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Metadata Discussion Meeting at TDWG 2008 Conference
by Eamonn O Tuama 30 Sep '08

30 Sep '08

Metadata Discussion Meeting at TDWG Conference 2008 Atlas of Living Australia and Global Biodiversity Information Facility are co-organisers of a special meeting on metadata to be held at the TDWG Conference in Fremantle, Australia, Sunday 19 October 2008, 14.00-17.00. We propose to open the discussion to any aspect of metadata but with a particular focus on metadata standards, major projects, systems in use, the role of ontologies, and certain key questions surrounding metadata. Key Questions The key questions needing discussion include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. What resources do we want to describe (all digital; some classes of digital; digital AND undigitised legacy; human experts, etc., record and dataset level)? 2. Can we make some preliminary core recommendations on metadata elements which all TDWG-related projects should maintain as a minimum? 3. How do we proceed to fuller recommendations on metadata standards and profiles, and web service interfaces, e.g., Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) - including appropriate use of PMH Sets - and Open Archives Initiative Object Reuse and Exchange (OAI-ORE)? 4. How do we handle natural language differences in metadata? 5. How can ontologies be effectively used with metadata? 6. How do we encourage production of good metadata? 7. How can a global, decentralised biodiversity network best share metadata? 8. Are there any other things we can do immediately to facilitate the interchange of metadata between our projects? 9. How should we avoid duplication of metadata records as they are harvested and aggregated in different locations? 10. Are there pilot activities around which we can test some of these ideas? 11. How should we establish ongoing collaboration within TDWG on this topic (wiki, mailing list, convenor, etc.)? To make effective use of the limited time for such a broad subject, we propose to offer a semi-open format for the discussion. This will revolve around a series of maximum-5-minute, 2-PowerPoint-slides presentations from represented projects on i) current metadata strategy and standards; ii) issues they need to see addressed. We require pre-submission and circulation of these slides to help build a sense of collaboration around a process and to create an "Introductory Statement" that will guide and inform our discussions on the day. A metadata wiki will be established prior to the meeting to aid our discussions. If you are interested in participating in the meeting, please contact the convenors Donald Hobern (Donald.Hobern(a)csiro.au) and Éamonn Ó Tuama (eotuama(a)gbif.org). If you wish to make a presentation, please submit your slides to the convenors by 1 September 2008. -- Éamonn Ó Tuama, Ms.C., Ph.D. (eotuama(a)gbif.org), Senior Programme Officer - Inventory, Discover, 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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Bioinformatician positions open with Australian phenomics networks
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

The Australian government has funded three inter-related projects under the umbrella title, Integrated Biological Systems: * The Australian Phenomics Network (APN) - a network of research centres providing Australian and international researchers with mouse models for the study of human and animal disease. * The Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) - two nodes exploiting recent advances in robotics, imaging and computing to enable sensitive, high throughput analyses to be made of plant growth and function. * The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) - a network of institutions and agencies working to develop tools and services for managing information on Australian biodiversity and research organisms. The ALA is providing some of the core information infrastructure to enable the APN and APPF to organise large quantities of data and images on their study organisms and to make these resources accessible to researchers in Australia and overseas. Two positions are now advertised for bioinformaticians to work with the APN and the APPF to explore their data management requirements and to work with the ALA to develop appropriate services to support these communities. The APN is seeking a bioinformatician to be based at Australian National University in Canberra. The closing date for applications is 24 September 2008. See the following materials: * Advertisement: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/ANUBioinformatician.pdf * Documentation: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/ANUBioinformatianDocumentation.doc The APPF is seeking a bioinformatician to be based at the University of Adelaide. The closing date for applications is 19 September 2008. See the following materials: * Advertisement: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/UABioinformatician.pdf * Documentation: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/UABioinformaticianDocumentation.doc I urge those who are interested to apply promptly. 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/

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Bioinformatician positions open with Australian phenomics networks
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

The Australian government has funded three inter-related projects under the umbrella title, Integrated Biological Systems: * The Australian Phenomics Network (APN) - a network of research centres providing Australian and international researchers with mouse models for the study of human and animal disease. * The Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) - two nodes exploiting recent advances in robotics, imaging and computing to enable sensitive, high throughput analyses to be made of plant growth and function. * The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) - a network of institutions and agencies working to develop tools and services for managing information on Australian biodiversity and research organisms. The ALA is providing some of the core information infrastructure to enable the APN and APPF to organise large quantities of data and images on their study organisms and to make these resources accessible to researchers in Australia and overseas. Two positions are now advertised for bioinformaticians to work with the APN and the APPF to explore their data management requirements and to work with the ALA to develop appropriate services to support these communities. The APN is seeking a bioinformatician to be based at Australian National University in Canberra. The closing date for applications is 24 September 2008. See the following materials: * Advertisement: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/ANUBioinformatician.pdf * Documentation: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/ANUBioinformatianDocumentation.doc The APPF is seeking a bioinformatician to be based at the University of Adelaide. The closing date for applications is 19 September 2008. See the following materials: * Advertisement: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/UABioinformatician.pdf * Documentation: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/UABioinformaticianDocumentation.doc I urge those who are interested to apply promptly. 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/

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Reminder: TDWG Conference in Perth, 19-26 October 2008
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 25 Aug '08

25 Aug '08

This is a reminder that the TDWG Conference for 2008 will be held in Perth, Australia on October 19-26. I would urge those planning to attend the conference to register soon. The program for the meeting can be found online at http://www.tdwg.org/conference2008/program/. The following sessions have been planned: 1. An Introduction to TDWG 2. From Small to Big: How to Capitalize on Small Contributions to the Big Dreams of Sharing Biodiversity Information 3. An Introduction to...: Species Names, Transfer Protocols and Biological Descriptions 4. Biodiversity Informatics: Key Organizations and Projects 5. Biodiversity Informatics: Literature and More 6. Ontologies 7. Phylogenetics standards 8. Posters and Computer Demonstrations 1 9. Atlas of Living Australia: Australian Biodiversity Informatics 10. Atlas of Living Australia: Architecture and Deliverables 11. Atlas of Living Australia: Exploring User Scenarios 1 12. Atlas of Living Australia: Exploring User Scenarios 2 13. Posters and Computer Demonstrations 2 14. Keynote Speakers 15. Biodiversity-related Networks and Tools 16. Species Profile Model 17. Multimedia in Biodiversity Informatics 18. The Global Invasive Species Information Network 19. Bringing Organism Observations into Bioinformatics Networks 20. Wild Ideas!! There is still time to submit abstracts for these sessions before the 1 September deadline. Instructions for authors can be found at http://www.tdwg.org/conference2008/abstracts/. Please note too that costs are reduced for registrations received by 6 September. See http://www.tdwg.org/conference2008/registration/. I hope to see many of you in Perth. Donald Donald Hobern Director, Atlas of Living Australia Chair, Taxonomic Databases Working Group Email: Donald.Hobern(a)csiro.au Web: http://www.ala.org.au/

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Sponsorship of TDWG 2008
by Lee Belbin 25 Aug '08

25 Aug '08

Dear TDWG Members and Friends We are seeking sponsorships for our annual meeting in Fremantle this year. As you know, TDWG is an international organization reliant on volunteer support and goodwill. Our income from memberships and conference fees is very small. Sponsorship of the meeting will help build a small reserve to support TDWG's important work. We will acknowledge any sponsorship on the web as well as at the conference. If you aren't already a member <http://www.tdwg.org/membership/> , or haven't renewed for 2008, please do so as soon as possible (the discount on the conference fee for members is US$100). Even small donations <http://www.tdwg.org/membership/make-a-donation/> to TDWG would be very gratefully received. We are very grateful for your support, and the sponsorship we have already received from . Western <http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/science-and-research/wa-herbarium/index.html> Australian Herbarium . Western <http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/science-and-research/wa-herbarium/index.html> Australian Department Environment and Conservation . Western Australian Museum <http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/> . Edith Cowan University <http://www.ecu.edu.au/> . Notre Dame University, Fremantle <http://www.nd.edu.au/fremantle/index.shtml> . National Evolutionary Synthesis Center <http://www.nescent.org/index.php> (NESCent) . Biodiversity <http://www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/biosync/scientificmission.a sp> Synthesis Center (BIOSYNC) - Field Museum of Natural History . The Maritime Museum of Western <http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime/> Australia . Gaia Resources <http://www.gaiaresources.com.au/index.php> . The Global Biodiversity <http://www.gbif.org/> Information Facility . The Atlas of <http://www.ala.org.au/> Living Australia Please contact me for further information. Lee Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat Lee(at)tdwg(dot)org

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Travel Grant To Attend The HYM Course 2008
by Max BILLAH 07 Aug '08

07 Aug '08

Dear List Members, Does anyone know or can point me to a source where I can get some travel grant to attend the Biennial Hymenoptera Identification Course 2008 in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic (September 7-14, 2008). I have already been accepted for the course and now looking for some travel grant to acquire a ticket. The few attempts made have not yielded any possitive response and since time is fast running out, I would appreciate any pointers to such sources (before I miss out again this year). Many thanks in advance. Maxwell.

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TDWG 2008 Conference - seeking wild ideas
by Markus Döring 05 Aug '08

05 Aug '08

[ our apologies should you receive this message more than one time ] ************************************************************** Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) 2008 Conference Friday 24th October 2008 Session 20: Wild Ideas http://www.tdwg.org/conference2008/ ************************************************************** "Wouldn't it be cool if we had a tool to do...." "Why don't we serve data like...." "Check out this non OGC GIS system...." "We need to copy the ideas of community...." "This online data curation site is awesome...." "Check what I can do with my super computer other than play World of Warcraft...." "Cloud computing is allowing me to...." "Google / Facebook / Flickr process data like this .... why don't we?" We all have them - wild ideas - and now we all want to hear them. Have you an idea that you could present for 15 minutes at the 2008 TDWG conference in Perth? Perhaps you have something that goes beyond the usual schemas, the usual harvesting model, the usual processing or visualisation? There are no limitations, no boundaries other than it must relate somehow to biodiversity informatics. Who knows, maybe you can generate some interest, start a working group and next year we'll be presenting a new working method. If you have an idea, please mail Tim and Markus on trobertson(a)gbif.org and mdoering(a)gbif.org with a brief outline and we'll get back to you. And if you have a presentation to give, but can't be there in person, maybe we can hook up a video link, you can ask someone else to present it for you or submit a video presentation? Cheers Markus and Tim

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EoL funding for APM work with Plazi
by Lee Belbin 31 Jul '08

31 Jul '08

(From Eamonn) Dear TDWG Members, I am very pleased to announce the awarding of a contract to Dr Donat Agosti of Plazi (www.plazi.org) to undertake work on the Species Profile Model (SPM). With funding from Encyclopedia of Life (EOL - www.eol.org), Plazi will develop an SPM extension module as an addendum to their 2007 GBIF Seed Money Award project entitled "Extracting Nomenclatural Data, Species Descriptions and Collecting Events from Legacy Publications: The Zootaxa-TaxonX-ZooBank Project" (GBIF Tracking Number 2007-94). The latter provides, as one of its outputs, biodiversity literature encoded as TaxonX XML documents through the use of the GoldenGate markup tool. The SPM extension will provide XSLT scripts for the creation of SPM documents expressed in RDF from the TaxonX documents. The RDF files will be mounted on the Plazi web server for harvesting by SPM aware agents, particularly those to be created by the EOL project. SPM data will be served through TAPIR. This work will be done in close cooperation with GBIF and will engage the wider community through use of the SPM wiki site (http://wiki.tdwg.org/SPM) and mailing list (tdwg-spm-owner(a)lists.tdwg.org) hosted by TDWG. Other parties will be assisted in exposing species data contained in literature through documenting the process of using the freely accessible GoldenGate tools to provide SPM encoded data. The results of the project will also be presented in the SPM session at the TDWG 2008 conference. If you are interested in participating in developments around SPM, please join the TDWG SPM mailing list (tdwg-spm(a)lists.tdwg.org) and keep an eye on the SPM wiki (http://wiki.tdwg.org/SPM/). Best regards, Éamonn -- Éamonn Ó Tuama, Ms.C., Ph.D. (eotuama(a)gbif.org), Senior Programme Officer - Inventory, Discover, Access (IDA), Global Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen Ø, DENMARK Phone: +45 3532 1494; Fax: +45 3532 1480 Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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EoL funding for APM work with Plazi
by Lee Belbin 31 Jul '08

31 Jul '08

(From Eamonn) Dear TDWG Members, I am very pleased to announce the awarding of a contract to Dr Donat Agosti of Plazi (www.plazi.org) to undertake work on the Species Profile Model (SPM). With funding from Encyclopedia of Life (EOL - www.eol.org), Plazi will develop an SPM extension module as an addendum to their 2007 GBIF Seed Money Award project entitled "Extracting Nomenclatural Data, Species Descriptions and Collecting Events from Legacy Publications: The Zootaxa-TaxonX-ZooBank Project" (GBIF Tracking Number 2007-94). The latter provides, as one of its outputs, biodiversity literature encoded as TaxonX XML documents through the use of the GoldenGate markup tool. The SPM extension will provide XSLT scripts for the creation of SPM documents expressed in RDF from the TaxonX documents. The RDF files will be mounted on the Plazi web server for harvesting by SPM aware agents, particularly those to be created by the EOL project. SPM data will be served through TAPIR. This work will be done in close cooperation with GBIF and will engage the wider community through use of the SPM wiki site (http://wiki.tdwg.org/SPM) and mailing list (tdwg-spm-owner(a)lists.tdwg.org) hosted by TDWG. Other parties will be assisted in exposing species data contained in literature through documenting the process of using the freely accessible GoldenGate tools to provide SPM encoded data. The results of the project will also be presented in the SPM session at the TDWG 2008 conference. If you are interested in participating in developments around SPM, please join the TDWG SPM mailing list (tdwg-spm(a)lists.tdwg.org) and keep an eye on the SPM wiki (http://wiki.tdwg.org/SPM/). Best regards, Éamonn -- Éamonn Ó Tuama, Ms.C., Ph.D. (eotuama(a)gbif.org), Senior Programme Officer - Inventory, Discover, Access (IDA), Global Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen Ø, DENMARK Phone: +45 3532 1494; Fax: +45 3532 1480 Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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EOL funds SPM work by Plazi
by Eamonn O Tuama 31 Jul '08

31 Jul '08

Dear TDWG Members, I am very pleased to announce the awarding of a contract to Dr Donat Agosti of Plazi (www.plazi.org) to undertake work on the Species Profile Model (SPM). With funding from Encyclopedia of Life (EOL - www.eol.org), Plazi will develop an SPM extension module as an addendum to their 2007 GBIF Seed Money Award project entitled "Extracting Nomenclatural Data, Species Descriptions and Collecting Events from Legacy Publications: The Zootaxa-TaxonX-ZooBank Project" (GBIF Tracking Number 2007-94). The latter provides, as one of its outputs, biodiversity literature encoded as TaxonX XML documents through the use of the GoldenGate markup tool. The SPM extension will provide XSLT scripts for the creation of SPM documents expressed in RDF from the TaxonX documents. The RDF files will be mounted on the Plazi web server for harvesting by SPM aware agents, particularly those to be created by the EOL project. SPM data will be served through TAPIR. This work will be done in close cooperation with GBIF and will engage the wider community through use of the SPM wiki site (http://wiki.tdwg.org/SPM) and mailing list (tdwg-spm-owner(a)lists.tdwg.org) hosted by TDWG. Other parties will be assisted in exposing species data contained in literature through documenting the process of using the freely accessible GoldenGate tools to provide SPM encoded data. The results of the project will also be presented in the SPM session at the TDWG 2008 conference. If you are interested in participating in developments around SPM, please join the TDWG SPM maining list (tdwg-spm(a)lists.tdwg.org) and keep an eye on the SPM wiki (http://wiki.tdwg.org/SPM/). Best regards, Éamonn -- Éamonn Ó Tuama, Ms.C., Ph.D. (eotuama(a)gbif.org), Senior Programme Officer - Inventory, Discover, 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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