February 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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BioVeL Training Workshops Autumn 2013
by Jong, Yde de 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

[cid:_2_0D2267A80D226240004E96E980257BF0] BioVeL, a virtual laboratory for biodiversity research data, is offering two training workshops «Introduction to workflows for taxonomic refinement, biogeographic analysis, and species distribution modelling» November 26-27, 2013, Cardiff University, UK Description of the workshop and registration<http://frb.eole-emailing.net/l.php?q=C7R0bdUyZhX7O4KA8AcP&l=mhEt9SDFpiH4jmM…> «Building workflows with Taverna workbench» December 5-6, 2013, Manchester, UK Description of the workshop and registration<http://frb.eole-emailing.net/l.php?q=C7R0bdUyZhX7O4KA8AcP&l=qx%2B%2F%2F2hFK…> Note that these training workshops are free to attend but registration is required. The number of participants is limited. For further information, please write contact(a)biovel.eu<mailto:contact@biovel.eu>. More information on BioVeL: www.biovel.eu<http://frb.eole-emailing.net/l.php?q=C7R0bdUyZhX7O4KA8AcP&l=ai9CNhKZGxdfg76…> BioVeL is funded by the European Commission 7th Framework Programme (FP7) as part of its e-Infrastructures activity (Grant no. 283359).

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Vacancy Announcement - Developer, information gateway for plant genetic resources
by Dag Endresen 25 Feb '14

25 Feb '14

Dear all, Bioversity International is seeking a web developer for further developments of an information gateway for plant genetic resources, crop wild relatives and trait information. If you are interested, you may contact Sónia Dias at <s.dias(a)cgiar.org>. http://www.nordgen.org/ngdoc/plants/Samarbeten_och_natverk/PGR_secure_works… Thanks Dag From: Dias, Sónia (Bioversity) <s.dias(a)cgiar.org> Subject: FW: TOR for informatics-pgrsecure work Date: February 24,2014 08:20:35 am GMT+1 To: "Dag Terje Endresen " <dag.endresen(a)nhm.uio.no> Hi Dag, Hope you doing well! I'm attaching here the TOR for an informatics consultant - pgrsecure work. Please circulate this to your network. The consultant should preferably be based in Rome for 6 months but is negotiable. Thanks a lot Sonia Sónia Ricardo Dias Research Programme Officer EURISCO Coordinator Conservation & Availability Programme Bioversity International Via dei Tre Denari 472/a 00057 Maccarese-Fiumicino Rome, Italy Tel: +39 06 6118321 Fax: +39 0661979661 Email: s.dias(a)cgiar.org EURISCO:http://eurisco.ecpgr.org Web: www.bioversityinternational.org

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DCMI Regional Meeting: "Making Metadata Work", London, 23 June 2014
by DCMI Announce 23 Feb '14

23 Feb '14

*** Apologies for cross-postings *** [image: Inline image 2] *MAKING METADATA WORK* DCMI Regional Meeting with ISKO-UK & IRSG ------------------------------------- *Date:* Monday 23rd June 2014 - *Location:* BCS Office, 5 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7HA. *Websites:* http://www.iskouk.org/events/metadata_June_2014.htm http://dcevents.dublincore.org/BibData/mmw/ ------------------------------------- This event will be a showcase for the latest developments in the evolution of the Semantic Web, exploitation of Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS), metadata annotation to aid workflow automation, information retrieval in networks of diverse media assets, Linked Data, and other opportunities for using metadata. It is a Joint Meeting of ISKO UK, IRSG (Information Retrieval Special Interest Group of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT) and DCMI (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative). The day will be modular: attendance in the morning is optional, with a choice of workshop or tutorial, while the afternoon program is for everyone. *MORNING OPTIONS:* *a) Tutorial: Metadata management in Sharepoint (10.00 - 12.00)* While Sharepoint 2013 offers more metadata capabilities than ever before, the range of options can make it hard to implement the most effective way. Management of controlled vocabularies is a particular challenge. This tutorial will enable you to pick the brains of an experienced consultant, Marc Stephenson of Metataxis. *b) Workshop: Vocabularies and the potential for linkage (9.30 - 12.30)* Various approaches to the linkage of value vocabularies (KOSs) and/or element set vocabularies (metadata schemas) will be described by *Pierre-Yves Vandenbussche* (Fujitsu, Ireland), *Dan Brickley* (Google), *Gordon Dunsire* and *Stella Dextre Clarke*, with emphasis on the opportunities as well as the barriers to widespread adoption. After that is a case study from *Johan De Smedt* and *Agis Papantoniou*, both of TenForce, that draws on more than one technique. The subsequent discussion will address the prospects for take-up, aiming to help participants with application or development of similar techniques and projects. *AFTERNOON MEETING (Plenary, 14.00 - 18.00)* --*Martin White*: The importance of metadata for high quality Search --*Sean Bechhofer*: Wf4Ever: metadata for "Research Objects" --*Mark Sandler*: Semantic Media: a new paradigm for navigable content for the 21st century --*Richard Ranft*: Enhancing discovery of the British Library's audio collections --*Antoine Isaac*: A portrait of Europeana as a Linked Open Data case (in progress) --*Andrew MacFarlane*: Analysing creative image search queries to determine important facets Followed by networking, wine and nibbles from 18.00. *REGISTRATION FEE & BOOKING:* --*Full day,* including lunch and a choice of tutorial or workshop: £120 (or £70 for members of ISKO, IRSG or DCMI and for full-time students); --*Afternoon only:* £60 (or £25 for members of ISKO, IRSG or DCMI and for full-time students). --*Registration: * < http://www.iskouk.org/events/metadata_June_2014.htm#Booking<http://www.iskouk.org/events/metadata_June_2014.htm#introduction> > *To avoid disappointment, please don't delay in booking.* ------------------------------------- *About ISKO UK* ISKO (International Society for Knowledge Organization) is a not-for-profit scientific/professional association with the objective of promoting research and communication in the domain of knowledge organization, within the broad field of information science and related disciplines. Founded in 2007, our UK Chapter has been attracting lively and steadily growing audiences to its afternoon meeting series (see slides and recordings at http://www.iskouk.org/events.htm). Its third conference was held in July 2013 on the general theme of "Knowledge organization - pushing the boundaries" http://www.iskouk.org/conf2013/. *About BCS IRSG* Established in 1978, the main aim of the BCS IRSG is supporting the communication between information retrieval (IR) researchers and practitioners, promoting the use of IR methods in industry and raising public awareness of IR-related topics. Recognizing IR as an interdisciplinary field, a further aim of the BCS IRSG is to act as a link between computer science, library and information science and also cognate communities (like natural language processing). *About DCMI* The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) is an open, international forum for the development of interoperable online metadata standards with diverse applications. DCMI's activities include consensus-driven working groups, global conferences and workshops, standards liaison, and educational efforts to promote widespread acceptance of metadata standards and practices. DCMI is a project of ASIS&T (the Association for Information Science and Technology).

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Vacancy Announcement - Biodiversity Informatics - Brazil
by Eduardo Dalcin 04 Feb '14

04 Feb '14

This may be relevant in this list. Thanks -------------------- *POSITION INFORMATION* *Vacancy Announcement:* UNEP/ROLAC - Brazil Office Project: Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use *Type of Contract:* Service Contract *Duration:* 12 months *Duty Station:* Petropolis - Rio de Janeiro *Closing date for application:* February 9th 2014 *ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT* This announcement aims to hire a specialist in Biodiversity Informatics for being part of the team responsible for planning, development and maintenance of SiBBr, system of the project Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use, at the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC), in Petropolis - Rio de Janeiro. The initial contract will be for duration of 01 year, with possibility of extension. The contract will begin on March, 2014 and end on February, 2015. *FUNCTIONS / KEY RESULTS EXPECTED* The specialist will work as a member of the LNCC team that is responsible for implementing the Information System on Brazilian Biodiversity - SiBBr and its applications and tests in order to make it available to the public. This work will be carried out under the coordination of the LNCC and with other members of the SiBBr team - experts in databases, object oriented programming, web design and application development. The team will follow the following work plan: * Implement the development project SiBBr system; * Perform analysis of requirements: actors, scenarios, functional and non-functional properties, system constraints; * Set initial system specification; * Perform the initial implementation of communication tests; * Develop and enhance the SiBBr - emphasizing integration and data load; * Define detailed specification: use cases, data modeling and process and integration of data load; * Conduct implementation; * Database; * Interfaces; * Integration and processing of queries; * Web Services applications; * Perform testing and validation. The following activities shall be performed: * technical support in the implementation of models for integration of data on the biodiversity of Brazil in their different organizational levels and based on international models available; * technical support in the implementation of policies, guidelines and data management protocols to ensure quality and support the institutions associated with SIBBr in your scanning processes and publication of data and metadata on biodiversity; * technical support in the implementation of inter-institutional processes of elaboration and adoption of controlled languages in the national and international context; * participation and technical support in the preparation and adoption of guidelines for quality of the published data by SIBBR, as well as its clearance, settlement, publishing and development of learning materials on data quality; * technical support in building policies and guides on publishing, management, access and use of data on biodiversity in Brazil; * Technical support for the development, inclusion of content and administration of technological tools and controlled languages of SiBBr; * Work collaboratively with the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC) team in Petropolis - RJ; * Identify ways of adapting the information system and applications to better attend the aspects related to the biodiversity and ecosystems; * Permanent communication with the project team, at LNCC, MCTI and UNEP; * Participation in physical meetings or teleconferences with the technicians involved; * Make visits to SiBBr partnerships institutions to provide technical advice aiming to qualify, standardization and integration of databases; * Monitoring the packets of data and metadata that are integrated into SiBBr, checking quality and creating reports proposing improvements; * Any other functions related directly or indirectly to the office will be ordered by the LNCC, Project Management Unit or their representatives. The professional to be hired to carry out its activities and responsibilities under the supervision of the LNCC and the Project Management Unit composed by the Project Coordination ( MCTI ) and the UNEP Brazil office. *DELIVERY REMUNERATION SCHEDULE* Level: SB4 Payment will be made monthly. *REPORTING LINES* The recruited specialist will perform his or her duties and responsibilities under Project Coordination and UNEP Brazil Office supervision. *IMPACT OF RESULTS* All the activities to be developed under this term of reference will have direct impact on the development and implementation of the Information System on Brazilian Biodiversity - SiBBr being developed under the "Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use." The result of the services provided by this specialist will be the implementation of the Information System on Brazilian Biodiversity - SiBBr and its elaboration, tests and implementation in order to be available to the public. This work will be carried out under the coordination of the LNCC and with other members of the SiBBr team. *COMPETENCIES AND CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS* *Professionalism:* Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to the area of work; good research, analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to apply judgment in the work environment; the capacity to plan own work and manage conflicting priorities. *Commitment to Continuous Learning*: Willingness to keep abreast of new UN procedures and rules and developments in the field of information technology. *Communication: *Good verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to draft/edit variety of written texts, documents, reports, correspondences and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style. *Technological Awareness:* Ability to make effective use of required computer software and other equipment relevant to the post (MS Word, Excel, etc.). *Teamwork:* Good interpersonal skills such as initiative, responsibility, teamwork, flexibility and capacity to work under pressure. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations in a multi-cultural organization. Ability to provide effective support in relation to work conducted by colleagues; *Travel:* Candidate must have availability to travel. *RECRUITMENT QUALIFICATIONS* *Education:* Degree in Natural Sciences as Biology, Ecology and related fields; Desirable Master in informatics related to biodiversity issues. *Experience:* * Minimum of 3 (three) years of experience in biological collections, trusteeship, digitization and management of biodiversity data in excel or other programs; * Experience in computer technology applied to biology or environmental and / or ecosystem data; * Knowledge of metadata standards for biodiversity, such as EML, Dublin Core and Darwin Core; * Desirable knowledge of systems for managing metadata catalogs as MetaCat; * Desirable knowledge of standards for data management TDWG biodiversity; * Good management of informatics tools, such as Excel; * Pro-activity, assertive communication, responsibility and ability to work in a team and under pressure; * Availability to undertake occasional travel. *Language Requirements:* Fluency in Portuguese. Intermediate proficiency in English and / or Spanish. Qualified candidates may submit their applications by e-mail, in English, including: Detailed curriculum vitae (Personal History format - P11<http://www.pnud.org.br/arquivos/P11_English.doc> ); Application letter containing the remuneration expectation. *FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE ACCESS FULL VERSION OF THE TERMS OF REFERENCE AVAILABLE IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.* Applications must be sent to the address mentioned below by no later than February 9th 2013, 23:59 UTC/GMT (Brasília time) quoting reference "*Specialist in Biodiversity Informatics* *- Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use*". E-mail: procurement.brazil(a)pnuma.org Eventual requests for information or doubt clarifications may be submitted to UNEP Brazil (to the email address above) byFebruary 3rd, 2013. The answers will be published on the UNEP webpage, below this ToR on February 5th, 2013. *Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.* *Only short-listed qualified candidates will receive an acknowledgement* -------------------------------- *Eduardo Dalcin* Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro Diretoria de Pesquisas Núcleo de Computação Científica e Geoprocessamento e-mail: edalcin(a)jbrj.gov.br Trabalho / Work: +55 21 3204 2116 -------------------------------- *e-mail alternativo / * *alternate email:** edalcin(a)jbrj.org <edalcin(a)jbrj.org>* --------------------------------

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