September 2008 - tdwg - lists.tdwg.org

Metadata Discussion Meeting at TDWG 2008 Conference
by Eamonn O Tuama 30 Sep '08

30 Sep '08

Metadata Discussion Meeting at TDWG Conference 2008 Atlas of Living Australia and Global Biodiversity Information Facility are co-organisers of a special meeting on metadata to be held at the TDWG Conference in Fremantle, Australia, Sunday 19 October 2008, 14.00-17.00. We propose to open the discussion to any aspect of metadata but with a particular focus on metadata standards, major projects, systems in use, the role of ontologies, and certain key questions surrounding metadata. Key Questions The key questions needing discussion include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. What resources do we want to describe (all digital; some classes of digital; digital AND undigitised legacy; human experts, etc., record and dataset level)? 2. Can we make some preliminary core recommendations on metadata elements which all TDWG-related projects should maintain as a minimum? 3. How do we proceed to fuller recommendations on metadata standards and profiles, and web service interfaces, e.g., Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) - including appropriate use of PMH Sets - and Open Archives Initiative Object Reuse and Exchange (OAI-ORE)? 4. How do we handle natural language differences in metadata? 5. How can ontologies be effectively used with metadata? 6. How do we encourage production of good metadata? 7. How can a global, decentralised biodiversity network best share metadata? 8. Are there any other things we can do immediately to facilitate the interchange of metadata between our projects? 9. How should we avoid duplication of metadata records as they are harvested and aggregated in different locations? 10. Are there pilot activities around which we can test some of these ideas? 11. How should we establish ongoing collaboration within TDWG on this topic (wiki, mailing list, convenor, etc.)? To make effective use of the limited time for such a broad subject, we propose to offer a semi-open format for the discussion. This will revolve around a series of maximum-5-minute, 2-PowerPoint-slides presentations from represented projects on i) current metadata strategy and standards; ii) issues they need to see addressed. We require pre-submission and circulation of these slides to help build a sense of collaboration around a process and to create an "Introductory Statement" that will guide and inform our discussions on the day. A metadata wiki will be established prior to the meeting to aid our discussions. If you are interested in participating in the meeting, please contact the convenors Donald Hobern (Donald.Hobern(a)csiro.au) and Éamonn Ó Tuama (eotuama(a)gbif.org) If you wish to make a presentation, please submit your slides to the convenors by 1 September 2008. -- Éamonn Ó Tuama, Ms.C., Ph.D. (eotuama(a)gbif.org) Senior Programme Officer - Inventory, Discover, Access (IDA), Global Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen Ø, DENMARK Phone: +45 3532 1494; Fax: +45 3532 1480

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Bioinformatician positions open with Australian phenomics networks
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

The Australian government has funded three inter-related projects under the umbrella title, Integrated Biological Systems: * The Australian Phenomics Network (APN) - a network of research centres providing Australian and international researchers with mouse models for the study of human and animal disease. * The Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) - two nodes exploiting recent advances in robotics, imaging and computing to enable sensitive, high throughput analyses to be made of plant growth and function. * The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) - a network of institutions and agencies working to develop tools and services for managing information on Australian biodiversity and research organisms. The ALA is providing some of the core information infrastructure to enable the APN and APPF to organise large quantities of data and images on their study organisms and to make these resources accessible to researchers in Australia and overseas. Two positions are now advertised for bioinformaticians to work with the APN and the APPF to explore their data management requirements and to work with the ALA to develop appropriate services to support these communities. The APN is seeking a bioinformatician to be based at Australian National University in Canberra. The closing date for applications is 24 September 2008. See the following materials: * Advertisement: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/ANUBioinformatician.pdf * Documentation: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/ANUBioinformatianDocumentation.doc The APPF is seeking a bioinformatician to be based at the University of Adelaide. The closing date for applications is 19 September 2008. See the following materials: * Advertisement: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/UABioinformatician.pdf * Documentation: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/UABioinformaticianDocumentation.doc I urge those who are interested to apply promptly. Donald Donald Hobern, Director, Atlas of Living Australia CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601 Phone: (02) 62464352 Mobile: 0437990208 Email: Donald.Hobern(a)csiro.au Web: http://www.ala.org.au/

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Bioinformatician positions open with Australian phenomics networks
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

The Australian government has funded three inter-related projects under the umbrella title, Integrated Biological Systems: * The Australian Phenomics Network (APN) - a network of research centres providing Australian and international researchers with mouse models for the study of human and animal disease. * The Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) - two nodes exploiting recent advances in robotics, imaging and computing to enable sensitive, high throughput analyses to be made of plant growth and function. * The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) - a network of institutions and agencies working to develop tools and services for managing information on Australian biodiversity and research organisms. The ALA is providing some of the core information infrastructure to enable the APN and APPF to organise large quantities of data and images on their study organisms and to make these resources accessible to researchers in Australia and overseas. Two positions are now advertised for bioinformaticians to work with the APN and the APPF to explore their data management requirements and to work with the ALA to develop appropriate services to support these communities. The APN is seeking a bioinformatician to be based at Australian National University in Canberra. The closing date for applications is 24 September 2008. See the following materials: * Advertisement: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/ANUBioinformatician.pdf * Documentation: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/ANUBioinformatianDocumentation.doc The APPF is seeking a bioinformatician to be based at the University of Adelaide. The closing date for applications is 19 September 2008. See the following materials: * Advertisement: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/UABioinformatician.pdf * Documentation: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/UABioinformaticianDocumentation.doc I urge those who are interested to apply promptly. Donald Donald Hobern, Director, Atlas of Living Australia CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601 Phone: (02) 62464352 Mobile: 0437990208 Email: Donald.Hobern(a)csiro.au Web: http://www.ala.org.au/

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