Want to share your dataset but don’t have the infrastructure?
An unprecedented volume of primary biodiversity data is currently being generated around the world, however significant amounts of data are lost (or will be lost), once the conservation projects and initiatives that generated these data come to an end.
To address this, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) http://www.gbif.org/ has created a ‘Data Hosting Infrastructure’ that acts as a mechanism for archiving and publishing primary biodiversity data.
This infrastructure supports data publishers who do not have access to the technical and infrastructural capacity required to directly discover and publish through the GBIF network.
The EWT is a Biodiversity Data Hosting Infrastructure Centre for GBIF. As a Biodiversity Data Hosting Infrastructure Centre, the EWT will support data publishers, who do not have access to the technical and infrastructural capacity to directly discover and publish datasets through the GBIF network.
The Endangered Wildlife Trust is a Biodiversity Data Hosting Centre based on the GBIF Global Standards. Migrating biodiversity knows no boundaries and the EWT is a biodiversity conservation organisation operating throughout sub-Saharan Africa which works widely with partners in collecting, collating and managing a variety of biodiversity datasets.
There are three options available to data publishers, which include:
i) The Metadata Catalogue System: A data owner can advertise their dataset through the Metadata Catalogue System. A data owner only provides the EWT with metadata of the datasets available. This will ensure increased exposure of datasets to potentially improve knowledge sharing and collaboration.
ii) The Integrated Publishing Toolkit: A data owner publishes their own data sets (in MSExcel, MSAccess, MSSQL or comma delimited text files) through an Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT). These datasets will be self-maintained and populated by the data owner. Ownership of the data stays with the institution or individual publishing the dataset.
iii) The Knowledge Management System: The data owner permits the integration of its datasets with the EWT Knowledge Management System (KMS) and third-party approval is needed before any of the data is released. The KMS provides a centralised storage location for all ecological and spatial information amongst the EWT and its numerous partners. Ownership of the data stays with the institution or individual publishing the dataset.
For more information please contact Brenda Daly on brendad(at)ewt.org.za