Annual Report TDWG Data Quality Interest Group for 2015

Review of Activities

• Proposed at TDWG2013
• Merged with GBIF DQ group
• Charter created & submitted to the TDWG Exec
• Convenors:
  • Antonio Mauro Saraiva
  • Arthur D. Chapman
  • Dmitry Schigel (GBIF Liaison)
• Approved by the Exec on 24/Oct/14
• Discussions held at TDWG2014

Activity since TDWG2014

• Established 3 Task Groups (reports follow)
  • TG1 Framework on Data Quality
  • TG2 Tools, Services and Work Flows
  • TG3 Use Case Library
• Currently using GBIF Community Site site for discussions
• Proposal to use TDWG GitHub
• Approx 100 members have expressed interest in participating
• Framework Document has been submitted to Plos1 for publication.

Proposed Workplan for 2015-2016

• Encourage greater participation in Task Groups
• Liaise with GBIF Working Groups
  • Fitness for Use for Agrobiodiversity
  • Fitness for Use for Distribution Modelling
• Hold meeting (February 2016 in Brazil) of \
  • IG Convenors
  • GBIF Representatives
  • Task Group Leaders + one other
  • GBIF Working Group Representatives
• Consolidate Task Group reports and publications for TDWG2016

TG1 - Framework on Data Quality

Goal:

• Develop a conceptual framework that serves as a common ground for a collaborative mapping of DQ needs and DQ methods, tools, services and workflows for DQ Assessment and Management based on data fitness for use.

On going:

• Full paper entitled: “Toward A Conceptual Framework for the Assessment and Management of the Fitness for Use of Biodiversity Data.”
  • Under (internal) review;
  • Plan to submit it to PlosONE up to next week (September 10).
• Evaluating the proposed Conceptual Framework with a case study at the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University.
• Proposing a reusable method for using/applying the Conceptual Framework for Assessment and Management of Data Quality.

Next steps:

• Paper about the MCZ case study.
• Discuss with community a suitable terminology standard.
• Formalize a method for the Assessment and Management of Fitness for Use using the Conceptual Framework.
• Support the proposal of a metadata schema standard for BDQ.

TG2 - Tools, Services and Workflows

• Charter provided
• The Task Group has ~25 members
• Automated tests, rules that lead to (public) assertions are a fundamental aspect of ‘data quality’
• Human tests or rules should be included
• GBIF and the ALA have ~100 jointly but similar agencies seem to have a few or none?
• Software tools and workflows are based on assertions [GBIF’s list of DQ tools will be updated]
• Standard assertions should be supplied with all relevant Darwin Core-style records

TG3 - Use Case Library

• Charter provided
• The Task Group has ~25 members

Use Case Library

• Creation of a worksheet version of the data quality use case description from Toward A Conceptual Framework for the *
• Assessment and Management of the Fitness for Use of Biodiversity Data (Veiga et al 2015). Transfer of the case study to the worksheet to test this approach to collecting the use case descriptions.

Next steps

• Feedback on the approach and structure of the worksheet from the working group leaders
• Place the worksheet online in a collaborative editing environment
• Inform Use Case working group of the proposed method to document the use cases and request contributions
• Capture use case descriptions
• Edit for consistency and develop an initial use case list.
• Cross reference against tools, service and workflows working group findings
• Consider recommendations for maintaining the use case descriptions as a reference set medium to long term