Introduction to the session: The relationship of the GBIF Multimedia Resource Task Group to the presentations and to the aims of the TDWG Image Interest Group
Robert A. Morris, Vishwas Chavan
Abstract
The TDWG Image Interest Group (IIG, http://www.tdwg.org/activities/img/) is a focal point for multimedia discussion by TDWG members. The GBIF Multimedia Resource Task Group (MRTG, http://wiki.gbif.org/gbif/wikka.php?wakka=MultimediaResourcesTaskGroup)
was convened to make social and technical recommendations to GBIF about multimedia resources towards its goal to increase by an order of magnitude the primary biodiversity records offered by its Participants. MRTG has a limited life with a mandate to identify the obstructions to that goal. MRTG's biggest technical focus is on metadata that documents taxon occurrence and supports metadata discovery and exchange, both as to repositories and media.
Several MRTG members urged the development of metadata for descriptions of the content beyond documenting specimens, e.g. to documenting species, phenology, and ecological and other, relationships. . Members also suggested metadata to support applications on whether and how to acquire and render the media and not just exploit the metadata. These issues are beyond MRTG’s current mandate.
GBIF together with Encyclopedia of Life is hosting a MRTG sub-group meeting in September 2008 to draft metadata specifications for comment by the public and possible consideration by TDWG.
This presentation will report on the MRTG efforts, GBIFs plans for considering and acting on MRTGs recommendations, and briefly explore how the MRTGs efforts relate to the aims of the TDWG Image Interest Group. Although not selected expressly for that purpose, each of the remaining presentations speaks in one way or another to the intersection of the goals of IIG and MRTG.
was convened to make social and technical recommendations to GBIF about multimedia resources towards its goal to increase by an order of magnitude the primary biodiversity records offered by its Participants. MRTG has a limited life with a mandate to identify the obstructions to that goal. MRTG's biggest technical focus is on metadata that documents taxon occurrence and supports metadata discovery and exchange, both as to repositories and media.
Several MRTG members urged the development of metadata for descriptions of the content beyond documenting specimens, e.g. to documenting species, phenology, and ecological and other, relationships. . Members also suggested metadata to support applications on whether and how to acquire and render the media and not just exploit the metadata. These issues are beyond MRTG’s current mandate.
GBIF together with Encyclopedia of Life is hosting a MRTG sub-group meeting in September 2008 to draft metadata specifications for comment by the public and possible consideration by TDWG.
This presentation will report on the MRTG efforts, GBIFs plans for considering and acting on MRTGs recommendations, and briefly explore how the MRTGs efforts relate to the aims of the TDWG Image Interest Group. Although not selected expressly for that purpose, each of the remaining presentations speaks in one way or another to the intersection of the goals of IIG and MRTG.