The Electronic Field Guide Images and Conservation Robert D. Stevenson University of Massachusetts Boston

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Rob Stevenson

Susan Speak Photographer

Internet and Smart Phones have really Opened up New Possibilities for Sharing Images Geo referenced environmental data is needed on a much finer scale – scientists can not get this information by themselves Specific projects - Monitoring Phenology, Invasive species, Biodiversity change, Landscape change

Museum Specimens and E-Vouchers William Haber Photographer

Shrub or woody vine. Woody vine; petals 7 or more 3. Decumaria Shrub; petals 4 or 5. Leaves alternate or on short spur branches. Leaves pinnately veined; ovary superior; fruit a capsule 1. Itea Leaves palmately veined; ovary inferior; fruit a berry 2. Ribes Leaves opposite. Petals usually 4;-stamens 20-40; fruit longitudinally dehiscent, not ribbed; 4. Philadelphus Petals usually 5; stamens 8-10; fruit poricidally dehiscent, 10- to 15-ribbed 5. Hydrangea Example of a Key to ID Species

OR William Haber Photographer

Process of elimination matrix of characters many taxonomic levels narrow and deep 5 –50 steps usually in the lab only with specimen Key vs. Field Guide Comparison pictures and field marks life form broad and shallow 1-6 steps field specimen, location, habitat, season

Fred SaintOurs Photographer

William Haber Photographer

Spotted knapweed (Centaurea beibersteinii) and Brown knapweed (Centaurea jacea) in full bloom. Jennifer Forman Orth Photographer

Which is Brown and which is Spotted knapweed? Jennifer Forman Orth Photographer

Data loss Figure 1. The Loss of Information about Data (Metadata) Over Time (Michener et al. 1997, with this original caption: "Fig. 1. Example of the normal degradation in information content associated with data and metadata over time ("information entropy"). Accidents or changes in storage technology (dashed line) may eliminate access to remaining raw data and metadata at any time.")

NSF and Data Management Plans New Requirement by NSF = additional supplementary document not more than 2 pages What constitutes data is open _2.jsp#dmp _2.jsp#dmp Frequently asked questions indicates a low but evolving bar - what is acceptable is set by the community i.e. what do reviewers think

Why Don’t I Archive My Data? ▸ No incentives - what’s in it for me? ▸ No acknowledgment - does a dataset = paper? ▸ Give up publication rights - will somebody scoop me? ▸ Poor planning - it was not in “the Plan” ▸ No resources - who’s going to pay for it? ▸ Lack of training - what do I do first? ▸ Unsure about metadata content - how much is enough?

Why Should I Archive My Data? (management hints!!) ▸ Career advancement (give them credit) ▸ you will get some recognition ▸ you can publish data paper in ESA Ecological Archives ▸ it may help me do science with broader scope ▸ Professional incentives (give them training) ▸ good scientific practice (create peer pressure) ▸ Institutional incentives (have expectations) ▸ required by the sponsor ▸ Technological advances (give them systems) ▸ its easier and there are more options

Archiving Supports Science ▸ Metadata required for archiving will improve data quality ▸ Extends data usefulness ▸ Increases your information base for doing research: ▸ data volume and diversity ▸ Permits replication of results A KEY concept of Science

Metadata Depends on Your “World View” ▸ Investigator ▸ Doesn’t need extensive formal metadata ▸ Project ▸ Metadata needed for project integration and modeling activities ▸ Project data manager may help write metadata ▸ Data archive ▸ More detailed metadata (e.g., spatial coordinates) ▸ More standardization (e.g., keywords) to communicate clearly with future users ▸ Who writes the metadata?

Acknowledgements Gary Alpert Bill Haber Bob Morris Louise Putnam Jenn Forman Orth Fred SaintOurs Susan Speak Willow Zuchowski

Shared Shelf and Research Science Images at the University of Massachusetts Boston ROBERT STEVENSON, PhD, Associate Professor of Biology Louise Putnam, Visual Resources Collection

The Rich are very different from you & me: they have more money. Clouet. Port/Francois Ier; Picasso.Don Quixote ( adapted by lc putnam )

A M N Y BE AU BR BF CB BQ AT AJ AI Z CC CP CQ DC Biologists are very different from you & me: they have more data.

But we all have IMAGES! Beert. Still Life with Nautilus; Susan Speak. Diamond-backed Terrapin

Electronic Field Guide Images (Biology Dept) Visual Resources Collection Images (Art Dept) Research Archaeology Images Mexico (Anthro Dept) Geology Research Images India, Germany, Nepal (Geology Dept) Wakefield Trust Mineral Collection Images (School for the Environment) Lawrence Kaplan EthnoBotany Images Peru & Mexico (Biology Dept)

Shared Shelf Allows us to control who can do what to/with the data

Shared Shelf Allows us to control where content can be seen. At this stage, the Geology Research images can not be published anywhere. Access is via Shared Shelf only to a controlled list of users.

Shared Shelf Allows us publish to a limited audience or to a broad one, such as Shared Shelf Commons or Omeka

Shared Shelf Commons

Omeka

Susan Speak. Hatchling Snapping Turtle Susan Speak. Diamond-backed Terrapin