Hi Javier,
Thanks for your points. My responses below. Including a bit about GML
that should really be in a different thread!
Javier de la Torre wrote:
Hi,
There are many reason why I think data providers should be more capable
than just simple interfaces to indexers. Some of them have been already
pointed by Markus and Bob, but I would like to use to a non-technical
reason and very related to what TDWG is good for.
While making the biological collection databases available for GBIF
indexing I think we are also helping them in their daily work. Some
databases are setting up their own web interface based on BioCASe,
there are projects to help them geoloreference their specimens based on
the provider software, they have the possibility to export their
collection database and import it into another collection management
software, and many other useful possibilities that will hopefully
appear in the next years. These solutions are possible because the
software installed on their servers is capable of doing searches and
queries.
So here my argument is that: by setting up a query level and installing
a capable software on the providers directly we are improving these
databases.
But surely these people can search their own database already. If you
are providing a cheap and easy web interface for them then that is a
tangible benefit but could equally be done centrally with a branding
for the institution. It doesn't physically have to reside with them and
be maintained by them - though that may be the best for many
organisations.
I have used this argument for a while already when
convincing data providers: by joining GBIF they are not just only
making their data available to the community but that they will also
benefit of the tools that are appearing for them based on TDWG
standards. I think it is a good deal, make your data available and we
will help you to improve it with standard tools from the community for
no cost.
This is just as available if the indexing is outsourced from the data
owner I believe but is difficult to discuss abstractly here.
There is also many people who do not want to share their
data, specially researches, and that can also benefit from our software
and standards without having to participate in any network. If we
create good and useful software they might consider using it to handle
their data and at some point maybe open it to the public.
That might be a really nice side effect of our activities but as it is
based on serendipity (or good karma perhaps!) is not something that we
can plan for.
This is also somehow related to what I call the OAI
"model" versus the OGC "model". The OAI is helping and promoting the
accessibility to data in distributed databases while the OGC is an
organism just promoting the interoperability of applications.
While the OAI is focus on making the accessibility to the data as good
as possible (to set up value-added services on top of cache databases)
the OGC community is working on making software interoperable,
extensible and open to new uses that they might not know now.
I am not sure that either approach works in isolation. If I want to
define a GML application schema that contains a definition of a bridge
in it, for example, I am not sure how I relate this to all the other
people who have defined (or may define in the future) bridge-like
things. How do I write an application that will 'understand' not only
my bridge feature but also any other features out there that are
bridge-like but that I am not aware of just now. I can see how we get
interoperability if we all agree to use the same Application Schema and
I can see that we can use the same software for multiple Application
Schemas but we want data interoperability not just software
interoperability
Here is an example: The British Ordnance Survey have their own GML
Application Schema and it defines a "FerryLink" that extends from their
own abstract feature type and back to GML feature. So I can treat it
like a GML feature in an application - very useful - this is software
interoperability. Trouble is I have no way of knowing that it is to do
with ferries and water or anything useful about it unless I can read
English - which machines don't. (Incidentally there is no documentation
in the schema so I can't retrieve it and display it to the user
automatically either). Presumably another mapping agency is also
encoding ferry links. In fact the instances of ferry routes that are
encoded using this schema may join the UK to countries that use
different GML Application Schemas to define the same physical
ferry links!
My understanding is that the GML model does not give me a way to
discover this or express it once I know that there are two ways of
talking about the same physical objects.
You can get the OS application schemas here:
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/xml/schema/index.html
My knowledge of OGC standards is limited but I may be wrong on this so
stand to be corrected.
We are building a global system so we have to be able to reconcile
different encodings of the same object types. GML does not solve this
problem but might be useful in other ways. The OAI standards may be
useful for finding stuff.
I want to think that GBIF is like the OAI and that instead
of creating their own technology to achieve their goals is using TDWG.
I tend to think of TDWG more like OGC in the other hand. So, GBIF is
just one user of TDWG work.
So my vote goes for more sophisticated data providers that allow us to
construct more things on top of them without having to consider GBIF at
all.
TAPIR looks fine to me for this task, even more if complemented with
the TAPIR "Lite" idea for providers that just want to contribute to
GBIF.
I am sure we need both fat and thin providers but I also think we need
to define the roles played by different actors within the network more
formally - which I think we will in the near future.
Some good points,
Roger
Best regards,
Javier.
--
-------------------------------------
Roger Hyam
Technical Architect
Taxonomic Databases Working Group
-------------------------------------
http://www.tdwg.org
roger@tdwg.org
+44 1578 722782
-------------------------------------