Cool!

A few quick comments re TCS-RDF.

The syntax

TaxonNames:hasBasionym <rdf:Description rdf:about="urn:lsid:indexfungorum.org:Names:148860" /> </TaxonNames:hasBasionym>

strikes me as odd. If you want to assert a relationship between to entities, something like

<TaxonNames:hasBasionym rdf:resource = "urn:lsid:indexfungorum.org:Names:148860" />

seems appropriate. You are making a link to another entity. Nesting an rdf:about tag doesn't actually express what we want to say.

I also suggest that urn:lsid:indexfungorum.org:Names:148860 has a complementary tag such as

<TaxonNames:isBasionymOf rdf:resource = "urn:lsid:indexfungorum.org:Names: 213649" />

so we can recover the names for which it is a basionym. Ultimately this could go in an ontology (i.e., that hasBasionym implies the reverse isBasionnymOf), but this adds a layer of inference not supported by triple stores (yet?). If the tags are in the RDF it becomes very easy to aggregate this information.

The attribute TaxonNames:nomenclaturalCode="http://tdwg.org/2006/03/12/TaxonNames/ NomenclaturalCode/#botanical" of the tag TaxonNames:TaxonName is problematic. Firstly, I don't know why this is an attribute rather than just another tag, and the URI http://tdwg.org/2006/03/12/TaxonNames/NomenclaturalCode/#botanical returns a 404. If this is just a made up URI then this is bad -- EVERY URI in an RDF document must be real -- unlike XML schema where any old rubbish can be used.

TaxonNames:publishedIn&lt;i&gt;Syll. fung.&lt;/i&gt; (Abellini) &lt;b&gt;1&lt;/b&gt;: 148 (1882) (1882)</TaxonNames:publishedIn>

has formatting information (the <i></i> and <b></b> tags). I think this is in principle a bad thing(TM) if we can do this in any old tag. We should separate content and presentation. If we want information that has formatting, then I think we need to look at what the RSS feed community has to say about this (of course, they can't quite make up their mind). Options include the content namespace (http://web.resource.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/), or using xhtml:body (see, e.g., http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2003/04/14.html).

Regards

Rod

On 22 Apr 2006, at 01:14, Kevin Richards wrote:

The IF LSID server now returns TCS-RDF (based on Roger's initial implementation) as the metadata and a "full taxonomic name" as the data.

Eg try lsidres:urn:lsid:indexfungorum.org:Names:213649 in your browser.

Kevin +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++ WARNING: This email and any attachments may be confidential and/or privileged. They are intended for the addressee only and are not to be read, used, copied or disseminated by anyone receiving them in error. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by return email and delete this message and any attachments.

The views expressed in this email are those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the official views of Landcare Research.

Landcare Research http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++

------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- Professor Roderic D. M. Page Editor, Systematic Biology DEEB, IBLS Graham Kerr Building University of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8QP United Kingdom

Phone: +44 141 330 4778 Fax: +44 141 330 2792 email: r.page@bio.gla.ac.uk web: http://taxonomy.zoology.gla.ac.uk/rod/rod.html reprints: http://taxonomy.zoology.gla.ac.uk/rod/pubs.html

Subscribe to Systematic Biology through the Society of Systematic Biologists Website: http://systematicbiology.org Search for taxon names: http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~rpage/portal/ Find out what we know about a species: http://ispecies.org Rod's rants on phyloinformatics: http://iphylo.blogspot.com

___________________________________________________________ 24 FIFA World Cup tickets to be won with Yahoo! Mail http://uk.mail.yahoo.com