[Tdwg-guid] (Fwd) Fwd: [TDWG] Announce: Proposal for "microformat" for mar

[Sally Hinchcliffe]

Hi all

This is probably on the wrong list (Maybe TAG?) but it strikes me 
that what this guy needs is an ontology that he can use in his 
microformats ...

Possibly an example of a real world need for ontologies ?

Sally

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Tue, 26 Sep 2006 09:34:04 -0000
To:             	<sh00kg at rbgkew.org.uk>
Subject:        	Fwd: [TDWG] Announce: Proposal for "microformat" for marking-up taxonomic names in HTML: comments and contributions sought
From:           	<M.Jackson at kew.org>
Send reply to:  	M.Jackson at rbgkew.org.uk

Sally,

Do you think you might respond to this? Just curious what you think.

Mark
----
Forwarded From: Andy Mabbett <andy at pigsonthewing.org.uk>

> 
> Hello - my first post to this mailing list.
> 
> I'm not a taxonomist, but I've been told by one that you might be
> interested in recent proposals for a formula (a "microformat"
> <http://microformats.org>) for marking-up, in HTML, the names of species
> (and other ranks, varieties, hybrids, etc.).
> 
> Microformats are a way of adding additional, simple markup to
> human-readable data items on web pages, using common and open HTML
> standards, so that the information can be extracted by software and
> indexed, searched for, saved, cross-referenced or aggregated.
> Microformats are also open standards, freely available for anyone to
> use.
> 
> The proposed format respects all existing biological taxonomies, and is
> not intended to change or supplant any of them - it merely provides
> webmasters with a method of either:
> 
>    1)   marking-up a taxonomical name (or taxon-common name pair) in
>         such a way that its components can be recognised by computers
> 
> or
> 
>    2)   marking up a common name, so as to associative with it a
>         taxonomical name, in such a way that the latter's components can
>         be recognised by computers
> 
> For instance, if I mark up a list of common names on a page I maintain:
> 
>    <http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/staffs/tittesworth/latest.htm>
> 
> using that microformat, a visitor might have browser tool which lists
> all the species on the page, sorted into alphabetical order within
> taxonomic class, or in taxonomic order, and then creates links to, say
> (for Joe Public) their entries in Wikipedia, or the British Trust for
> Ornithology, or (for scientists) some academic database of the users
> choosing.
> 
> Early thoughts on the format are on an editable "wiki", here:
> 
>         <http://microformats.org/wiki/species>
> 
> Please feel free to participate - the proposal needs both messages of
> support (particularly from people or organisations who have websites on
> which they might use them) and, especially, comments and constructive
> criticisms - does the proposal understand and use taxonomy correctly; is
> the terminology right, are there any omissions or overlooked, unusual
> naming conventions?
> 
> You can use the above wiki, or the microformats mailing list:
> 
>         <http://microformats.org/wiki/mailing-lists>
> 
> and/ or please feel free to pass this e-mail to other interested
> parties.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> -- 
> Andy Mabbett
> Birmingham, England
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TDWG mailing list
> TDWG at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/mailman/listinfo/tdwg
> 



-- 



------- End of forwarded message -------*** Sally Hinchcliffe
*** Computer section, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
*** tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5708
*** S.Hinchcliffe at rbgkew.org.uk