was at work on this one: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/namespace/index.htm "Darwin Dore Namespace Policy" as the big title!!! :-D Also, first use of URI should be expanded on this page to Uniform Resource Identifier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URI (link may or may ot be desirable). 3.2 Substantive editorial errata - the link to [DWC-MAIL] brings up whether you want to take the user to a page to subscribe to the mailing list or link to a blank outgoing email, which I presume you must be a subscriber to send...? [from earlier email: On http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/index.htm Participation: [DWC-MAIL] link should not just open a blank email (such as this one) but go to http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content so that people might subscribe. Differentiates from sending mail to the mailing list in the list References (and perhaps elsewhere). ] I would argue that rather than using a mailto that this link http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content allows users to subscribe OR send a message from there. I guess you don't have to subscribe to send an email to the list...does this ever get abused? Whether other mailing lists should be similarly listed may need to be visited. Gail

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Comment links usually 404
by Gail Kampmeier 08 May '09

08 May '09

I'm on http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/type-vocabulary/index.htm and notice that most of the comment links 404 (likely on other pages too with terms). Would it be better to either create placeholders for each term for content for these or how will the user figure out how to start adding information? Gail

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typos? and notes on the issue tracker
by Gail Kampmeier 08 May '09

08 May '09

Have tried using the issue tracker and see that it leaves things anonymous (#23). I don't know whether the DwC authors can see/contact users leaving comments/issues outside of this forum, whether the anonymity disappears when someone related to the project takes on solving the issue....? If this will be of more heavy duty use, a bit more documentation on expectations may prove useful to non-power users. As for the typos, on http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/type-vocabulary/index.htm in the Abstract, the dcterms:type">dcterms:type and basifOfRecord terms contain one known typo and another probable typo in that which is highlighted. Also, did you mean for the document, "Darwin Core Terms: A complete history." to be a link in the abstract to I presume http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/history/index.htm --might be helpful since the left nav link title is truncated form of this, although I guess it is questionable if you want users going there from this page...? Gail

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issue tracker?
by Gail Kampmeier 08 May '09

08 May '09

Regarding the message sent last night on using this list for the public review, I have now run into another prospective method on http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/ --the "Issue Tracker" but it has no link... where is this? Is this it http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/issues/list ? Is it suitable for public review or should this be more internal to your working group? Would you rather I be using something other than this list to post questions? I know John is in the field, but please someone else jump in if you can help. I am hoping to send this to the Exec once I finish going through it myself. Thanks! Gail Review Manager, DwC

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XML document display
by Gail Kampmeier 08 May '09

08 May '09

I am on http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/simple/index.htm My normal browser of choice is Safari (currently 3.2.1), which does not display XML (in fact comes up as a blank page) as in http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/examples/text/example_text_simpledwc_complete.xml I took this to Firefox 3 and it displayed fine. Opera 9.64 is similar to Safari (=blank). Do we need to state up front that this is best displayed in Firefox for XML (and if I recall anything in RDF?) or indicate that if you View as Source, you can see the XML as it was intended? This caveat may need to be shown on any page referencing such pages. By the way, have I told you lately how impressed I am with the revised version?! Cheers! Gail

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participation & pubic comment mechanism
by Gail Kampmeier 08 May '09

08 May '09

On http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/index.htm Participation: [DWC-MAIL] link should not just open a blank email (such as this one) but go to http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content so that people might subscribe. Differentiates from sending mail to the mailing list in the list References (and perhaps elsewhere). This now answers how we are going to make it easy for the public review to be able to comment, right? Do we need to give instructions about referencing the URL concerned in the message or is this stating the obvious? One potential problem with using this during the public review phase will be that everyone subscribing will get all of the posts such as this one. Is there a better way to handle this? Otherwise the new introduction is looking good! Gail

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