ABCD Schema Request for Comment

[Berendsohn, Walter G.]

Apologies for cross-posting!

CODATA/TDWG Task Group on Access to Biological Collection Data Subgroup
on Content Definition

Request for Comment

Dear Colleague,

The Access to Biological Collections Data (ABCD) Task Group has
continued to develop the XML Schema for unit-level collection data. A
unit may be a specimen, culture, living organism or observation record.
The Schema is intended to provide a comprehensive structure and is
consequently quite large and highly structured.

A reference implementation (ABCD version 1.2) is in use in distributed
query systems for unit-level databases (see GBIF data portal,
www.gbif.org, and BioCASE preliminary access system,
http://ww2.biocase.org/abcdSimple/).=20

A revised version (1.49) has now been submitted to the Taxonomic
Databases Working Group for consideration as a Draft Standard. It can be
found at the subgroup's Web-site at:
http://www.bgbm.org/TDWG/CODATA/Schema/ along with further information
about the schema and the review process. The schema is available as a
.xsd file or as a very large HTML file with diagrams to show the
structure. It may also be viewed through a special browser-based schema
viewer.

The Group seeks comments on the adequacy of the element set and the
definition of the element's semantics ("documentation"). Please would
you take a look at the current draft, and send comments and suggestions
to w.berendsohn [at] bgbm.org, preferably by Oct. 4, 2004.

For the ABCD Content Definition Group

Walter Berendsohn