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Topic: Comments and GBIF

We were promised that the valuable facility to comment on records - as was possible in G4 - would be restored to the 'new improved' G5 in the current financial year, the end of which is rapidly approaching.

Is that going to happen?

Also, there is still no restoration of access by GBIF to current NBNG datasets, not even to those which were previously explicitly cleared for display on GBIF and whose permissions on GBIF were removed without reference to dataset managers.

When will that matter be sorted?

I am aware that some managers do not want data displayed on GBIF, but I object to our data being hidden for their reasons with which we do not agree.

Murdo

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Re: Comments and GBIF

I must have missed something here, what is the issue with GBIF? I've just checked and our datasets still seem to be on.

I do agree that we need the commenting facility back, our users used to make good use of it and now they have to email us with corrections they don't always get around to it.
 
Janet

Janet Simkin
British Lichen Society

3 (edited by Syrphus 16-01-2015 16:09:58)

Re: Comments and GBIF

I am glad you also value the 'comment' facility, Janet.

On GBIF, unless you are more privileged than HBRG, your datasets will still be listed and records that were in G4 will be displayed.

However, new sets will not show.  If you look at http://www.gbif.org/species/1502610 and compare the dots with https://data.nbn.org.uk/Taxa/NBNSYS0000030336/Grid_Map you will see the difference. The dots for that species on the G5 map are virtually all ours, so the omissions are obvious.

http://old-data.nbn.org.uk/gridMap/grid … 0000030336 is the G4 map, so the removal of our records from GBIF display happened sometime before [edit - originally 'after'] the last update of sets on G4.

If your current data *are* shown on GBIF, then I will want to know why ours are not.  There was some consultation about the matter last year, but I never heard of a resolution.

Murdo

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Re: Comments and GBIF

A week on, and no answer to the two questions posed in the initial post.

I would still like to know ...

M.

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Re: Comments and GBIF

As far as I know we do not currently give a direct upload to GBIF, not the ideal case I know but my hands are tied, from my limited understanding the issues here are political rather than technical ones, which prevent us from doing this for everyone so when they are resolved we can resume the service but at present we are being prevented from doing so.

Matt Debont
Application Developer
Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Monkstone House, City Road, Peterborough PE1 1JY, UK

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Re: Comments and GBIF

And the promise on Commenting?

I am well aware that the GBIF problems are political, but they are other people's politics, not mine.

I don't ever remember being asked my views on disengaging from GBIF before it happened (no doubt someone will tell me if I missed that), but I do want our current datasets displayed there asap.  If other folk have a problem I am not forcing the issue on them, but it appears to be OK the other way round.

M.

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Re: Comments and GBIF

I would like our datasets (Outer Hebrides Biological Recording) to continue to be made available through GBIF.
If we are promoting the principle of free data access, it is those who do not wish to participate who should opt out and they should not disenfranchise the rest of us.

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Re: Comments and GBIF

Two weeks on, and still no answers to two simple questions.

To save folk trouble, here are the original questions from 16 Jan:
>>>
We were promised that the valuable facility to comment on records - as was possible in G4 - would be restored to the 'new improved' G5 in the current financial year, the end of which is rapidly approaching.

Is that going to happen?

Also, there is still no restoration of access by GBIF to current NBNG datasets, not even to those which were previously explicitly cleared for display on GBIF and whose permissions on GBIF were removed without reference to dataset managers.

When will that matter be sorted?
<<<

The answer to the first must be one of yes, maybe, no, don't know. My suspicious mind suggests that the third is the one for the smart money, but it would be nice to have that confirmed. Even nicer to have it proved wrong.

The GBIF answer might be more complex, but a clear statement of why those of us who have no problem with GBIF have to dance to the tune of others who do might be a good start.

Whatever, waiting 2 weeks for any meaningful response to two simple questions is not acceptable. Thanks for your effort, Matt, but it added nothing to what we knew already. Have you nudged anyone who has responsibility for the politics?

Murdo

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Re: Comments and GBIF

What politics, and who has decided that our datasets should no longer be updated on GBIF? It took us years of nagging the NBN to get our datasets onto GBIF in the first place, and now it seems that facility has been withdrawn without anyone even telling us, let alone having the courtesy to consult us. Could someone please tell us what is going on?

Janet

Janet Simkin
British Lichen Society

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Re: Comments and GBIF

I wonder whether the delay in getting NBN data onto GBIF has to do with the new GBIF license structure and waiting for the NBN to align with them? I.e. the current NBN T&Cs are incompatible with GBIF.

I can't find a "start date" (now?) for the new GBIF licenses (http://www.gbif.org/page/9773), but it's possible they're not accepting new/updated datasets that aren't CC-0, CC-BY or CC-BY-NC.

Charlie Barnes
Information Officer
Greater Lincolnshire Nature Partnership

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Re: Comments and GBIF

If that is the case, Charlie, and it would be nice to get some informed response from NBN, there will be no difficulty with making our datasets CC-BY. If I could do it myself it would have happened a long time ago.

Whatever has been going on, it has been glacially slow, as the GBIF problem has existed for well over a year now.  But as with everything these days, real progress takes second place to mission statements, strategies, and all these other bureaucratic irrelevances that people use as an excuse to avoid doing anything of real value.

M.