Two comments / suggestions -
1) Our definition of observation not be limited to only recording data (including images and sound) and allow for the possiblity of people taking physical samples that may or may not be incorporated into a natural history collection.
2) The universe for our observations also include ecological / natural communities in addition to organisms. There is quite a wealth of information being collected at this broader more "habitat" level.
Thanks - Lynn
Lynn Kutner NatureServe www.natureserve.org (303) 541-0360 lynn_kutner@natureserve.org
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From: Tdwg-obs-bounces@lists.tdwg.org on behalf of Hannu Saarenmaa Sent: Wed 10/19/2005 8:40 AM To: Tdwg-obs@lists.tdwg.org Subject: Re: [Tdwg-obs] What is an observation?
How about this: An observation captures data about the occurrence of an organism in space and time and in relation to habitat and other organisms. Documenting the precision, accuracy, certainty, and methods of the measurements that have been made during an observation is essential for determining the fitness for use of the data that has been captured. An observation is an event that can be linked to other events.
Indeed, I would like to emphasise the need of documenting what is called "quality".
Hannu