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Ecoinformatics positions
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

The Australian Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), a sister project to the Atlas of Living Australia, is seeking to fill two ecoinformatics positions, based in Adelaide: http://www.seek.com.au/job/ecosystem-monitoring-network-co-ordinator-terres… http://www.seek.com.au/job/eco-informatics-co-ordinator-terrestrial-ecosyst… Thanks, Donald [cid:828461205@14082009-2F8F] 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<mailto:Donald.Hobern@csiro.au> Web: http://www.ala.org.au/

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Developer Position available at GBIF
by Éamonn Ó Tuama 30 Jul '09

30 Jul '09

Developer Position available at GBIF The GBIF Secretariat is seeking a motivated and experienced software developer for a 15 month consultancy to work on the development of one of GBIFs key infrastructure components: the GBIF Metadata Catalogue. The GBIF Metadata Catalogue will play a key role in a greatly expanded GBIF network featuring numerous providers (publishers) and consumers of data where the key activities of inventory, discovery and access to data need to be well coordinated through provision of registries and metadata catalogues. A Metadata Implementation Framework Task Group is currently preparing a report with a set of recommendations based on the terms of reference provided by GBIF ( <http://www.gbif.org/News/NEWS1234799445> http://www.gbif.org/News/NEWS1234799445). The goal is to ensure that the GBIF network follows best practices in deployment of metadata systems and that the metadata requirements are in place to support the technical, social and policy framework for publication of primary biodiversity data that is being addressed by the separate, parallel-running GBIF Data Publishing Framework Task Group. The person appointed will be instrumental in delivering the metadata catalogue system for the GBIF network. Further information on the position is available on the GBIF news site (http://www.gbif.org/News/NEWS1248872610 ) together with instructions for submitting an application. _______________________________________________ Éamonn Ó Tuama, M.Sc., Ph.D. (eotuama(a)gbif.org), Senior Programme Officer, Inventory, Discovery, 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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TDWG on Twitter
by Lee Belbin 20 Jul '09

20 Jul '09

Dear TDWG Members and Friends TDWG is now using a range of different social networking tools, including Twitter. You can follow the official TDWG account (tdwg) by going to http://twitter.com/tdwg and choose 'Follow' if you have a Twitter account. Alternatively, you can see who is talking about TDWG by searching for #tdwg (or go to http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23tdwg). There is already an active group of TDWG members and friends using Twitter, who are tweeting about a variety of TDWG issues. Join Twitter and follow what is really happening in and about TDWG! I have also setup a TDWG group on LinkedIn (a more work-oriented network than Facebook). This informal group currently has 57 members and is used for discussion, seeking feedback and ideas. Please join in. Lee Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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Abstracts for TDWG 2009 - Montpellier
by Lee Belbin 13 Jul '09

13 Jul '09

Dear TDWG Members and Friends The different structure of TDWG 2009 in Montpellier has required a re-think of the procedures for abstracts. When the details have been finalised on the web site, an announcement will be made to this list. Cheers Lee Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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TDWG: Public Review of the Darwin Core 'standard'
by Lee Belbin 10 Jul '09

10 Jul '09

Apologies for cross posts - and please feel free to distribute this announcement to all relevant communities. TDWG is pleased to announce the commencement of the Public Review of Darwin Core - a standard for sharing biodiversity information. You will find the proposed standard is a living document with a history, an anchor in the Dublin Core, and mechanisms to grow and change. Since being officially put forward as a draft standard in February 2009, Darwin Core has undergone a peer review, a review by the TDWG Executive, and multiple revisions. Open Invitation: We invite all who may contribute and/or consume biodiversity information to examine this proposed standard during the Public Review period from 11th July through at least 10th August 2009. How to Participate: Visit the Darwin Core Progress site (http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/DarwinCoreProgress) for the latest background information on the process and critical links to content (http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/index.htm) and participation. To discuss ideas with others or offer comments that are not targeted for action, please subscribe (http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content) and contribute to the tdwg-content mailing list (tdwg-content(at)lists.tdwg.org). Recommended actions or issues should be submitted to the Issue Tracker of the Darwin Core (http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/SubmittingIssues) so that they may be assigned, prioritized, and tracked. This Public Review process will be archived along with all other documentation in the TDWG Standards Track. Questions about the process should be directed to the Review Manager, Gail Kampmeier (gkamp(at)illinois.edu). Please share this opportunity for public comment and review with others you think may be interested. Acknowledgements: As Review Manager, I would like to express my gratitude to the authors, John Wieczorek, (MVZ), Markus Döring (GBIF), Renato De Giovanni (CRIA), Tim Robertson (GBIF), Dave Vieglais (KUNHM) for the enormous efforts made in bringing the Darwin Core standard to this point; to the initial anonymous peer reviewers, and to Lee Belbin and the rest of the TDWG Executive for their advice, support, and encouragement in this process; and to GBIF for tipping the scales by bringing together the authors in a workshop that led to this submission. Links expanded: Darwin Core Progress - http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/DarwinCoreProgress Darwin Core content - http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/index.htm Subscribe to tdwg-content - http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content Issue Tracker - http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/SubmittingIssues Related Links: TDWG: http://www.tdwg.org/ Other TDWG Standards: http://www.tdwg.org/standards/ TDWG Standards Track (in OJS): http://www.tdwg.org/stdtrack/index Dublin Cores Metadata Initiative in Science: http://ils.unc.edu/spaces/sam/index.php/Main_Page Sincerely, Gail E. Kampmeier, Review Manager Illinois Natural History Survey, Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1816 South Oak St., Champaign, Illinois 61820 USA email: gkamp(at)illinois.edu Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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TDWG 2009 in Montpellier (November 9-13) - registration now open
by Lee Belbin 25 Jun '09

25 Jun '09

Dear TDWG Members and Friends (with apologies for CP) The conference web site (http://www.tdwg.org/conference2009) and online registration is now open for TDWG 2009 in Montpellier. TDWG 2009 will have a very different structure to recent meetings. There will be plenary sessions on the Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The three themes 'The e-Biosphere Roadmap' (Walter Berendsohn), 'Agricultural Biodiversity Informatics' (Elizabeth Arnaud) and 'Data Integration' (Roger Hyam)' will operate generally as parallel working group sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with introductions in the Monday plenary. The latest version of the Programme Committee's detailed programme can be found on the conference site. The current committee thinking about the working sessions (Tuesday-Thursday) can be found at http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/Conferences/Tdwg2009). Comments and ideas can be added here. This year, we are aiming at significant advances in areas such as the TDWG ontology and LSID infrastructure. We also anticipate that Darwin Core, TAPIR and the LSID Applicability Statement will be TDWG standards before TDWG 2009. What's next? We warmly welcome the 'old hands' and new TDWG'ians. If you are new to TDWG or thinking of supporting us, please see http://www.tdwg.org/getting-started/. If there is something you would like to know and can't locate, something to grumble about, or something to encourage, please email me at lee(at)tdwg.org. Montpellier is a wonderful city on the Mediterranean with the venue in the centre of the city that promises to be excellent: Good location, great cuisine, excellent company and stimulating ideas on issues of global significance. What more could you want? We hope to see you (and partners) in Montpellier. Lee Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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TDWG 2009 in Montpellier - Registration is now open
by Lee Belbin 22 Jun '09

22 Jun '09

Dear TDWG'ians Online registration site <http://www.tdwg.org/conference2009/registration/> for TDWG 2009 in Montpellier, France is now open. The programme for the conference is being developed by the TDWG <http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/Conferences/Tdwg2009> 2009 Programme Committee and the latest version can always be found at http://www.tdwg.org/conference2009/program/. Further information will be posted to the conference pages as information becomes available. Cheers Lee Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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e-Biosphere
by Lee Belbin 26 May '09

26 May '09

Dear Members and Friends As many of you would know, TDWG has a booth at e-Biosphere next week and I'll be manning (personning?) it. If you are going to be at the meeting and could give me a 15 minute break on the booth for a coffee etc, please let me know or just swing by. Look forward to seeing some of you. Lee Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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Call for participation in GEO BON work groups
by Eamonn O Tuama (GBIF) 12 May '09

12 May '09

[apologies for cross posting] The establishment of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) was approved by GEO members at the GEO V Plenary in Bucharest last November (http://www.gbif.org/Stories/geobon). This is a culmination of efforts by many organisations, including GBIF, who have devoted time to developing both a concept document and implementation overview document for GEO BON. As a worldwide initiative, GEO BON, a component of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) seeks to link and build on the work of countries, organisations and individuals to collect, manage, share and analyse data on the status of the world's biodiversity. For further information, visit the GEO BON home page: http://www.earthobservations.org/cop_bi_geobon.shtml GEO BON is now entering its implementation phase, and to aid this, a number of topical working groups are being established. Work Group 8 "Data Integration and Inter-operability; Informatics and Portals" is being lead by GBIF through co-chairs Hannu Saarenmaa (GBIF Finland) and Éamonn Ó Tuama (GBIF Secretariat). The attached document describes how the working groups should get started. If you are interested in participating in a work group, please contact the chair of the group as listed in the document. In particular, for work group 8 (Data Integration and Interoperability), please contact the co-chairs below by Friday, 5th June. Best regards, Hannu and Éamonn Hannu Saarenmaa GBIF Finland hannu.saarenmaa(a)helsinki.fi Telephone +358-9-191-28688 Mobile +358-50-3102689 http://www.gbif.fi/ Éamonn Ó Tuama GBIF Secretariat eotuama(a)gbif.org Telephone +45 3532 1494 http://www.gbif.org

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Re: [tdwg] Ideas on having Harvesters like GBIF clean, flag inconsistencies, and add additional value to the data
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 12 May '09

12 May '09

Thanks, Peter. In fact GBIF is already doing much of what you describe, and the ALA (and I am sure several other projects) are planning to go further in the same direction. The GBIF data portal already flags records with apparent coordinate issues and with apparent mismatches between coordinates and stated country, as well as flagging records with scientific names with impossible formats, records without a clear indication of the basis of record, impossible dates, etc. I believe that this information is accessible as part of the responses from the web service. The ALA has been building on the ALA portal software (in particular to index records against smaller administrative units within Australia). We are also planning to identify records which are potentially sensitive (species endangered or considered a biosecurity threat nationally or in the region where it was recorded) and to report these to data providers. My current thinking is that we should offer this as a service which can both be executed during harvesting and also as a stand-alone service for which users can submit a batch of Darwin Core-style records (probably tab-delimited) and get back a report for whichever set of tests or value-add operations they choose. This could help providers with data cleaning even before they share their data (and also could help them to make sure there are no known sensitivity issues around their data). Such a service could be extended more or less indefinitely to report more and more aspects of interest. One of the major options could be to cross-reference records to accepted taxonomic authorities (via LSIDs or other identifiers). Best wishes, 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/ -----Original Message----- Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 19:23:32 -0500 From: Peter DeVries <pete.devries(a)gmail.com> Subject: [tdwg] Ideas on having Harvesters like GBIF clean, flag inconsistencies, and add additional value to the data To: tdwg(a)lists.tdwg.org Message-ID: <3833bf630905081723l2f1d5369je8af6b0e4a26324d(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Arthur Chapman sent me some good comments regarding Datums etc. The discussion made me realize that there may be a need for two types of formats. One for the providers and a second one that is output by the harvesting service. This is because the needs and abilities of the data providers are different than the needs and abilities of those who would like to consume the data. Consumers, who analyze and map the data, would like something that is easy to process, standardized and as as error free as as possible. It could work in the following way. Data harvesters, like GBIF, collect the records. Run them through cleaning algorithms that check attributes including that the lat and long actually match the location described. These harvesters would then expose this cleaned data via XML and RDF with tags that flag possible inconsistencies. The harvesters would also add a field for the lat and long in WGS84 if the original record contains a valid Datum. Those records without a Datum would still be exposed but the added geo:latitude and geo:longitude fields would be empty. I can imagine that that data uploaded to GBIF and other harvester services will be replete with typo's and inconsistencies that will frustrate people trying to analyze or simply map the data, the harvester services could add value by minimizing these frustrations. Originally, it seemed that a global service should standardize on a global Datum like WGS84. After all, we have standardized on meters? However, after discussing this with Arthur, I realize that this is not possible for a number of reasons. That said, I think the data would be much more valuable and less likely to be misinterpreted if if a version of it was available in WGS84. This solution would eventually encourage data providers to understand what a Datum is and include it in their data. It would also help solve a number of other data integration problems. Respectfully, Pete

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