I think a comprehensive registry of data providers, datasets and the services built on them would go a long way to achieve what you are looking for. To do that we need a good metadata profile for biodiversity data and GBIF has identified this as a priority over the next year. We also need to think beyond the immediate biodiversity realm to engage with the wider geospatial community in such activities as GEOSS. We have already

registered

the GBIF data portal REST services in the GEOSS registry and I have

started

discussions with TDWG about getting their standards registered.

[David Shorthouse wrote:]

Éamonn,

Of course it will be nice for everyone to play the same game. But, there will always be dissenters who dream up their own API & ontologies or those who haven't quite massaged their outputs to be fully compliant with whatever spec is agreed upon. If you have a look at the example apps in programmableweb, well over 70% of these use Google Map and many are quite simple. [Aside: providers aren't really aggrandized here unless you consider Google a provider. Rather, the focus is on the apps and how the data are being repurposed.] I don't see any particular reason not to build something like programmablebiodiversity.org now to see what people come up with using existing services, especially if we now have the confidence to say these web services can be the foundation upon which biodiversity-based mashups can be erected. Do we yet have that confidence? If so then naturally, these creative apps will become richer when and if we cement a common metadata profile. But, how the services are being used now might just dictate how they should be produced for widest use. And, it's not much of a stretch then to surmise that what people do with the data will lead to adjustments in a species profile model.

There are already some really cool things one can do with GBIF web services, but is anyone tracking these? Unlike the Google Map API, there are no registration keys to use these REST services. What about runaway scripts?

David

Hi David

I'll leave the registry of web services to people like Éamonn and Roger to ponder (and I do agree that it would be a neat idea).

In regards the Projects Database, I didn't want to make too big a thing of it, but would be happy (in retrospect given the interest) to elevate it to the top level in the sidebar of the web site.

I have also been discussing a similar effort in relation to 'natural history' organisations (to use Neil Thomson's words) and a meeting/conferences/events database for TDWG. Our project assisted Neil Thomson to start considering sources for locating natural history organizations (and to start the list based on NCD). Basically, I am interested in that list as real and potential clients of TDWG. Roger Hyam has also been considering how to organize a more serious project on the natural history organisations.

In terms of the meetings/conferences relevant to TDWG and its members, I'll probably get Ricardo to seed a simple database with online form for additions (similar to the projects database). This database would be a useful service to TDWG and its supporters. Like the projects, I get the feeling that all of us would underestimate the range and number of meetings that would be relevant to TDWG.

I realise that all the above 'data' are linked, so I'll try to ensure 'value added' wherever possible. The bigger issue with such databases is how to keep them up to date. So, at some point, we may need a 'section' on the TDWG site where anyone can search, browse etc across all this type of information.

Cheers

Lee

Lee Belbin Manager, TDWG Infrastructure Project Email: lee@tdwg.org Phone: +61(0)419 374 133 -----Original Message----- From: tdwg-bounces@lists.tdwg.org [mailto:tdwg-bounces@lists.tdwg.org] On Behalf Of Eamonn O Tuama Sent: Sunday, 30 September 2007 6:10 PM To: 'Shorthouse, David'; tdwg@lists.tdwg.org Subject: RE: [tdwg] programmablebiodiversity.org ?

Hi David,

I think a comprehensive registry of data providers, datasets and the services built on them would go a long way to achieve what you are looking for. To do that we need a good metadata profile for biodiversity data and GBIF has identified this as a priority over the next year. We also need to think beyond the immediate biodiversity realm to engage with the wider geospatial community in such activities as GEOSS. We have already registered the GBIF data portal REST services in the GEOSS registry and I have started discussions with TDWG about getting their standards registered.

Best regards,

Éamonn

________________________________

From: tdwg-bounces@lists.tdwg.org [mailto:tdwg-bounces@lists.tdwg.org] On Behalf Of Shorthouse, David Sent: 30 September 2007 05:45 To: tdwg@lists.tdwg.org Subject: [tdwg] programmablebiodiversity.org ?

Now that GBIF is releasing lots of cool web services (thanks to Dave Martin, Tim Robertson, and others) and similar web services can be found in other organizations, ought we consider a www.programmableweb.com knock-off called something like www.programmablebiodiversity.org? This way, we can have a user-driven repository / show-and-tell for useful applications that can be built for the wider biodiversity informatics community. At the very least, this will provide some positive feedback for providers who can then point to examples of how the data can be used, mashed-up, or otherwise repurposed in imaginative ways. Plus, this could be like a communal grab-bag of tricks for organizations like EOL. If anyone wants to take the initiative on this, I’ll most certainly contribute.

The kinds of things I am thinking of are Rod Page’s iSpecies (http://ispecies.org) or my temporary, development knock-off using nothing but JSON (http://ispiders.blogspot.com/2007/09/ispecies-clone.html), or Rod’s bioGUID reference parser and my simple way to tap into this in real-time (http://tinyurl.com/ytqxo6), PygmyBrowse (http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1125451.1125562), etc.

Along the same sort of lines, the TDWG link to its “Biodiversity Projects of the World” is buried under “Activities”. Shouldn’t this be front and center on the TDWG homepage?

Cheers,

David P. Shorthouse

------------------------------------------------------

Department of Biological Sciences

CW-403, Biological Sciences Centre

University of Alberta

Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9

mailto:dps1@ualberta.ca

http://canadianarachnology.dyndns.org

http://www.spiderwebwatch.org

http://ispiders.blogspot.com

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