What should TDWG's `CORE BUSINESS' be?

1. 'club' for biodiversity informatics practioners. 2. Forum for developing standards. 3 A recognised authority for standards. Being able to point to such an authority allows us to develop appropriate informatics solutions. This is perhaps more important immediately outside the core 'taxonomic' community than within it, e.g. in my case trying to convince national biosecurity/conservation agencies to take biodiversity informatics standards into account.

_1. Develop and agree upon various standards related to biodiversity databases and networking 2. Bring people together who work in biodiversity informatics, curators, taxonomists, etc. (annual meetings) _

_1. Promoting standards for interoperability of Taxnonomic Information 2. Promoting the importance of taxonomy to the wider scientific (and other) communities as a framework for integrating biological information. 3. Organising and promoting annual conferences/workshop on taxonomy related informatics _

Biodiversity data interoperability and infrastructure. Develop and support standardization of data exchange, data modelling, data semantics. System design of biology databases.

Biodiversity Informatics

Biodiversity Informatics

Biodiversity-related Standards Development and Management

clear description of the mission and history of TDWG, who's who in the TDWG, interaction, collaboration, outreach, database standardization, information exchange, software and new technology sharing

Control vocabularies for storing information about biological organisms Exchange data standards

Data standards used to exchange or store information about biological entities.

Defining standard models and formats to facilitate the exchange and integration of biodiversity data.

_Defining standards for biological databases. _

Defining standards for management of biodiversity information

Determination of standards and methods of implmentation of those standards

develop standards for data organization (structuring of information) related to systematics

_Developing and disseminating standards for taxonomic databases, or promoting the use of standards developed by other groups; providing guidance for established and emerging taxonomic databasing projects -- especially with regard to new developments in computer science or database management, or the sharing of such data via the web or in other ways. _

Developing and disseminating standards for taxonomic databases.

Developing and promoting the use of taxonomic standards and data exchange for the entire scientific community

developing global standards for etaxonomy and biodiversity informatics

developing globally applicable standards for the capture and sharing of 'biodiversity' data; seeking community input and buyin for such standards; disseminating and promoting the such standards to and by appropriate individuals, organizations and institutions

Developing standards (definitions) for use in bio-informatic applications (e.g., databases) and making those available so that new developers can reference them

Developing standards for taxonomic databases and the applications that access them.

Developing standards for the interchange, aggregation and discovery of biodiversity informatics data. These standards to then be promoted for use by GBIF.

Developing standards.

Development and adoption of standards for taxonomic databases.

_Development and maintenance of standards for biodiversity data content, exchange and communications. Same as W3C? for biodiversity data. Publication of standards for communication protocols, data formats, methodologies, glossaries, references _

Development of community standards for data sharing and gathering of a concensus for their broad use by the taxonomic community.

Development of data standards for delivery of biological data

Development of open standards for (digital) biodiversity information.

Development, Maintenance and Dissemmination of Standards and Guidelines for Biodiversity and Biodiversity Informatics

development, review, approval, and promulgation of standards for taxanomic data.

development, standardisation and documentation of data standards

Encouraging the production of and ratification of data standards for database users

Establishing and implementing data standards for the international community of natural biological sciences, consisting of academic, government, and nonprofit organizations who share the common goal of providing high quality standardized data for use in research as well as conservation planning.

Establishing standards for taxonomic databases

Establishing standards for taxonomic databases

Facilitate the exchange for biodiversity data. This is mainly taxonomic data about organisms, how to identify them and where they occur.

Facilitating and coordinating database development and the sharing of data internationally.

Facilitating and coordinating development of and compliance with data exchange standards for biodiversity informatics

_I look to DWG for investigating and establishing standards and procedures _

I really do not know - there is now GBIF which seems to have many of the same goals.

I think it must be an standard to orient, guide and help to the Systematic Database Developers.

Improve collaboration and the means to do so. This should include development of structural standards, content standards, and standards to collaborate in system design and implementation. Further, spreading information, helping participants to get educated about new developments, is probably part this business.

Information interchange resource

Integration and interoperability of data sets throughout the world that deal with taxonomic, specimen, observation, distribution, and other reltated biodiversity informatics data

It should keep promoting the adoption of Standards and Protocols in the field but also maintaining its definition and development under its groups as part of the process. Topics could change, extend and migrate into other information, but TDWG should remain as the organization to refer to in standards for taxonomy (and biodiversity in general).

I've certainly seen postings advertising meeting of TDWG, but I've never seen an online explanation of what you do, who can be a member, what official standing is needed to join, etc. Please get the word out more to those of us who live is isolated institutions with limited personal contact to fellow botanists.

No strong opinion due to insufficient attention to details of current and ongoing efforts by TDWG.

Organizing and listing the working collections, and forwarding news on to them. I have a small (80,000 specimens) arthropod (mainly insect) collection of California's San Joaquin Valley. I seldom get requests for my specimens in taxonomic works, but many of my specimens turn out to be new and undescribed. There are several collections like this in California, also seldom being used for taxonomic study.

Portal to taxonomic database information.

Promote data standards and interchangeability

Promote Standards of database schemas to insure interoperability of all aspects of taxonomic databases.

Providing a forum to assist people share and use biodiversity information

Set standards for taxonomic databasing

Setting interoperability standards that allow the interchange and aggregation of taxonomic data

setting standards for interoperability of databases in natural history museum research

Setting standards for the Systematics Community (not just Botany)

Should be a faciltator of/involved in implementing community standards, the need for standards being made clear by the community. (from below) to really think where we want to go; how to get there will follow. (Note: this must not be another boring meeting, but given e.g. that Kew is changing hands, it may well be timely.)

Standardisation

Standards development relating to all aspects of organismic biology, including those related to collections, identification, taxonomy, phylogeny, and geography.

Standards development.

Standards for biodiversity data exchange and sharing. Forum for community interaction and communication regarding biodiversity data management and informatics issues.

Standards for the sharing of biotaxonomic information

TDWG could functions as some kind of advisory board for GBIF. Questions from GBIF or others can by answered by different working groups within the TDWG-community.

The design, codification and dissemination of information representation, exchange and interoperability standards within organismic biology and across to the other levels of scale, including for example molecular biology and ecology.

The formulation, hosting and advocacy of international standards of practical use to biodiversity informatics.

To define and *effectively communicate* database standards to the taxonomic community- many of us are still trying to reinvent the wheel on our own.

To establish and maintain electronic data standards for biodiversity/taxonomic data

To serve as the technical reference for people and institutions willing to share or to integrate biodiversity data.