Vincent S. Smith Simon D. Rycroft & Dave Roberts Scratchpads community tools for taxonomists

Macro scale taxonomy The big picture of taxonomic research Goal… Inventory the Earths species Document their relationships Publish these data Data set… 1.8M described species (10M names) 300M pages (over last 250 years) 1.5-3B specimens People… 4-6,000 scientists 30-40,000 amateurs Many more citizen scientists?

Micro scale taxonomy The practice of taxonomic research Parochial… Specialised Experts Fragmented & distributed Methodological… Communities of practice Hard to record & update High output but low impact Different… Data Interpretations Methods How do we integrate micro & macro taxonomy?

Integrating micro & macro taxonomy Pulling taxonomy and taxonomists together The Traditional Approach Single giant database One size fits all Very complex (or very simple) Doesnt fit all needs Unsustainable The Traditional Result! No one uses it (except the developers) The project dies or a new database is built!

What is a Scratchpad? Your data 1 Published & reviewed on your site 3 Uploaded & tagged 2 A website for you & your community

What is a Scratchpad? Your data 1 Published & reviewed on your site 3 Uploaded & tagged 2 FastIntuitiveFit for use A website for you & your community

What can Scratchpads do? Import, manage, search & browse: DNA & Phylogenies Specimens Literature Images

What can Scratchpads do? Integration & connectivity within & between sites DNA & Phylogenies Specimens Literature Images Taxonomy

+Administration -Change your site information -Change you front page -Change your logo -Activity and access logs +Backup -Backing up your data -Restoring your data +Bibliography -Creating a record -Importing from a ref. manager -Exporting to a reference manager +Blog -Creating and adding a blog +Custom Content -Defining a CCK -Importing from a spreadsheet -Creating a custom view +Fileshare -Creating and using a fileshare +Forum -Altering the forum settings -Creating a container for a forum -Creating a new forum -Creating a new topic inside a forum +Groups -Creating a group -Subscribing to a group +Image -Uploading & basic annotation -Linking image & location records -Linking image & specimen records -Linking image & publication records -Overlay annotations on images +Layout -Change your theme -Menus -Blocks and sidebars +Locations -Creating a record -Importing from a spreadsheet +Pages -Creating, editing, cloning & deleting -Configuring the panels template +Panels -Adding & configuring content -Creating a new panel -Citing a Panels page +Polls -Creating a poll +Specimens -Creating a record -Importing from a spreadsheet -Linking specimen & location records -Linking specimen & pub. records +Tasks -Creating a tasklist +Taxonomy -Importing from a spreadsheet -Importing from Classificationbank -Starting from scratch -Taxonomy manager -Displaying a classification -Adding names -Deleting names -Taxonomy & panels +Users -Your settings -Adding a new user -User roles and permissions -Adding and editing user profile fields -Logging in +Webform -Creating and using webforms What can Scratchpads do? In summary

What can Scratchpads do? Visual taskguide

Current Scratchpads Ants Bees Beetles Big-headed flies Birds Blackflies Ciliates Cockroaches Dragon Trees Dung Beetles False Buttonweed Flat worms Flies Foraminifera Fossil Insects Fungus Gnats Holometabola Leaf-miner Flies Lice Lichens of Bermuda Malvaceae Megalastrum ferns Milichiid flies Mosquitoes Mosses Nannotax fossils Nepticuloid moths Palms Pearl oysters Polychaete worms Scaleworms Termites Triticid grasses Weevils Wood Ferns Sulawesi Ferns Stick insects Sites:61 Users:665 Pages:130k Since March 2007

Scratchpad usage Content & contributors in the first 15 months Pages: - Across 61 sites - In detail: Definitions (41%) References (26%) Associations (8.5%) DNA sequences (6%) Images (4.5%) Maps (2.8%) Specimens (2.1%) Others (1.3%) 129,896 pages, 665 contributors June

Scratchpad usage Contributors: - No more than 10% significantly active - Contributors in more than 30 countries - In detail: Europe (55%) Unknown (29%) North America (9%) Asia (3%) Australasia (2.5%) South America (2%) Russia (0.8%) Middle East (0.4%) [Jan. 08] 129,896 pages, 665 contributors June Content & contributors in the first 15 months

Scratchpad visitors Tracking visitors across sites Key monthly statistics - 50,000 page views - 6,000 visitors - 8 minutes on site - 50% returning visits (average per month 08)

Or just find out more… To do… help videos - Integration with EOL - Mass data editing tools - Interaction between sites - More panels (CBoL, IUCN) - Better taxonomy management - More functions (Ecol. interactions)

Develop ideas for the e-Monocot project Forum for… - Expressions of interest - Community news - Project news - Report a problem - Suggest a feature

Thanks… Simon RycroftBen ScottDave Roberts

Questions?