INCCEBR Meeting (ILLINOIS - NORTH CAROLINA COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR BOTANICAL RESOURCES)

Notes from meeting of 4/22/2002, 12:45 - 1:55 p.m.

 
1. Matrix 
·          A Master Martrix resides at UIUC and includes UNC’s updates.
·          Bryan has set up a shared information space on a UIUC server at:  soldev.isrl.uiuc.edu
For UNC Team --        Login: (login not available on web)
            Password:  (password not available on web)
(Access is not working correctly at the moment.  Bryan sent me an e-mail yesterday, and Martin Wolske, Manager of Research System 
Services & Instructor at UIUC, cannot fix the problem until after next Thursday.  I’ll let the UNC team know when access is working. 
Bryan’s slides and the latest copy of the matrix [Master Matrix] reside at this shared space.)
·          Kristen and Lesley confirmed they will e-mail each other when “working on” or “posting” a copy of the matrix to the shared space. This will
 ensure that we are all working with the most current copy.
·          David was unable to attend the meeting, but he has been active on e-mail, corresponding w/ Bryan, David, Ken and others. The Matrix DTD
 is almost set. Once this is complete, David will devise input form.
·          XML Schema
Jane and Bryan discussed new XML schema and the encoding of authoritative values.  Jane, Bryan, and David will investigate and 
incorporate XML schema revisions where they will help our project (as we progress).
 
2. Research Plans
Some discussion focused on grant objectives and plans for field-testing with our polyclave keys.  Obviously, we can’t test until we have data in 
our system, but potential dates were suggested for testing, including holding focus groups with Advisory Board members.
 
A breakdown of research-related dates for now:
·          June – Establish Advisory Boards at UNC and UIUC.
·          Late July – Hold focus groups with Advisory Boards, test software and research design.
·          Early August – Begin to plan field-testing (provided data in ready).
·          Mid-August – IRB (submit research plan to IRB for approval).
 
These dates may change depending on timing with the completion of data input and the creation of the Thesaurus of Common Terms.
 

3. Thesaurus of Common Terms
There is agreement that we need to build a thesaurus of common terms, but we have not secured a methodology.
 
Bryan has designed software that permits users to view terminological relationships.
 
Terminology from the Matrix will be used to seed the thesaurus.  We discussed creating teams of people to review and cluster the terms.
 
Agreed that we should take the next 2 to 3 weeks to investigate thesaurus construction methods, particularly methods involving linking scientific 
to common terminology.
 
Ken, Peter, and Bryan discussed the importance of using illustrations and images. Agreed by everyone that we’d like the thesaurus to be illustrated, 
where appropriate, and draw from existing tools.  Ken noted the power of illustration over image.  We will likely work with both types of pictorial
 representations, drawing from an array of sources.
 
Kristin and Lesley will comprise a bibliography of sources for thesaurus illustrations.  UNC will scan the “Green sheet” of illustrations used in our 
herbarium and post to our shared information space when it is accessible.
 
[Peter asked about CS kids building plants and trees with the illustrations.  This is a question to explore in a future grant.]
 
4. Imaging DTD
Jane and Bryan discussed progress of the image DTD.  Bryan’s Butterfly DTD serves as a base.  A class table in the PIC Scientific Database 
draws from a number of preservation and imaging metadata schemas (including RLG’s preservation imaging schema).  Jane, David, and Bryan will 
work on the DTD over the next two weeks.
 
5. Glossary work
Glossary work was not covered in our meeting, although Kristin and I met afterwards, and will be meet this Friday to discuss more.  A quick update
 is that Kristin is working on two glossaries:
1.      PIC student glossary (UNC’s IMLS grant)
2.      Glossary comprised of terms from the matrix (joint UIUC/UNC IMLS grant)
Kristin will share a report with PIC team member and Bryan after our meeting on Friday.
 
6. Webpage 
Agreed that we need to work on a web presence.
 
Bryan and Jane both have project webpages under development.  Jane’s page is at:
http://ils.unc.edu/~janeg/inccebr/INCCEBR.htm
 

7.  Meetings

·          Next video meeting, tentative date, May 13.  Time to be determined.

·          June 13-14, new tentative date for UNC visit to Urbana and to see Vine project at the Field Museum