89 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
89 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
%META:TOPICINFO{author="GarryJolleyRogers" date="1259118878" format="1.1" version="1.7"}%
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%META:TOPICPARENT{name="Charter"}%
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<h2>SDD Schema Group Charter</h2>
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<em>(A Task Group of the SDD Interest Group)</em>
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<h3>Convener</h3>
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* Gregor Hagedorn, Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land und Forstwirtschaft, Königin-Luise-Str. 19, 14195 Berlin, Germany. Email: name @ gmail.com, replace "name" with "g.m.hagedorn"
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<h3>Core Members</h3>
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* Gregor Hagedorn (BBA, Germany),
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* Robert Morris (UMAss, Boston, USA),
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* Kevin Thiele (University of Queensland, Australia),
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* Bryan Heidorn (University of Illinois, USA)
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<h3>Motivation</h3>
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(See also the [[InterestGroupCharter][Interest Group Charter]] for general information.)
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This task group aims at using the formalism of w3c xml Schema to exchange descriptive data. SDD xml documents may be used to express descriptions of biological taxa, specimens, and non-biological objects or classes.
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* SDD documents may include all or some of the following:
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* terminologies (e. g., characters and states, modifiers, or character trees with higher concepts)
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* character ontologies (currently through character trees, but more fundamental ontologies are planned for the future)
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* structured (coded) data, typically such as is found in databases or taxon-by-character matrices
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* sample data (e. g., measurements)
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* unstructured natural language data
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* natural language data with markup
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* dichotomous ("2-branching") or polytomous ("n-branching") identification keys
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* resources associated with descriptions (e. g., images, references, links)
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* SDD is currently not designed to accommodate:
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* molecular sequence and other genetic data (although these may be considered in future versions)
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* occurrence and specimen data and representations of these (e. g., distribution maps)
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* complex ecological data such as models and ecological observations
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* organism interaction data like host-parasite, plant-pollinator, predator-prey
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* nomenclatural and formal systematic (rank) information
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<h3>Goals Outputs and Outcomes</h3>
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The task group has been formulated to resubmit the SDD schema which was voted as a TDWG standard in 2005 under the new Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) process. The task group aims to achieve this means by the end of 2008. The deliverable is a w3c xml schema with related ontologies and human readable documentation.
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<h3>Strategy</h3>
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We discuss problems on the [[http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/SDD/SDD][Wiki]], or by email and other online means (Skype, etc.).
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The schema is managed with a source code control system, presently a Subversion repository. When a point of stability is reached, a Release Candidate is frozen. Development continues through a series of Release Candidates until a version is deemed acceptable for release. Releases are copied to the wiki for public comment and ultimate submission to TDWG for approval.
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<h3>Becoming Involved</h3>
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Please refer to the [[InterestGroupCharter][Interest Group Charter]] for general information. Specifically for the schema task group, the following points need to be added:
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* For the schema we need more ancillary supplementary documentation and sample documents.
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* SDD schema development and understanding rests on two skills: experience with the representation technologies involved and experience with taxonomic identification and description tools. Usually it is most productive if there is substantial experience in one and at least slight experience in the other of these areas.
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<h3>History and Context</h3>
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(See also the [[InterestGroupCharter][Interest Group Charter]] for general information.)
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Schema Versions:
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* Current Standard: Version 1.0 (endorsed by TDWG October 2005)<br/>
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* Most Recent Version: [[Version 1dot1][SDD Version 1.1]] (final Release March 2007, recommended version)<br/>
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<h3>Summary</h3>
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The SDD (Structured Descriptive Data) xml schema defines a method to encode descriptive data in biology and other subjects. The primary goal of the design is to increase the knowledge and availability of knowledge about the diversity of life on earth. However, it may be used in many other areas (including medicine, pathology, archeology, anthropology) wherever objects or classes of objects are described for later re-identification. It is hoped that this standard will reach general acceptance to become a successor to existing standards like DELTA or NEXUS.
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The SDD Schema task group has been formulated to resubmit the SDD schema which was voted as a TDWG standard in 2005 under the new Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) process. The task group aims to achieve this means by the end of 2008. The deliverable is a w3c xml schema with related ontologies and human readable documentation.
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* The SDD Schema:
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* provides a flexible, platform-independent data structure for the capture and storage of taxonomic descriptions, including original data (sample data)
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* provides data structures for the support of multi-access (interactive matrix-based keys) and branching (single-access, "dichotomous" or "polytomous") identification keys
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* comprises a superset of data requirements of all known programs managing descriptive data
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* provides extensions beyond existing programs where data requirements are believed to be predictable
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* is readily extensible to account for future developments and data requirements
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* is human-readable (although it is assumed that in almost all cases standard descriptions will be machine-generated and processed)
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* is XML-based, and provides a schema for validation of documents and the use of schema compilers such as Apache XMLBeans for the production of schema-based SDD tool generation.
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* The SDD Schema facilitates:
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* lossless porting of data between standard-aware applications
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* achievable progressive markup of legacy descriptions, particularly natural-language descriptions
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* comparability and integration of alternate descriptions of any taxon
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* multilingual data sets
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* efficient reusable descriptions serving multiple purposes
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* archiving and sharing of raw and processed data
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* The SDD Schema encourages:
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* Structured data over unstructured
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* Documenting intellectual property rights (IPR) metadata, including open access licenses
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* Recording data at the specimen level as well as the taxon level.
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-- Main.GregorHagedorn - 04 September 2007 |