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TDWG 2008 in Fremantle, Western Australia
by Lee Belbin 04 Jun '08

04 Jun '08

Registration for TDWG 2008 is now open at www.TDWG.org/conference2008/registration. The conference will be held at the Maritime Museum of Western Australia in Fremantle, about 20km southwest of Perth. Details about the conference can be found on the TDWG site at http://www.tdwg.org/conference2008/. Note: The AUS$80 discount for registration will expire September 6. There is a wide range of accommodation available in Fremantle within easy walking distance to the museum. But, as Fremantle is small, there is not a lot of any one type of accommodation available. The 4.5 star Esplanade Hotel has discounted rates for the conference (quote "Biodiversity of Information Standards 2008"). A cost-effective option for Fremantle is to share a house or apartment. Most of these are close to the venue but you will have to book quickly as there are only a limited number available. Please see http://www.tdwg.org/conference2008/accommodation/ for all conference details and use our Wiki http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/Conferences/SharedAccommodation to help find others who could share accommodation with you. The outline of the conference program can be found at http://www.tdwg.org/conference2008/program. Session Chairs are being identified and are now seeking presenters. If you wish to present an oral presentation, a poster or a computer-based demonstration, please contact the relevant Session Chair as soon as possible as they will be identifying speakers for their sessions. The program this year will centre around a the Atlas of Living Australia (Wednesday October 22). TDWG is keen to understand and to support this significant project. There is also a number of tutorials (session 8 and repeated session 13) that are aimed at presenting key TDWG activities in simple terms. Early registration for these tutorials would be appreciated. Please contact Adrian Rissone (a.rissone(at)nhm.ac.uk) for any other program details and lee(at)tdwg.org <mailto:lee@tdwg.org> for any other information. Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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Biological Taxonomy Vocabulary 0.1
by Andy Mabbett 03 Jun '08

03 Jun '08

A friend writes: Unable to find a vocabulary that was satisfactory for my needs, I've put together a simple vocabulary for biological taxonomy. The idea is to make it powerful enough to cover 80% of use cases, but still simple for most non-expert biologists to use. Namespace and spec is: http://purl.org/NET/biol/0.1/ You can read his full post, and subsequent discussion, at: <http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/semantic-web/2008May/thread.html#msg45> (aka <http://tinyurl.com/575w25>) (Also posted to ttaxacom(a)mailman.nhm.ku.edu) -- Andy Mabbett

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Re: [tdwg] tdwg Digest, Vol 16, Issue 2
by Alina Freire-Fierro 19 May '08

19 May '08

Hi: I am attending the SPNHC Meetings in Oklhahoma City during May 13-18. I will take care of everything related with the herbarium (including inquiries and loans) upon my return. If it is really urgent, please contact Amanda Labadie (labadie(a)ansp.org) or Elana Benamy (benamy(a)ansp.org). Or else, please try my personal e-mail (alina_ff(a)yahoo.com). I might be able to check it once in a while. Many thanks! Alina

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FW: CDL releases eXtensible Text Framework (XTF) 2.1
by Neil Thomson 19 May '08

19 May '08

May be of interest to TDWG list members ... Neil ------- Neil Thomson Head of Data & Digital Systems The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5294, Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 5559, Email: n.thomson(a)nhm.ac.uk http://www.nhm.ac.uk <http://www.nhm.ac.uk/> ________________________________ From: Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard [mailto:METS@loc.gov] On Behalf Of Lisa Schiff Sent: 13 May 2008 22:09 To: METS(a)LISTSERV.LOC.GOV Subject: [METS] CDL releases eXtensible Text Framework (XTF) 2.1 **This announcement is being sent to many lists; apologies in advance for duplication.** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lisa Schiff California Digital Library University of California, Office of the President 415 20th St., 4th Floor Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 587-6132 lisa.schiff(a)ucop.edu http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/xtf/ California Digital Library Announces New Release of the eXtensible Text Framework (XTF) Oakland, CA, May 12, 2008 - The California Digital Library (CDL) is pleased to announce a new release of its search and display technology, the eXtensible Text Framework (XTF) <http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/xtf/> version 2.1 (http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/xtf/ ). XTF is an open source, highly flexible software application that supports the search, browse and display of heterogeneous digital content. XTF offers efficient and practical methods for creating customized end-user interfaces for distinct digital content collections. Highlights from the 2.1 release include: * Extensive interface improvements, including new search forms, built-in faceted browsing, and a new look and feel. * Increased support for document and information exchange formats. * XHTML and OAI-PMH output * NLM article format indexing and output * Microsoft Word indexing * Streamlined XSLT stylesheets for simpler deployment and adaptation. * Updated documentation that has been moved to the XTF project wiki <http://xtf.wiki.sourceforge.net/> , allowing XTF implementers to share solutions with entire user community. * "Freeform" Boolean query language, offered as an experimental feature. * Backward compatibility with existing XTF implementations. A complete list of changes <http://xtf.wiki.sourceforge.net/changeLog_2.1> is available on the XTF Project page on SourceForge <http://sourceforge.net/projects/xtf/> , where the distribution (including documentation) can also be downloaded. Since the first deployment of XTF in 2005, the development strategy has been to build and maintain an indexing and display technology that is not only customizable, but also draws upon tested components already in use by the digital library and search communities - in particular the Lucene text search engine, Java, XML, and XSLT. By coordinating these pieces in a single platform that can be used to create multiple unique applications, CDL has succeeded in dramatically reducing the investment in infrastructure, staff training and development for new digital content projects. XTF offers a suite of customizable features that support diverse intellectual access to content. Interfaces can be designed to support the distinct tools and presentations that are useful and meaningful to specific audiences. In addition, XTF offers the following core features: * Easy to deploy: Drops directly in to a Java application server such as Tomcat or Resin; has been tested on Solaris, Mac, Linux, and Windows operating systems. * Easy to configure: Can create indexes on any XML element or attribute; entire presentation layer is customizable via XSLT. * Robust: Optimized to perform well on large documents (e.g., a single text that exceeds 10MB of encoded text); scales to perform well on collections of millions of documents; provides full Unicode support. * Extensible: * Works well with a variety of authentication systems (e.g., IP address lists, LDAP, Shibboleth). * Provides an interface for external data lookups to support thesaurus-based term expansion, recommender systems, etc. * Can power other digital library services (e.g., XTF contains an OAI-PMH data provider that allows others to harvest metadata, and an SRU interface that exposes searches to federated search engines). * Can be deployed as separate, modular pieces of a third-party system (e.g., the module that displays snippets of matching text). * Powerful for the end user: * Spell checking of queries * Faceted displays for browsing * Dynamically updated browse lists * Session-based bookbags These basic features can be tuned and modified. For instance, the same bookbag feature that allows users to store links to entire books, can also store links to citable elements of an object, such as a note or other reference. A sampling of XTF-based applications both within and outside of the CDL include: * Mark Twain Project Online <http://www.marktwainproject.org/> (http://www.marktwainproject.org), developed by the Mark Twain Papers Project, the CDL and the University of California Press. * Calisphere <http://www.calisphere.org/> (http://www.calisphere.org/), a curated collection of primary sources keyed to the curriculum standards of California's K-12 community, developed by the CDL. * The Encyclopedia of Chicago <http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/> (http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/), developed by the Chicago History Museum, The Newberry Library, and Northwestern University * The Chymistry of Isaac Newton <http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/> (http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/) and The Swinburne Project <http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/swinburne/www/swinburne/> (http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/swinburne/www/swinburne/), Indiana University * Finding Aides at the New York Public Library <http://labs.nypl.org/2007/10/30/extensible-text-framework-xtf/> (http://labs.nypl.org/2007/10/30/extensible-text-framework-xtf/) * EECS Technical Reports <http://sunsite2.berkeley.edu:8088/xtf/servlet/org.cdlib.xtf.crossQuery. CrossQuery?rmode=btr> (http://sunsite2.berkeley.edu:8088/xtf/servlet/org.cdlib.xtf.crossQuery. CrossQuery?rmode=btr), UC Berkeley ### ----------------------------------------------- Lisa Schiff, Ph.D. Technical Lead, Publishing California Digital Library 300 Lakeside Drive #745 Kaiser Center Oakland, CA 94612 510-987-0881 (t) 510-987-0243 (f) www.cdlib.org <http://www.cdlib.org/> lisa.schiff(a)ucop.edu

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Multimedia Resources in Biodiversity - Survey launched
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 05 May '08

05 May '08

GBIF has recently established a Multimedia Resources Survey Task Group ( http://www.gbif.org/News/NEWS1205258694). The Task Group has now commissioned a Survey of Multimedia Resources in Biodiversity. This survey is now open for responses at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=3IfGMGfEI3SMm_2f5h3yNuAw_3d_3d. More information on the survey can be found at http://www.gbif.org/News/NEWS1209648731. I would encourage TDWG participants to contribute to this survey. Many thanks, 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

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TDWG mid-year message
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 21 Apr '08

21 Apr '08

*** I apologise to those who receive this by multiple routes. *** Dear TDWG Members and Friends, We are just about at the mid-point between TDWG annual meetings and activity within subgroups is at a natural low. This is however a good time to review the status of all our projects and activities and to try to identify the key things we would like to see happen during the rest of the year. Biodiversity Informatics remains an active and developing area of research and we are getting closer to supporting a new generation of biodiversity data applications. The recent launch of the Encyclopedia of Life demo pages is a powerful reminder of several things. First, there is a great interest in marshalling information on the world's biodiversity. Secondly, there is an enormous need for us to find new and faster ways to bring large quantities of high-quality data online. Thirdly, we still have plenty of work ahead of us in finding better ways to make all of these data interoperate freely so that they can become part of a rich and developing store of knowledge. TDWG has a critical role to play in ensuring that all this happens in a well-structured way. TDWG is joining with a wide range of other biodiversity informatics organisations to plan the e-Biosphere conference to be held in London in 2009. This meeting is intended to showcase what is happening in our field and we must consider what we would most like to have demonstrated in such a forum. What are the big applications which our wider community could soon deliver to support science and sound policy? What tools would we like to be able to put in the hands of researchers, administrators or the general public? What do we need to start doing now to make these possible? I am of course facing these same questions in the Australian context. When I consider the key areas where the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) needs to make rapid progress, TDWG has a significant role to play in all of them. Some particular focus areas include: * Improving the quality and management of metadata - the ALA needs a metadata repository to manage information on biodiversity data sets and will be seeking to develop a repository which is compatible both with other national repositories and also with international developments in biodiversity informatics * Lowering the technical threshold for sharing biodiversity data in structured forms - the ALA will be exploring ways to package provider software tools as bundles requiring minimal configuration (and will explore offering a centralised installation of these tools for those who do not wish to maintain a web server) * Developing tools to support online identification - we need to find efficient ways to exploit structured descriptive data where it is available. We also need to supplement these data with well-organised access to the original literature, images, distribution data, etc. in an environment which guides users to the best identifications possible. * Managing data on species interactions - I believe that the most significant class of data we do not handle today is information on the trophic and other relationships between taxa. Many new applications, and new ways to navigate biodiversity data, would become feasible if we could organise what is known in the literature of predator-prey, host-parasite, pollinator-plant and other relationships. I would really like to explore text mining or other approaches as routes to developing significant databases of such information. These are some of the areas where I would like us to make progress. What would you add to this list? Finally, I must make an apology. At the TDWG meeting in Bratislava, I made a call for those who would be interested in collaborating on developing a Java implementation of TAPIR. Unfortunately I failed to do anything about this in all the business of moving out to Australia. I do however still know of a couple of groups who would like to do this. If you have an interest in a Java TAPIR implementation, and could contribute to making it happen, please let me know (again) and I will try to get everyone concerned in contact with each other. Very 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

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Atlas of Living Australia jobs
by Donald.Hobern＠csiro.au 09 Apr '08

09 Apr '08

We are advertising IT-related positions for the Atlas of Living Australia. One of these, the Technical Architect position, is open to international applicants and has a closing date of 5 May 2008. Please see: https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F286 This is an exciting opportunity to take responsibility for development of the technical architecture for the Atlas of Living Australia. The Architect will be required to consider: * Data standards and protocols * Wrapper software for data providers * Metadata repositories * Use of domain ontologies * Central data indexes and caches * Integration with federated access frameworks * Web applications and web services * Support for tools for visualisation and analysis (e.g. GIS systems) * Linkages to other Australian data networks, in particular to other projects included within the NCRIS Strategic Roadmap * Linkages to international data sharing projects such as GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), Casimir (Coordination and Sustainability of International Mouse Informatics Resources), OBIS (Ocean Biogeographic Information System) and CBOL (Consortium for the Barcode of Life). The Atlas of Living Australia is also advertising three positions open to Australian residents and closing dates of 22 April 2008: * Metadata curator - see https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F292 * Java developer - see https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F290 * Web designer - see https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F291 The Atlas of Living Australia is a five-year project funded by the Australian Government to "develop an authoritative, freely accessible, distributed and federated biodiversity data management system that links Australia's biological knowledge with its scientific reference collections and other custodians of biological information". Thanks, 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

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Australian National Taxonomy Forum
by Lee Belbin 04 Apr '08

04 Apr '08

The report of a National Taxonomy Forum, held in October 2007 at the Australian Museum, has just been released- http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/workshop-forum/pubs/ntf-proc eedings.pdf While the report is national in scope, the issues addressed and the associated recommendations should (noting recent taxacom postings) have wide applicability. Sober reading. Lee Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat lee(a)tdwg.org

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Latin American Training Institute in BioEco Informatics
by Beach, James H 02 Apr '08

02 Apr '08

PanAmerican Advanced Studies Institute Cyberinfrastructure for International Collaborative Biodiversity and Ecological Informatics La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica May 31 -- June 12, 2008 The University of Kansas and Florida International University, working with the University of Costa Rica and the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), are hosting a two-week course in biodiversity and ecological informatics at OTS's La Selva Biological Station in northeastern Costa Rica from May 31 through June 12. Thanks to a PanAmerican Advanced Studies Institute Award from the Office of International Science and Engineering at the US National Science Foundation, full scholarships plus airfare are available for US and Latin American graduates. All participation costs will be covered by the award. The program will be in English. Graduate students, postdocs and early-career faculty are strongly encouraged to apply. About 25 participants, half from the U.S. and half from Latin America will be accepted. Only students/researchers from Latin America and from the United States are eligible to apply. The online application and further information, including a draft curriculum is available at: www.ciara.fiu.edu/eco/index.htm Please note that the application date is rapidly approaching, potential participants need to act quickly. There is also some opportunity for additional resource faculty from the U.S. and from Latin America in the area of bioinformatics who could join the course for various periods during the two week schedule. Please contact Jim Beach, University of Kansas, beach(a)ku.edu, or Julio Ibarra, Florida International University, julio(a)fiu.edu, for more information but see the web site for details.

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TDWG's vision for 2008
by Lee Belbin 17 Mar '08

17 Mar '08

Dear TDWGians There are a number of issues that I'd like to raise- 1. As you may be aware, Ricardo has setup an Events Calendar at http://www.tdwg.org/events/ to advertise Biodiversity Informatics related meetings, grants and awards. I've seeded it with some events but I know there are more out there. This system complements the Biodiversity Informatics related Projects database (http://www.tdwg.org/biodiv-projects/) and the Biodiversity Informatics Networks database (http://www.tdwg.org/biodiv-networks/). If you are aware of other 'events' for 2008 or 2009, please either add them yourself (you must be logged in) or send me a URL and I'll add them. A related issue: I have produced a 'glossy' poster (see http://www.tdwg.org/fileadmin/executive/movies/TDWG_Poster_BioData_A1.pdf) and brochure (see http://www.tdwg.org/fileadmin/documentation/outreach/TDWG_Brochure.pdf). I have high-quality printed version of both resources available if any of you are planning to attend a conference/meeting and would like to help promote TDWG. Note: There are other related resources (PowerPoints, videos etc) available at http://www.tdwg.org/about-tdwg/resources-for-outreach/. BTW: A general TDWG video clip is currently being produced. 2. Attached is a v.preliminary draft program for TDWG 2008 in Fremantle. Few sessions are fixed at the moment and there are a number of free slots. If you have ideas for a session (or four) on one or more issues, please let me know ASAP. Input is always appreciated. We hope to get more information regards costs, recommended accommodation and excursion options and dates to the web site next week. 3. If you haven't already done so, please consider renewing your TDWG membership, taking out TDWG membership or making a donation to TDWG (see http://www.tdwg.org/membership/) . TDWG has a small (but enthusiastic!) membership and relies on your membership fees for basic operational costs. We would therefore appreciate any support you can provide. Best Wishes Lee Lee Belbin TDWG Secretariat

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