(Apologies for any cross-listing)

Audubon Core Public Review

By: Steve Baskauf, Review Manager

Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) announces the Public Review of the proposed Audubon Core Multimedia Resources Metadata Standard. Audubon Core is designed to provide a controlled vocabulary to address the management, acquisition, and content descriptions of biodiversity multimedia. It is a product of the Joint GBIF- TDWG Multimedia Resources Task Group (MRTG) and has undergone peer review, several revisions, and review by the TDWG Executive Committee. If you are a potential producer or consumer of metadata for biodiversity-related multimedia, we would like your input on this proposed TDWG Technical Specification Standard.

You may find it easiest to view the proposed standard online. The following links lead to the three parts of the standard:

- the non-normative introduction: http://terms.gbif.org/wiki/Audubon_Core_Non_Normative_Document - the normative introductory material: http://terms.gbif.org/wiki/Audubon_Core_(1.0_normative) - the normative term list: http://terms.gbif.org/wiki/Audubon_Core_Term_List_(1.0_normative)

A downloadable zip archive containing the proposed standard can be obtained at http://www.tdwg.org/standards/638/ . This archive includes an informative adoption and sustainability plan which is not an official part of the proposed standard.

To raise specific issues or to make specific recommendations, use the issues tracker described at http://code.google.com/p/auduboncore/wiki/AboutIssueTracker . To engage in general discussion about the standard, join the TDWG email list (tdwg-content) by subscribing at http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content . You can then post messages to tdwg-content@lists.tdwg.org . Issues raised in that conversation may be added to the issue tracker as well. Comments about the proposed standard will be archived as a part of the standards adoption process.

In accordance with the TDWG standards process, a minimum of 30 days is required for public comment on the proposed standard. Comments should therefore be received by 1st April 2013. For more information about the TDWG standards process, see http://www.tdwg.org/standards/status-and-categories/ and http://www.tdwg.org/about-tdwg/process/ .

Please distribute this call for comment to anyone you think could or should comment on Audubon Core. You may address any questions about the review process to me at steve.baskauf@vanderbilt.edu .

Thanks to the authors, Robert A. Morris (convenor), Vijay Barve, Mihail Carausu, Vishwas Chavan, Jose Cuadra, Chris Freeland, Gregor Hagedorn, Patrick Leary, Dimitry Mozzherin, Annette Olson, Greg Riccardi, and Ivan Teage for their work on the proposed standard. Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers, the Executive Committee, and Lee Belbin who served previously as Review Manager for the standard.