October 2014 - tdwg - lists.tdwg.org

In Memoriam Dr Richard Pankhurst
by Mergen Patricia 14 Dec '15

14 Dec '15

Dear Colleagues, On behalf of TDWG we are very sorry to inform you that Richard John Pankhurst passed away on Tuesday 26 March after fighting oesophageal cancer for many years. He was a very important contributer and friend of TDWG, as can be judged from his short CV from the BioCISE directory: Dr Richard Pankhurst began his career in computing in the computer section at CERN, Geneva in 1963, and moving back to Cambridge to work on Computer-Aided Design in 1966. In 1971 he moved to the Botany School, Cambridge to begin work on his PANKEY programs for identification and key construction. This was continued at the Botany department of the Natural History Museum from 1974 until 1991, where he was for many years curator of the British herbarium, and also worked on the Flora Meso-Americana. "Biological Identification", 1978, was the first textbook on computer methods in identification. A new version of this book was published by C.U.P in 1991. Also published in that year was the Flora of the Outer Hebrides. With over 50 publications of refereed papers and books in the fields of taxonomic computing he has made major contributions to these fields. Dr. Pankhurst has been very active recently in programming and managing botanical databases (Flora Europaea, BSBI database and PANDORA) and systems with images. He was appointed Principal Scientific Officer at the RGB Edinburgh in 1991. Dr. Pankhurst served on various committees of British and international organizations, among others. Botanical Society of the British Isles, Committee for Scotland and Database Committee. Botanical Society of Scotland, Council. Taxonomic Databases Working Group, convener of Descriptors Group. International Organisation for Plant Information, co-convener of Information Systems Committee, Checklist Committee. Dr. Pankhurst was the head of the Department of Taxonomic Computing at RGBE. After his official retirement, he compiled a large database of the Rose family. His work on recording the wild flowers of the Outer Hebrides took him frequently to these remote islands on behalf of the Botanical Society of the British Isles. His interest in Taraxacum (dandelions) was acknowledged when a species found only on St. Kilda was named *Taraxacum pankhurstianum*. In Richard, not only a very important scientist was lost to our community, but also a very pleasant collaborator and friend . <patricia.mergen(a)africamuseum.be> Dr. Patricia Mergen (General Secretary of TDWG, on behalf of the Executive Committee) Head of Biodiversity Information and Cybertaxonomy Royal Museum for Central Africa Leuvensesteenweg 13 B-3080 Tervuren Belgium + 32 2 769 5 *626* patricia.mergen(a)africamuseum.be

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DCMI/ASIS&T webinar: The Learning Resource Metadata Initiative, describing learning resources with schema.org, and more?
by DCMI Announce 26 Oct '14

26 Oct '14

DCMI/ASIS&T webinar with Phil Barker & Lorna Campbell of Cetis, UK ******************Please excuse the cross postings****************** *Join DCMI/ASIS&T for our joint November webinar:* --*Title:* *The Learning Resource Metadata Initiative, describing learning resources with schema.org <http://schema.org/>, and more?* --*Date:* 19 November, 2014 --*Time: *10:00am-11:15am EST (UTC 15:00) World Clock: http://bit.ly/1pKiCUj --*Event webpage:* http://dublincore.org/resources/training/ *or* https://www.asis.org/Conferences/webinars/Webinar-DCMI-11-19-2014-register.… ========================================================================= *ABOUT THE WEBINAR:* The Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI) is a collaborative initiative that aims to make it easier for teachers and learners to find educational materials through major search engines and specialized resource discovery services. The approach taken by LRMI is to extend the schema.org ontology so that educationally significant characteristics and relationships can be expressed. In this webinar, Phil Barker and Lorna M. Campbell of Cetis will introduce schema.org and present the background to LRMI, its aims and objectives, and who is involved in achieving them. The webinar will outline the technical aspects of the LRMI specification, describe some example implementations and demonstrate how the discoverability of learning resources may be enhanced. Phil and Lorna will present the latest developments in LRMI implementation, drawing on an analysis of its use by a range of open educational resource repositories and aggregators, and will report on the potential of LRMI to enhance education search and discovery services. Whereas the development of LRMI has been inspired by schema.org, the webinar will also include discussion of whether LRMI has applications beyond those of schema.org. *SPEAKERS:* *Lorna Campbell* has worked in the domain of open education technology and interoperability standards for over fifteen years and has contributed to the development of a number of learning resource metadata specifications. Phil and Lorna were commissioned by Creative Commons to manage the third phase of the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative. LRMI is co-led by Creative Commons and the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP)--now the 501(c)(3) arm of the Association of American Publishers. *Phil Barker* is a research fellow at Heriot-Watt University who has worked supporting the use of learning technology in Higher Education for twenty years. For much of this time he has worked with Lorna M. Campbell as part of Cetis. His work focuses on supporting the discovery and selection of appropriate resources, and he has contributed to the development of a number of learning resource metadata specifications. He was on the technical working group of the learning resource metadata initiative and has since worked on the third phase of LRMI promoting its uptake and use. ========================================================================= *For more information and to register, visit the event webpage:* *DCMI:* *http://dublincore.org/resources/training/ <http://dublincore.org/resources/training/>* or *ASIS&T:* https://www.asis.org/Conferences/webinars/Webinar-DCMI-11-19-2014-register.…

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Re: [tdwg] iDigBio Data Management Interest Group - Kickoff Webinar 7 August at 1 PM EDT
by Debbie Paul 16 Oct '14

16 Oct '14

Hi All, Quick reminder about the iDigBio Data Management Interest Group - Kickoff Webinar Thursday 7 August 2014 1:00-2:00 PM EDT *What:* Webinar to kickoff a new iDigBio Data Management Interest Group <https://www.idigbio.org/content/data-management-interest-group-kickoff-webi…> *What format*: A short presentation will be followed by open discussion for all participants. *When:* Thursday 7 August 2014, 1:00 - 2:00 PM EDT *Where: *http://idigbio.adobeconnect.com/datamgmt (nothing to install, use any browser) Headsets are recommended (they help remove echo). *Who: *All are welcome, please invite your colleagues, no registration needed. *Questions?* Please send to any member of the group: Data Management Interest Group <https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/IDigBio_Working_Groups#Data_Manageme…> See you soon! Deb Paul, et al *Wiki: *https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/Data_Management_Interest_Group (please excuse cross-postings) Upcoming iDigBio Events https://www.idigbio.org/calendar --Deborah Paul, on Twitter @idbdeb iDigBio Technology Specialist Institute for Digital Information, 234 LSB Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 32306 850-644-6366

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Call for Nomination of TDWG Executive Positions 2015 is now open !
by Mergen Patricia 14 Oct '14

14 Oct '14

Dear all Call for nomination for the TDWG 2015 Executive is now open. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7JP3HF6 Deadline October 29th 2014. We have designed a survey to collect nominations for positions on the 2015 TDWG Executive (http://www.tdwg.org/about-tdwg/executive/ <http://www.tdwg.org/about-tdwg/executive/%29.>). The elections will open during the TDWG 214 conference and remain open until after the conference to allow smooth remote voting of members not participating to the conference. The results of the elections will be announced to the members and on the website of TDWG. The new Executive will enter into function the 1st of January 2015. When nominating a person, you will be asked to: 1. Provide your name and contact information so we may contact you if needed. 2. Provide complete name, affiliation and contact information for the person you nominate. 3. State clearly for which position on the Executive you are nominating the person. You can only nominate a person for one position. 4. It is preferable that the person is aware of the nomination and willing to take on the position. 5. If available provide a short biography of the person or a link to an on line CV or profile. 6. Optionally you may also state why you think the person would be suitable for the position. NOTE THAT: 1. Self nominations are allowed. 2. If you wish to nominate more than one person, please start a new survey for each person. 3. Incomplete or inconsistent nominations will discarded. 4. Note that to enable multiple surveys from a same computer, you cannot go back to an incomplete survey. Make sure you have filled in all info before leaving your browser or clicking on submit. Thank you for your collaboration and interest in TDWG. Any questions ? Contact: secretary(a)tdwg.org With my best wishes Patricia Mergen on behalf of the TDWG executive.

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Fwd: Postdoctoral Opportunity at University of Maryland, College Park
by Cynthia Parr 08 Oct '14

08 Oct '14

Apologies for cross-posting. Dear colleagues, Please see the following announcement for a postdoctoral fellow to work with the University of Maryland's iSchool and the USDA's National Agricultural Library. Feel free to forward to promising candidates or networks. Cynthia Sims Parr, Ph.D. Knowledge Services Division National Agricultural Library, ARS, USDA 301-504-9801 Cynthia.Parr(a)ars.usda.gov Postdoctoral Opportunity in Agricultural Data Curation at the College of Information Studies (iSchool), University of Maryland, College Park Maryland's iSchool seeks a postdoctoral fellow to work on the project "Establishing a Data Curation Program for Agricultural Information" at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Library (NAL). Depending on the candidate's background, expertise, and interests, several exciting research projects could be complementary to the role envisioned for this postdoctoral position. Potential research areas include (but are not limited to) metadata standards, data preservation and re-use, data curation, and digitization management. The postdoctoral fellow will also have access to the iSchool's recently established digital curation lab. College Park's close proximity to NAL and other large Federal institutions in the Washington, D.C. area offers easy access to many related data repositories. The postdoctoral fellow will receive a competitive salary, including benefits and support for conference and research travel. The duration of the postdoc is 2 years, with opportunity for renewal. Start date for the position can be as early as January 2015. Roles and Responsibilities: This postdoctoral fellowship is a research position, with an expectation of productive research activity that will result in journal publications or conference presentations. The primary responsibilities of the fellow will include participation in a research project that aims to understand the data curation needs and requirements of NAL and to develop strategies that guarantee the management and preservation of NAL's expansive collection of agricultural data for long-term use. NAL has recently established a Knowledge Services Division (KSD) to lead efforts in digital curation. The postdoctoral fellow shall work with an interdisciplinary team of faculty and graduate students at the iSchool to conduct research and implement policies that will help KSD further understand NAL's capacity for data curation and preservation. KSD staff is a mix of highly qualified and enthusiastic information professionals, researchers, and scientists. The postdoctoral fellow will have ample opportunity to interact with archives, digital preservation and digital curation researchers from the iSchool and its digital curation lab, and KSD personnel, as well as to collaborate actively as suits research interests. Qualifications: Candidates should have (or soon have) a Ph.D. in Information or Library Science, or another relevant field. He or she must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. The successful candidate will have strong research background, proven information and project management skills, demonstrated excellent communication skills through a record of publication and public presentation, and a strong interest in advancing digital preservation and data curation through education, engagement and collaboration. The successful candidate will have an understanding and demonstrated competency in the following areas: science data management, qualitative and quantitative research methods, digital preservation, trusted digital repository workflows, science metadata standards and inter-operability, and open science. Demonstrated record of the ability and desire to work in a multidisciplinary and collaborative environment is also desirable. To Apply: Interested candidates should send a CV, a brief statement (2 pages maximum) of interest in this position and how it relates to your personal goals, and a list of 3 references and their contact information to the project PI, Dr. Ricardo L. Punzalan at punzalan(a)umd.edu. Review of applications will begin November 15th, 2014. Selected applicant will be notified no later than mid-December 2014.

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