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[Biogeosdi] openModeller Desktop version 1.0.3 Released!
by Tim Sutton 02 Jan '07

02 Jan '07

Hi All (with apologies for cross posting) I am very pleased to announce the release of openModeller Desktop version 1.0.3. openModeller is a fundamental ecological niche modelling library, providing a uniform method for modelling distribution patterns using a variety of modelling algorithms. The openModeller Desktop application is a user friendly front-end to the openModeller library. openModeller library and the openModeller Desktop application are free, open source software published under the GPL license. This version of openModeller Desktop is a complete rewrite of the original Wizard based GUI we previously made available. This version is being designed to support large experiments where multiple species can be modelled using multiple algorithms. Future versions will also support projecting models into multiple environmental scenarios. openModeller Desktop makes use of an embedded GIS model browser (based on Quantum GIS, a free and open source GIS - see http://qgis.org) in order to facilitate panning and zooming around the model outputs. This release is available as a windows binary set up file and in source form. In future versions we will make Mac OSX and GNU / Linux versions of the software available in binary form too. The software can be downloaded directly from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=101808&package_id=142… You can find more information including links to our mailing list and news about updates as and when they become available by visiting our website at: http://openmodeller.sf.net. Best regards, -- Tim Sutton The openModeller Team

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[Biogeosdi] Minutes from meeting held Dec 05 2006 on IRC
by Tim Sutton 05 Dec '06

05 Dec '06

Hi All Hopefully everyone from the old yahoo list is now subscribed here too! I've posted my minutes from the meeting we held on irc today onto th eTDWG wiki. Please feel free to correct any grossly misguided assessments of the discussion I may have made. http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/Geospatial/BioGeoSDIMeeting05Dec2006 Regards -- -- Tim Sutton Visit http://qgis.org for a great Open Source GIS Home Page: http://linfiniti.com Skype: timlinux MSN: tim_bdworld(a)msn.com Yahoo: tim_bdworld(a)yahoo.com Jabber: timlinux Irc: timlinux on #qgis at freenode.net

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[tdwg-ncd] FW: TIP Round-2 proposals
by Neil Thomson 01 Dec '06

01 Dec '06

Dear NCD'ers, This is fantastic news from Lee! I'm out of the Museum today and Monday, but will be in touch with Roger after that to pin down the refinements that are required. Speak with you soon, Neil -----Original Message----- From: Lee Belbin [mailto:leebel@netspace.net.au] Sent: Fri 01/12/2006 03:14 To: Neil Thomson Cc: 'Roger Hyam (tdwg)' Subject: TIP Round-2 proposals Hi Neil The TDWG Infrastructure Project Team has finally evaluated all the Round-2 proposals. As mentioned earlier, we had 28 proposals for a total of US$704,255 for a pot of ~US$250,000. The good news is that the Team has supported the funding of all of your projects- #16 - 'RDFS for NCD' #17 - 'Identify and database biodiversity organisations' #18 - 'Intro to NCD document' #19 - 'Ontology-NCD integration' #20 - 'NCD Workshop' There are a number of possible enhancements and some tuning that the Team wanted to discuss with you. We all believed that 'tweaking' of your projects should result in outcomes with greater benefit to the community. Roger has been tasked with this and reporting back to me. I have reserved additional funding that could be applied to ensure that the projects maximize their potential. Congratulations and best wishes Neil! Lee Lee Belbin Manager, TDWG Infrastructure Project Email: lee(a)tdwg.org Phone: +61(0)419 374 133

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[tdwg-ncd] NCD Toolkit bid
by Neil Thomson 28 Nov '06

28 Nov '06

Dear Larry, I have received no further requests for amendments to the bid document for the development of the NCD Toolkit and we would therefore be very grateful if you would submit the attached document to GBIF for consideration. Note that it is proposed that the work be carried out over the second and third quarters of 2007. Please let me know if there is anything else that the NCD Subgroup can provide in support of this bid. With many thanks, Neil <<NCD-GBIFToolkitBid-Final.doc>> ------- Neil Thomson Head of Data & Digital Systems The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5294, Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 5559, Email: n.thomson(a)nhm.ac.uk http://www.nhm.ac.uk

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[tdwg-ncd] NCD Toolkit bid - draft for comment
by Neil Thomson 23 Nov '06

23 Nov '06

NCD, Attached is the first full draft of the bid to develop the NCD Toolkit which is being prepared for GBIF. Please look it over and let me have your comments before I submit it to Larry next week. I am particularly grateful to Wouter and Markus for tackling the technical issues and would ask them to examine the text to see whether I have accurately captured the proposal, since this goes beyond my own technical knowledge. With many thanks, Neil <<NCD-GBIFToolkitBid-Draft2.doc>> ------- Neil Thomson Head of Data & Digital Systems The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5294, Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 5559, Email: n.thomson(a)nhm.ac.uk http://www.nhm.ac.uk

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[tdwg-ncd] RE: Moore Foundation Round II bid from NCD Task Group
by Neil Thomson 21 Nov '06

21 Nov '06

Hi Lee, As requested, here are the outputs that are expected from the NCD 2007 workshop: 1. Introduction to RDF/OWL modelling - may also be useful for TDWG-Education purposes 2. First draft of NCD RDF schema and agreement on implementation 3. Agreed list of terms for use with NCD picklists and for definition in the TDWG ontology 4. Final draft of NCD User Guide and first draft of Migration Guide. User Guide to include new section on the use og NCD for describing organisations. 5. Workshop Report Hope this helps, Neil ________________________________ From: Lee Belbin [mailto:leebel@netspace.net.au] Sent: 17 November 2006 05:35 To: Neil Thomson Subject: RE: Moore Foundation Round II bid from NCD Task Group Hi Neil I've spent the day summarising the proposals and will get a statement about them to all the submitters sometime next week. On your part 5 (the NCD meeting), I really need to know specifically what will be done at the meeting/workshop or by the people attending the meeting. I can't fund meetings, only what will be produced as a consequence of them. I've cut out part of an e-mail to Aimee Stewart (below) about this that may help. "Meetings and Workshops shouldn't be talkshops. I have found a simple process very effective for productive meetings. The cost of entry is the provision of a significant component of work. That work may be determining and documenting how to communicate between two components, outlining a portion of the workflow, providing data, writing software, researching options and presenting conclusions etc. The other key point is to come away from the meeting with the outcome. Done. Written up. The works. This tends to focus the mind, determine what is really needed, and ensure that it gets done." I've also broken your proposal into 5 components as we may end up having to pick and choose in some cases. I've done the same with a few others. On a related subject, Roger, Donald, Adrian, Stan and I have had some discussion yesterday on what the 'observations' may encompass. We currently have quite a few proposals (no charters as yet!) for Interest Groups. The structure is flat in that there has not been a 'horizontal perspective' on how any of these proposed IGs relate. I doubt we (the Exec) can do much on that until we have the charters. Catch-22. I mentioned that one perspective could put NCD into observations. Anyway, as I said early on, I strongly suggest you discuss the options with Adrian. We really need to keep the discussions flowing on this issue. Cheers Lee Lee Belbin Manager, TDWG Infrastructure Project Email: lee(a)tdwg.org Phone: +61(0)419 374 133

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[tdwg-ncd] FW: Round-2 Proposals
by Neil Thomson 21 Nov '06

21 Nov '06

NCD, Thank you for your suggestions for specific outcomes for the 2007 Workshop - I'll be forwarding them as a supplemental today. For information, the Moore Foundation bids come to nearly three times the money that is available, so we may not get everything that we requested. Neil -----Original Message----- From: Lee Belbin [mailto:leebel@netspace.net.au] Sent: 21 November 2006 00:32 To: benjamin.clark(a)imperial.ac.uk; CooperJ(a)landcareresearch.co.nz; jatorre(a)gmail.com; renato(a)cria.org.br; J.Kennedy(a)napier.ac.uk; ram(a)cs.umb.edu; ICZN-AP; RichardsK(a)landcareresearch.co.nz; asimpson(a)usgs.gov; astewart(a)ku.edu; Neil Thomson; vieglais(a)ku.edu; ghw(a)anbg.gov.au; r.j.white(a)cs.cardiff.ac.uk Subject: Round-2 Proposals To all Round-2 funding applicants- I received 28 proposals that totalled US$704,255. Evaluation is currently underway and should be completed by the end of the month. I've split a number of the proposals into logical independent components. Each will be treated on its merit. Cheers Lee Lee Belbin Manager, TDWG Infrastructure Project Email: lee(a)tdwg.org Phone: +61(0)419 374 133

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[tdwg-ncd] FW: Moore Foundation Round II bid from NCD Task Group
by Neil Thomson 17 Nov '06

17 Nov '06

Hi NCD'ers, Please see the initial feedback from Lee on our bid to the Moore Foundation. Please send me your ideas for outcomes expected from the 2007 Workshop, as indicated in the second paragraph. With thanks, Neil ________________________________ From: Lee Belbin [mailto:leebel@netspace.net.au] Sent: 17 November 2006 05:35 To: Neil Thomson Subject: RE: Moore Foundation Round II bid from NCD Task Group Hi Neil I've spent the day summarising the proposals and will get a statement about them to all the submitters sometime next week. On your part 5 (the NCD meeting), I really need to know specifically what will be done at the meeting/workshop or by the people attending the meeting. I can't fund meetings, only what will be produced as a consequence of them. I've cut out part of an e-mail to Aimee Stewart (below) about this that may help. "Meetings and Workshops shouldn't be talkshops. I have found a simple process very effective for productive meetings. The cost of entry is the provision of a significant component of work. That work may be determining and documenting how to communicate between two components, outlining a portion of the workflow, providing data, writing software, researching options and presenting conclusions etc. The other key point is to come away from the meeting with the outcome. Done. Written up. The works. This tends to focus the mind, determine what is really needed, and ensure that it gets done." I've also broken your proposal into 5 components as we may end up having to pick and choose in some cases. I've done the same with a few others. On a related subject, Roger, Donald, Adrian, Stan and I have had some discussion yesterday on what the 'observations' may encompass. We currently have quite a few proposals (no charters as yet!) for Interest Groups. The structure is flat in that there has not been a 'horizontal perspective' on how any of these proposed IGs relate. I doubt we (the Exec) can do much on that until we have the charters. Catch-22. I mentioned that one perspective could put NCD into observations. Anyway, as I said early on, I strongly suggest you discuss the options with Adrian. We really need to keep the discussions flowing on this issue. Cheers Lee Lee Belbin Manager, TDWG Infrastructure Project Email: lee(a)tdwg.org Phone: +61(0)419 374 133 ________________________________ From: Neil Thomson [mailto:N.Thomson@nhm.ac.uk] Sent: Thursday, 16 November 2006 9:54 PM To: leebel(a)netspace.net.au Subject: RE: Moore Foundation Round II bid from NCD Task Group Hi Lee, Thank you for confirming receipt. Neil ________________________________ From: Lee Belbin [mailto:leebel@netspace.net.au] Sent: 16 November 2006 02:18 To: Neil Thomson Subject: RE: Moore Foundation Round II bid from NCD Task Group Hi Neil Thanks for the proposal. I'll be evaluating them over the next few weeks and will get back you on the outcomes ASAP. Cheers Lee Lee Belbin Manager, TDWG Infrastructure Project Email: lee(a)tdwg.org Phone: +61(0)419 374 133 ________________________________ From: Neil Thomson [mailto:N.Thomson@nhm.ac.uk] Sent: Wednesday, 15 November 2006 1:53 AM To: lee(a)tdwg.org Cc: tdwg-ncd(a)lists.tdwg.org; leebel(a)netspace.net.au Subject: Moore Foundation Round II bid from NCD Task Group Hi Lee, I attach a one-page bid for funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation on behalf of the Natural Collections Descriptions Task Group. I look forward to hearing the outcome, in due course. Thank you for considering this bid, Neil <<NCD-MooreRound2Bid-Final.doc>> ------- Neil Thomson Head of Data & Digital Systems The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5294, Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 5559, Email: n.thomson(a)nhm.ac.uk http://www.nhm.ac.uk <http://www.nhm.ac.uk>

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[tdwg-ncd] Moore Foundation Round II bid from NCD Task Group
by Neil Thomson 14 Nov '06

14 Nov '06

Hi Lee, I attach a one-page bid for funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation on behalf of the Natural Collections Descriptions Task Group. I look forward to hearing the outcome, in due course. Thank you for considering this bid, Neil <<NCD-MooreRound2Bid-Final.doc>> ------- Neil Thomson Head of Data & Digital Systems The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5294, Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 5559, Email: n.thomson(a)nhm.ac.uk http://www.nhm.ac.uk

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[tdwg-tnc] TNC task group - TCS Usability
by Kennedy, Jessie 13 Nov '06

13 Nov '06

Dear All A new task group is being set up under TNS to report on TCS usability. A draft Charter for the group is now available on the TNC wiki http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/TNC/WebHome direct link http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/TNC/TCSUsageTaskGroupCharter We would like to get the charter off to the TDWG exec for approval so that the task group can get on with things... Please have a look and contribute if you have views. If you want to be a member please contact Aaron. Thanks, Jessie Prof. J B Kennedy School of Computing Napier University 10 Colinton Road Edinburgh EH10 5DT Tel: +44 (0)131 455 2772 Fax: +44 (0)131 455 2727 Email: j.kennedy(a)napier.ac.uk WWW: http://www.soc.napier.ac.uk/jessie

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