[tdwg-content] New Paper at PLoS ONE; Darwin Core: An Evolving Community-Developed Biodiversity Data Standard

[David Bloom]

A new paper about the Darwin Core Standard has been published at PLoS
ONE; Darwin Core: An Evolving Community-Developed Biodiversity Data
Standard.

The paper at PLoS ONE:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029715

Abstract:

Biodiversity data derive from myriad sources stored in various formats
on many distinct hardware and software platforms. An essential step
towards understanding global patterns of biodiversity is to provide a
standardized view of these heterogeneous data sources to improve
interoperability. Fundamental to this advance are definitions of
common terms. This paper describes the evolution and development of
Darwin Core, a data standard for publishing and integrating
biodiversity information. We focus on the categories of terms that
define the standard, differences between simple and relational Darwin
Core, how the standard has been implemented, and the community
processes that are essential for maintenance and growth of the
standard. We present case-study extensions of the Darwin Core into new
research communities, including metagenomics and genetic resources. We
close by showing how Darwin Core records are integrated to create new
knowledge products documenting species distributions and changes due
to environmental perturbations.


David Bloom
VertNet Coordinator
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
University of California, Berkeley
3101 Valley Life Sciences Building
Berkeley, CA 94720-3160

Phone: 510.643.1620
Fax: 510.643.8238

Email: dbloom at vertnet.org
Email: dbloom at berkeley.edu

URL: http://www.vertnet.org

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