- tdwg - lists.tdwg.org

Biodiversity Informatics Horizons 2013
by Dave Roberts 19 Jun '13

19 Jun '13

Biodiversity Informatics Horizons 2013 (BIH2013) is part of a continuing process to structure and organise the biodiversity informatics community at the European level and beyond. BIH2013, organised by several EU projects[1], will take place over 3 full days, from lunchtime on Tuesday 3rd September to lunchtime Friday 6th, with workshops and training events on Tuesday Morning and Friday morning. The venue will be in Sapienza University, Rome. The intention behind the meeting is to bring together those likely to form consortia for H2020 funding in this domain. With some luck we should have access to the H2020 workplans by September so that the consortia will not be forming entirely in the dark. We understand from the European Commission that they would like to see a greater level of cooperation, so less direct competition, in the responses to H2020 calls. Invited speakers will review challenging areas and promising technologies in biodiversity informatics, pathways to sustainable implementation and changing the community culture in the context of the LifeWatch vision, decadal priorities for biodiversity informatics, and the EC roadmap workshop on biodiversity infrastructures. Demonstration and training activities will demonstrate some of the new and exciting infrastructure building blocks that will come together to deliver the LifeWatch vision. A panel discussion with experts from regions of the world beyond Europe will explore opportunities for international cooperation that lead towards a sustainable global infrastructure. There will also be a plenary discussion on working together towards building a more sustainable future, informed by networking opportunities throughout the conference. The conference web site is http://conference.lifewatch.unisalento.it/index.php/EBIC/BIH2013 Register before 31 July for early registration conference fee. A demonstration session is available for persons wanting to show a software product or poster and we invite anyone to contact Dr Aaike De Wever <aaike.dewever_at_naturalsciences.be> to book a space before 12th August. Alex Hardisty, Dave Roberts and Alberto Basset (on behalf of the organising committee) [1] BIH2013 is sponsored by BioVel, ViBRANT, LifeWatch, EUBrazilOpenBio and pro-iBiosphere. It has been organised with help from agINFRA, BioFresh, BIO_SOS, CReATIVE-B, e-Monocot, ENVRI, EU-BON, iMarine, Lifewatch, Natural Europe, OpenUp! and PESI. -- Dr D.McL. Roberts, Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5086 ViBRANT Project Manager, Dept. Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Great Britain Email: dmr at nomencurator dot org Web page: http://vbrant.eu Web page: http://scratchpads.eu Web page: http://www.editwebrevisions.info/ -- "You can't just ask customers what they want and then try and give it to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new." [Steve Jobs, quoted in The Guardian, Technology Section, 25 June 09]. --

1 0

iDigBio Public Participation Post-doc
by Austin Mast 18 Jun '13

18 Jun '13

Dear Colleagues, I would be grateful if you would forward this on to any potential candidates. Thanks! Postdoctoral Position in Public Participation in Digitization of Biodiversity Collections A postdoctoral position is available with iDigBio in the research group of Austin Mast (Department of Biological Science, Florida State University; http://www.bio.fsu.edu/faculty-mast.php) to study engagement of the public in the digitization of biodiversity research collections, produce best practice and standards documents related to this in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, and assist in the design of interoperability between the iDigBio portal/cloud, public participation tools, and public participation content management systems. iDigBio (www.idigbio.org) is the central resource for NSF's Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections Program (ADBC), and it is located at the University of Florida and Florida State University. There are approximately 1 billion biodiversity specimens at US institutions, but only about 10% of these are digitized (e.g., databased, georeferenced, and/or digitally imaged). ADBC is funding large-scale, collaborative digitization by thematic collection networks (TCNs) focused on particular research themes. Seven TCNs involving 134 institutions have been funded to date, with more to be announced in July. Among other activities, iDigBio is overseeing implementation of standards and best practices for digitization in this community and developing a cloud environment for existing and future digital content about biodiversity specimens and a portal to it. A Ph.D. in a relevant field (e.g., biodiversity research, biodiversity informatics) is required, as is demonstration of (1) familiarity with biodiversity collections and some aspect of their digitization, (2) familiarity with (or interest to learn) relevant principles of informatics, (3) successful collaboration and time management skills, and (4) successful written and oral communication skills. The postdoctoral scholar will be expected to interact positively and productively with a wide range of people (more so than in many other postdoctoral positions), including other members of iDigBio, members of the large ADBC community (e.g., in working groups and workshops), software developers working on digitization tools, other members of the citizen science community, and members of the public. Annual salary starts at $40,000, and the position is expected to be for two years. It is based in Tallahassee, Florida, a small state capital bordered on the south and west by the Apalachicola National Forest and on the north by the historical hunting plantations of the Red Hills Region. White-sand beaches, clear freshwater springs, and hiking and biking trails are within easy driving distances of town. The region is one of North America's biotic hotspots. To apply, send a cover letter and CV with contact information for three references in a single pdf file to Austin Mast (amast(a)bio.fsu.edu) In the cover letter, please cite past activities that demonstrate each of (1) through (4) above as well as provide the date on which you could start the position and a paragraph or two on your long-term career goals and how you see this position fitting into them. Applications will be considered beginning on July 8 until the position is filled. Florida State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. With best regards, Austin Austin Mast Associate Professor Director of the Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium Associate Editor, Systematic Biology and Systematic Botany Member of the Steering Committee of iDigBio, The National Resource for Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections Department of Biological Science 319 Stadium Drive Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 32306-4295 U.S.A. Office: King Life Science Building, room 4065 Lab: King Life Science Building, rooms 4068 and 4084 Herbarium: Biological Science Unit One, room 100 Voice: 1 (850) 645-1500 Fax: 1 (850) 645-8447 amast(a)bio.fsu.edu

1 0

2nd Call for Participation: CAMP-4-DATA Workshop @ DC-2013
by DCMI Announce 10 Jun '13

10 Jun '13

*Apologies for cross-posting* === *2nd Call for Participation: CAMP-4-DATA Workshop @ DC-2013* === Dublin Core-Science and Metadata Community and Research Data Alliance are hosting a day-long Metadata Interest Group workshop, CAMP-4-DATA, on Sept. 6, 2013 in Lisbon, Portugal. The workshop is part of DC-2013. Submissions for participation are currently open in the areas of short papers, abstracts, and position statements. The intent of this workshop is to discuss and forward challenges and opportunities relating to metadata standards for the management of scientific data, and how policies, applications, and infrastructure can foster creation of and access to sustainable, open, and collective standards. Submissions will remain open through 28 June 2013. ============= *--PARTICIPATION CALL:* http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/index/pages/view/camp-4-data-cfp *--WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:* http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/index/pages/view/camp-4-data *--SUBMISSION DEADLINE:* 28 June 2013 *--DC-2013 WEBSITE:* http://purl.org/dcevents/dc-2013 (registration open) =============

1 0

DC-2013/iPRES-2013 registration is now open!
by DCMI Announce 09 Jun '13

09 Jun '13

*Apologies for cross-posting* === DC-2013/iPRES 2013 INVITATION TO REGISTER === Registration for DC-2013 --Linking to the Future-- is now open. The conference will take place 2-6 September 2013 in Lisbon, Portugal. The conference website: http://purl.org/dcevents/dc-2013. The DC-2013 conference theme explores questions regarding the persistence, maintenance, and preservation of metadata and descriptive vocabularies. The need for stable representations and descriptions spans all sectors including cultural heritage and scientific data, eGovernment, finance and commerce. In addition to the theme, presentations and discussion will cover a broad range of topics on innovation in metadata design and practice. DC-2013 will be collocated with iPRES-2013. Both conferences will take place in the same venue and run in parallel. During the collocated events, delegates are welcome to choose sessions that best fit their interests from either conference. Keynotes are held in common plenaries; and, social events are shared, providing a excellent opportunity for DCMI and iPRES delegates to socialize, share common interests and network. Delegates of the two conferences may separately register for a mix of pre- and post-conference events organized by the conference committees of both iPRES and DCMI. DC-2013 speakers and tutorial leads include: Gildas Illien, Ivan Herman, Richard Wallis, Steven Miller, Kai Eckert, and Daniel Garijo, among many others. Full-day workshops include: (1) VocDay 2013: Managing Vocabularies, sponsored by the DC-Vocabulary Management Community and DC-Bibliographic Metadata Task Group; and (2) CAMP-4-Data: Cyber-infrastructure and Metadata Protocols, sponsored by DC-Science & Metadata Community (DC-SAM) & the Research Data Alliance (RDA). To learn more about the conference program and to register, go to the conference website http://purl.org/dcevents/dc-2013. DC-2013 and iPRES-2013 share a common registration. Early registration closes on 8 July: €350 early regular, early student €250 (to 8 July) €375 regular & student (after 8 July) --Separate rates apply for pre-/post-conference sessions on Monday and Friday --Day rates are available Registration questions? Contact for DC/iPRES 2013: ipres2013(a)ist.utl.pt We look forward to seeing you in Lisbon in September.

1 0

Country name reconciliation
by Shorthouse, David 27 May '13

27 May '13

Folks, The Canadensys development team, http://www.canadensys.net is looking for efficient, low-maintenance ways to validate and reconcile data in its National cache of occurrence data. We are working on a Java library to initially tackle single-field Darwin Core validations, https://github.com/Canadensys/narwhal-processor. We hope this library is sufficiently generalized for uses outside our project. Our current challenge is to reconcile country names, which requires access to an up-to-date, well-maintained knowledge base of country names, their alternative representations (possibly multilingual), and mappings to known misspellings. For performance reasons, we'd like this thesaurus to be embedded in the library, but with the capacity to be periodically refreshed with data pulled from external resources such as dbpedia.org. This clearly has ties to semantic web thinking and, because we're new to the tools and services in this space, we'd like to solicit pointers and feedback such that we build this part of our library with maximal benefit to other projects. We started collecting thoughts here: https://github.com/Canadensys/narwhal-processor/issues/14. Cheers, David P. Shorthouse Christian Gendreau

7 9

Doctoral research fellow at the Natural History Museum in Oslo and GBIF-Norway
by Dag Endresen 19 May '13

19 May '13

Dear all, The Natural History Museum in Oslo offers 4 year PhD position. The subject of the PhD project is "Thermophilous vascular plants: data quality, distributional constraints and responses to climate change". The PhD position will include a component of research related to biodiversity informatics with connections to the Norwegian participant node to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF-Norway). GBIF-Norway is hosted by the Natural History Museum of the University in Oslo. For more information see: http://uio.easycruit.com/vacancy/973441/71922?iso=no Deadline for application is: 2 June 2013. Regards Dag -- Dag Endresen, PhD Private email: dag.endresen(a)gmail.com Work email: dag.endresen(a)nhm.uio.no Mobile: +47 4061 2982

1 0

Fwd: Please participate (very brief survey!) for data contributors, curators, administrators, repository developers
by Hilmar Lapp 17 May '13

17 May '13

Begin forwarded message: From: "Greenberg, Jane" <janeg(a)email.unc.edu> Subject: Please participate (very brief survey!) for data contributors, curators, administrators, repository developers Date: May 17, 2013 1:45:53 PM EDT To: Bryan <pbryan.heidorn(a)gmail.com>, "Moen, William" <William.Moen(a)unt.edu>, Hilmar Lapp <hlapp(a)nescent.org> Hola guys.. this survey is about the use of controlled vocabularies, and comes out of HIVE work, connected w/DataONE and DFC datanets. We’d love to reach the GBIF community. Would one of you be able to forward? We’d be grateful. [...] On behalf of Jane Greenberg, Director of Metadata Research Center -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greetings all, (Please participate, and feel free to forward to other relevant lists) The following survey examines controlled vocabulary use and challenges. The survey is for data contributors, curators, administrators, and/or repository developers. Completing the survey takes approximately 10 minutes (or less) to complete. To complete the survey, please click the following link: https://unc.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3fU0xOeRbH6jntb. NOTE: If you are unable to click on the link directly, please type the entire link into the address or location field at the top of your web browser, and press the ENTER key on your keyboard to access the survey. The survey is supported by a US DataNet/DataONE supplement to explore controlled vocabulary use within and across a broad spectrum of data repositories, including but not limited to the U.S. DataNet initiatives. Sincerely, Chelcie Rowell ---------------------------------------------------------------- Chelcie Rowell Research Assistant, Metadata Research Center School of Information and Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill chelcie(a)live.unc.edu | 770.862.0750

1 0

NISO/DCMI Webinar: Semantic Mashups Across Large, Heterogeneous Institutions: Experiences from the VIVO Service
by DCMI Announce 07 May '13

07 May '13

******************Please excuse the cross postings****************** Join NISO/DCMI for our joint May webinar --Webinar: Semantic Mashups Across Large, Heterogeneous Institutions: Experiences from the VIVO Service --Date: May 22, 2013 --Time: 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. (Eastern Time - UTC 17:00:00) (World Clock: http://bit.ly/157qF2S) --Event webpage: http://www.niso.org/news/events/2013/dcmi/vivo/ ========================================================================= ABOUT THE WEBINAR: VIVO is a semantic web application focused on discovering researchers and research publications in the life sciences. The service, which uses open-source software originally developed and implemented at Cornell University, operates by harvesting data about researcher interests, activities, and accomplishments from academic, administrative, professional, and funding sources. Using a built-in, editable ontology for describing things such as People, Courses, and Publications, data is transformed into a Semantic-Web-compliant form. VIVO provides automated and self-updating processes for improving data quality and authenticity. Starting with a classic Google-style search box, VIVO users can browse search results structured around people, research interests, courses, publications, and the like -- data that can be exposed for re-use by other systems in a machine-readable format. This webinar, held by a veteran at the Albert R. Mann Library Information Technology Services department at Cornell, where the VIVO project was born, presents the perspective of a software developer on the practicalities of building a high-quality Semantic-Web search service on existing data maintained in dozens of formats and software platforms at large, diverse institutions. The talk will highlight services that leverage the Semantic Web platform in innovative ways, e.g., for finding researchers based on the text content of a particular Web page and for visualizing networks of collaboration across institutions. SPEAKER: John Fereira, a senior programmer/analyst and technology strategist at Cornell University, is a contributing member of the VIVO project team. He also consults on issues related to information technology in higher education with an emphasis on open-source, modular, distributed software systems and is currently working on systems based on VIVO software for international Agricultural Information systems communities. Registration closes one hour before the webinar begins. For more information and to register, visit the event webpage: http://www.niso.org/news/events/2013/dcmi/vivo/

1 0

Infrageneric of Eragrostis
by Sami Rabei 20 Apr '13

20 Apr '13

Dear All Does any one has information about subdeneric of Eragrostis for the following species. Eragrostis cilianensis , Eragrostis minor , Eragrostis aegyptiaca , Eragrostis tenuifolia , Eragrostis tef , Eragrostis sarmentosa , Eragrostis barrelieri , Eragrostis pilosa Eragrostis aspera , Eragrostis ciliaris , Eragrostis japonica , Eragrostis lepida , Eragrostis tenella , Eragrostis tremula Thanks in advance sami ===== All the best. Sami Rabei http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GexZOhIAAAAJ Sincerely Yours ---------------------------------- With my Best Wishes Sami Hussein Rabei, Botany Department Faculty of Science, Damietta University, New Damietta , Post Box 34517 Damietta Egypt . Tel. Mobile: 002 0127 3601618 002 0101 7895350 Tel. Work: 002 057 2403981 Tel. Home: 002 057 2403108 Fax: 002 057 2403868

1 0

USGS Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) launches with 110+ species occurrences (and growing)
by Simpson, Annie 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

TDWG Colleagues: The BISON project builds on GBIF and other data to provide a species mapping application using the Darwin Core standard. BISON launched today. This information is available online at: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3566&from=rss_home Project URL: http://bison.usgs.ornl.gov *Discovering Species** **- **Just a Click Away* *The USGS makes finding the locations (and more) of U.S. species a lot easier with the new digital resource – BISON* Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation or BISON is the only system of its kind; a unique, web-based Federal resource for finding species in the U. S. and territories. Its size is unprecedented, offering more than 100 million mapped records of nearly every living species nationwide and growing. And the vast majority of the records are specific locations, not just county or state records. What’s more, BISON provides an “Area of Interest” search capability in which users can query by drawing the exact boundary around their area of interest, down to and including towns, villages, or even much smaller areas such as parks. For instance, New York City’s Central Park has more than 100,000 “species occurrences” recorded in BISON, with each species noted in detail. Other BISON search options include querying the species by scientific or common name, year range, state, county, basis of record, or provider institution. As for the results, BISON displays them in both an interactive map and a list format. Users can click on each species occurrence point to retrieve more information, such as the institution providing the data, the collector, the date collected, and whether it was from a collection or an observation. Further, occurrences can be dynamically visualized with more than 50 other layers of environmental information in the system. Extensive web services are also available for direct connections to other systems. “The USGS is proud to announce this monumental resource”, said Kevin Gallagher, Associate Director, Core Science Systems, “and this is a testament to the power of combining the efforts of hundreds of thousands of professional and citizen scientists into a resource that uses Big Data and Open Data principles to deliver biodiversity information for sustaining the Nation’s environmental capital." “BISON is destined to become an indispensable toolkit to manage species occurrence data to support scientific, educational, and policy-making activities in the US”, Dr. Erick Mata, Executive Director of the Encyclopedia of Life explained. “This is highly complementary and synergistic with EOL's efforts to raise awareness and understanding of living nature.” "With BISON, the USGS takes a big step toward making biodiversity data held within Federal agencies easier to find and use”, added Mary Klein, President & CEO of NatureServe. “I am enthusiastic about future opportunities to work with USGS to increase collaboration among Federal, state and private data holders.” USGS Core Science Systems Mission Area, which developed the resource, expects that BISON users will be broad-based and include land managers, researchers, refuge managers, citizen scientists, agriculture professionals, fisheries managers, water resource managers, educators, and more. Land managers, for instance, might be looking for a piece of land to purchase for conservation—but first they want to know what species have been documented for that parcel. BISON will tell them after only a few mouse clicks. BISON serves as the U.S. Node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and will form an integral part of EcoINFORMA, the information delivery strategy in "Sustaining Environmental Capital: Protecting Society and the Economy,"<http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast_sustain…>a recent report by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST <http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pcast> ). "BISON responds directly to a key need PCAST pointed out in ‘Sustaining Environmental Capital’ -- to make Federal environmental data available, inter-operable, and usable to the public," said PCAST member Rosina Bierbaum, "We look forward to this 'biodiversity' hub being supplemented by complementary ecological data hubs by other Federal partners, to further the goal of helping communities across the Nation make increasingly wise planning and management decisions." BISON already includes millions of points from the Federal investment in biodiversity research. It is formally cooperating with other Federal agencies to greatly expand the delivery of federally funded biodiversity data for the greatest possible good. Hundreds of thousands of citizen and professional scientists have collected the data in BISON. Non-governmental organizations, state and local governments, universities, and many others are also participating in this enormous undertaking. The USGS has built and maintains BISON, which is hosted on the massive Federal computing infrastructure at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. To learn more, visit: http://bison.usgs.ornl.gov or contact the USGS BISON Team at BISON(a)usgs.gov The USGS Core Science Analytics and Synthesis program within Core Science Systems is home to BISON and focuses on innovative ways to manage and deliver scientific data and information. The program implements and promotes standards and best practices to enable efficient, data-driven science for decision-making that supports a rapid response to emerging natural resource issues. One of the ways this is accomplished is by developing national data products that increase our understanding of the Earth’s natural systems. **** http://www.usgs.gov/**** *Annie Simpson Eco-Science Synthesis, Core Science Systems U.S. Geological Survey, MS 302 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, Virginia 20192 ================= asimpson(a)usgs.gov 703.648.4281 desk*

1 0