[Tdwg-obs] What is an observation?

[Steve Kelling]

Hello,

I had several people respond to my query about  what kinds of things we 
should discuss in this list. Overwhelmingly, the interest seemed focused on 
defining some of the key terms that we are bantering about. To that end I'd 
like to initiate the first discussion on this list by asking, what is an 
observation?
  What follows is some information that I gleaned from the Internet, 
discussions that I have had with others, and with the ENBI reports. I'd 
appreciate your comments, in our goal to create a good definintion of 
observation for our purposes.--Steve

Princeton University's Wordnet 
(<http://wordnet.princeton.edu/>http://wordnet.princeton.edu/) defines an 
observation as the act of making and then recording a measurement. 
Basically, something is watched, and notes are taken about it. In the study 
of biology and astronomy careful observations made by trained observations 
and amateurs alike, is the foundation of information gathered for these 
disciplines.


With regard to biodiversity informatics, particularly as to how 
observations relate to the existing infrastructure, the above definition is 
too general, because it encompasses all facets of biology. Consequently, we 
need to begin to qualify the definition of observation. First, we restrict 
our definition to only those observations made of organisms in the 
environment. Second, the location at which the observation was made is an 
integral component of the observation. Third, an observation is exclusive 
of museum voucher specimens. Finally, information collected during an 
observation includes additional attributes such as: protocol, measure of 
abundance, extent of occurrence, demographic, ecological associates, and 
environmental conditions.

  To discuss and ultimately added to the definition:

Advantages of observational data.
Disadvantages of observational data
Observational data providers (amateurs/professionals)
Detectability and data quality
Location specificity
Integration of observational data
Definition of a collecting event and its significance
others?


Steve Kelling
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
607-254-2478 (work)
607-342-1029 (cell)