May 2015 - 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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Thursday Webinar at iDigBio about Kurator: on automated workflows for curating biodiversity data
by Deborah Paul 28 May '15

28 May '15

Hi Everyone, Are you interested in data quality? Wondering what sort of automated processes might be run against known data sources to help you clean and enhance your biodiversity data? Please join us tomorrow, Thursday, May 28th from 2 - 4 PM EDT for a Webinar and Demo about Kurator. **Where: **http://idigbio.adobeconnect.com/datamgmt *What's Kurator*? Read all about it here: https://www.idigbio.org/content/webinar-towards-user-definable-semi-automat… *What to expect*? The first hour will focus on an overall explanation of Kurator's "automated workflow for quality control of biodiversity data." The software focuses on: checking scientific names, georeferences, and collecting event dates. Three Thematic Collection Networks (TCNs) use, or are planning to use this software as part of their efforts to provide quality data: SCAN TCN <https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/Southwest_Collections_of_Arthropods_…>, NEVP TCN <https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/Mobilizing_New_England_Vascular_Plan…>, and InvertEBase TCN <https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/InvertEBase:_Reaching_Back_to_See_th…>. The second half of this webinar is IT-focused and provides developers with a chance to learn more about how to install the software and test it on their own using sample data sets from iDigBio or Symbiota. Many thanks for the concerted efforts of the Kurator software development team to put this in-depth presentation together! See you there!** **Deb, et al with special thanks from the iDigBio Data Management Interest Group and the iDigBio Cyberinfrastructure Working Group (apologies for cross-posting) Please use headsets for best sound experience. -- -- Upcoming iDigBio Events https://www.idigbio.org/calendar -- Deborah Paul, iDigBio Technology Specialist Institute for Digital Information, 234 LSB Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 32306 850-644-6366

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In 30 minutes: Webinar on Handwriting Recognition Software
by Deborah Paul 26 May '15

26 May '15

Hi Everyone, Quick reminder. Webinar starting in 30 minutes... Demo and Webinar: Interactive Handwritten Text Recognition and Indexing of Historical Documents: tranScriptorium and the Transkribus Platform Read more about it: https://www.idigbio.org/content/demo-and-webinar-interactive-handwritten-te… When: Tuesday May 26, 2015 at 11 AM EDT (that's 1500 UTC). Where:http://idigbio.adobeconnect.com/augmentocr See you there!, Elspeth Haston (RBGE, Synthesys3), and Deb Paul, et al at iDigBio -- -- Upcoming iDigBio Events https://www.idigbio.org/calendar -- Deborah Paul, iDigBio Technology Specialist Institute for Digital Information, 234 LSB Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 32306 850-644-6366

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DCMI/ASIS&T Webinar: "Digital Preservation Metadata and Improvements to PREMIS in Version 3.0"
by DCMI Announce 20 May '15

20 May '15

******************Please excuse the cross postings****************** *Digital Preservation Metadata and Improvements to PREMIS in Version 3.0* *A DCMI/ASIST Joint Webinar* ==================================================================== *:: Presenter:* Angela Dappert *:: Date:* Wednesday, 27 May 2015 *:: Time:* 10:00am - 11:15am EDT (World Clock: 14:00 UTC http://bit.ly/Webinar-Dappert) *:: Registration:* http://dublincore.org/resources/training/#2015dappert ==================================================================== *ABOUT THE WEBINAR:* The PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata is the international standard for metadata to support the preservation of digital objects and ensure their long-term usability. Developed by an international team of experts, PREMIS is implemented in digital preservation projects around the world, and support for PREMIS is incorporated into a number of commercial and open-source digital preservation tools and systems. The PREMIS Editorial Committee coordinates revisions and implementation of the standard, which consists of the Data Dictionary, an XML schema, and supporting documentation. The PREMIS Data Dictionary is currently in version 2.2. A new major release 3.0 is due out this summer. This webinar gives a brief overview of why digital preservation metadata is needed, shows examples of digital preservation metadata, shows how PREMIS can be used to capture this metadata, and illustrates some of the changes that will be available in version 3.0. *SPEAKER:* Dr. Angela Dappert is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Portsmouth. She has widely researched and published on digital preservation. She has consulted for archives and libraries on digital life cycle management and policies, led and conducted research in the EU-co-funded Planets, Scape, TIMBUS, and E-ARK projects, and applied digital preservation practice at the British Library through work on digital repository implementation, digital metadata standards, digital asset registration, digital asset ingest, preservation risk assessment, planning and characterization, and data carrier stabilization. Angela holds a Ph.D. in Digital Preservation, an M.Sc. in Medical Informatics and an M.Sc. in Computer Sciences. She serves on the PREMIS Editorial Committee and the Digital Preservation Programme Board of National Records Scotland. For more information and to register, visit the event webpage: http://dublincore.org/resources/training/#2015dappert

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SPNHC 2015 is underway!
by Deborah Paul 19 May '15

19 May '15

Hi tdwg folks, SPNHC 2015 is underway. If you'd like to hear the talks - we're broadcasting the plenary and some of the symposia. Going on now: SPNHC Plenary Session <https://www.idigbio.org/content/spnhc-plenary-session>: Collections for the 21st Century. Log in on Tue May 19th (8 AM EDT) to listen: http://idigbio.adobeconnect.com/spnhc2015 Specimens Full Circle: Collection to Digitization to Data Use Workshop <https://www.idigbio.org/content/specimens-full-circle-collection-digitizati…> Log in Wed May 20th (850 AM EDT) and Thu May 21st (830 AM EDT) to listen: http://idigbio.adobeconnect.com/spnhc2015sfc iDigBio Small Collections Network Workshop <https://www.idigbio.org/content/idigbio-small-collections-workshop-spnhc> Log in Thu (8 AM EDT) to listen: http://idigbio.adobeconnect.com/scnet See you there, in person - or in the Adobe Connect chat and on Twitter too #spnhc2015 Best, Deb -- -- Upcoming iDigBio Events https://www.idigbio.org/calendar -- Deborah Paul, iDigBio Technology Specialist Institute for Digital Information, 234 LSB Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 32306 850-644-6366

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Postdoctoral fellow in Computable Semantics for the Tree of Life
by Cellinese,Nico 04 May '15

04 May '15

A Postdoctoral position is available to work with Hilmar Lapp and Nico Cellinese on building phyloreferences for the Tree of Life. All details can be found here: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/museum-voices/cellinese-lab/2015/05/03/postdoctora… Spread the word so we can start having fun asap. Thanks! Nico <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Nico Cellinese, Ph.D. Associate Curator, Botany & Informatics Joint Associate Professor, Department of Biology University of Florida Florida Museum of Natural History 354 Dickinson Hall, 1659 Museum Rd. Gainesville, FL 32611-7800, U.S.A. Tel. 352-273-1979 Fax 352-846-1861 http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/museum-voices/nico-cellinese/ Twitter @ncellinese

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