Una recomendación de GBIF, de interés para sistemáticos y biogeógrafos
Martin


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GBIF Supports Open Access to Scientific Data

On 16 January 2006, the GBIF Governing Board adopted a statement that
recommends to research funding agencies that they promote open access to
scientific biodiversity data.
Released on: 23 January 2006
Contributor: Meredith Lane
Language: English
Spatial coverage: Not applicable
Keywords:
Source of information: GBIF Secretariat
Concerned URL: http://www.gbif.org/Stories/STORY1110470134

Two of the goals of GBIF are to bring together data for multiple uses, and
to find incentives and mechanisms to make data freely available as quickly
and effectively as possible. One of GBIF's own guiding principles is that
GBIF data should be openly shared.

Thus, the recommendation is, in part, "... that research councils, other
funding agencies and private foundations:

* Promote that proposals for funding for biodiversity research include
a plan for the maintenance and sharing of the digital biodiversity data
generated in proposed projects;
* Promote that species and specimen level data and associated metadata
that are generated in funded projects are made publicly available through
mechanisms cooperating with GBIF, within a specified period after
completion of the supported research."


In endorsing this statement, the GBIF Governing Board has joined the
ever-growing ranks that encourage open access, including the World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS), the UN Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), the Ocean Biodiversity Informatics Conference and the Conservation
Commons, among others.

The current GBIF Memorandum of Understanding states in paragraph 3
(Objectives), article 3 (Involvement of the Participants) that each
Participant should seek to (b) promote the sharing of biodiversity data in
GBIF under a common set of standards. The recommendation contributes to
implementing this article and is meant to provide assistance to
Participants who are building data sharing into research funding processes.

An example is the Swedish Research Council, which plans to implement the
recommendation. Two major US funding agencies, the National Science
Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, have had data sharing
requirements in place for several years.

The digitization, maintenance and sharing of biodiversity data on the
Internet is daunting to some research groups. However, GBIF has developed
expertise and tools for data sharing which enable researchers to easily
share their data through GBIF. Also, services can be provided to
researchers by organizations linked to GBIF. The nodes of GBIF have
developed a range of examples of how this can work in practice in different
situations and for different types of data. These nodes can provide
guidance and assistance where necessary. The list of GBIF nodes managers is
available at Nodes members on the GBIF Communications Portal.

The full text of the GBIF Recommendation on Open Access to Biodiversity
Data is publicly available in PDF format:

http://circa.gbif.net/Public/irc/gbif/pr/library?l=/webfiles/recommendation_pdf/\
_EN_1.0_&a=d




Martín J. Ramírez
División Aracnología
Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales
Av. Angel Gallardo 470
C1405DJR Buenos Aires
Argentina
tel +54 11 4982-8370 int. 169
fax +54 11 4982-4494