Transcript TDWG 2013 Annual Conference Florence, Italy

Giardino d’Inverno 16:00-17:30
TDWG 2013 Florence
Economic Botany
Mark Jackson ([email protected])
Agenda
• Description
• Issues
• Where Next?
History
F.E.M. Cook (1995) Economic
Botany Data Collection
Standard
• Status: TDWG Prior
Standard
• Category: Best Current
practice
• Permanent URL:
http://www.tdwg.org/stand
ards/103/
• Core content available:
http://www.kew.org/tdwgu
ses/
Purpose
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A set of standard terms for describing plant uses
Applicable to taxa and specimens
Comprehensive and unambiguous
To make it easy to record information about uses
To make it easy to find information on uses
To promote collaboration through information
exchange and comparison of datasets
What is the Uses Standard?
• A collection of vocabularies or sets of words,
that are used singly or, more often, in
combination to describe uses of plants.
• Like terms are grouped.
• Each group has broad and narrow terms.
• Acceptable combinations of terms are defined
as part of the standard.
Structure and Content
Structure
• Hierarchy
– Level 1 terms
– Level 2 terms
– Multiple sets of level 3 terms
• Each set of level 3 terms may have a hierarchy
• Level 3 subjects depend on level 2 term
Issues
• Presentation unduly complex.
– Simplification necessary to encourage other users e.g.
taxonomists.
• Implementation can be confusing to users.
– E.g. Plant Parts appear at different levels in the
current system (depending on which Level 1).
• Certain use groups present cross-cultural
difficulties.
• User requirements differ, and local versions have
tended to develop based on local needs.
Other issues
• Book only – no digital format!
• No guidance re combining terms
– e.g. Food, Leaves, young leaves + Food, Leaves,
ceremonial food
• Overlap in level 3 sets
What next?
Proposed Simplifications 2013
• Merge closely related Level 1 terms.
– Food to join with Food additives.
– Bee plants to join with Invertebrate food.
– Vertebrate poisons to join with non-vertebrate poisons.
• Level 1 stabilised.
• Rationalise descriptors.
– i.e. don't vary descriptor terms according to use group.
– Plant part, Organism, Chemical lists consistent throughout.
• Allow flexibility of choice of Level 3 descriptors.
– Choice available from a set of defined descriptors
according to local need.
Additional proposed changes 2013
• Move Antifertility agents from SOCIAL USES to
MEDICINES.
• Add WEEDS as new Level 1 category.
• Recommend Food Type/Raw material as the
Level 2 option for FOOD (rather than Plant
parts).
Society for Economic Botany Biocultural
Collections Meeting June 2013
• Two opposing points of view:
– Need for a simple, hierarchical, structured,
comprehensive system of non-overlapping terms.
– Need a less structured approach based on vocabulary
alone with no hierarchies, or groups of terms only
synonyms.
• The majority of the discussion covered new
methods for handling vocabularies:
– Ontologies, semantic web, proximity searching, use of
algorithms to make word associations, development
of controlled vocabulary to develop lexicons etc.
Way forward?
• Re-establish the former Economic Botany Interest Group perhaps
as “Uses” Interest Group and liaise with TDWG organisation?
• Motivation for the group
– Agree vocabularies and systems for describing, recording and
exchanging information concerning the uses of organisms.
– To enable use descriptions for both entire taxa and individual
specimens.
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Activity focus
– Short Term – Set up process to agree simplified version of structured
Plant Use Standard. Especially important to agree a stable top level.
– Long Term – Review alternative novel approaches for handling
vocabularies with emerging IT technology.
– Extend the remit from plants to all organisms.
Discussion at TDWG
• Pros and cons of the existing prior standard:
– Additional views of users of the prior standard (or alternative systems);
– Uses case examples;
• Review revised simplified version
– Obtain potential reviewers of the new simplified version of the prior standard.
• Review novel IT approaches to vocabularies
– Does TDWG have a view on how much emphasis should be placed on
vocabulary versus structure?
– What emerging technologies are useful or recommended?
– The merits and potential of semantic web, ontologies, proximity searching,
use of algorithms to make word associations, development of controlled
vocabulary to develop lexicons etc.
• Is there the capability or capacity to extend beyond Plant uses only?
Thank you!
Mark Jackson ([email protected])