[Taxacom] Fwd: Any suggestions of open source monitoring software/web sites that stores and makes available location images?

[Tony Rees]

And again - other strengths, other weaknesses - there is always Wikimedia
Commons (repository for images used on Wikipedia in particular, but by no
means limited to that potential usage), which has a degree of inbuilt
categorization, however you have to do any subsequent data mobilization
yourself. As an example, see:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Rainforests_by_country

I would guess that Wikimedia Commons would score highly in the visibility
and expected persistence areas at least, but the facility for structured
image search and retrieval would depend on setting up some guidelines for
annotation and/or categorization in a consistent manner.

This is in fact the only image repository system I have actually used
myself - but in my case to upload photos of musicians... you can also work
out (by trial and error) how to search by photo author although this seems
to be a non-advertised feature at present (!!) - in my case it is
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=author%3A"tony_1212"
. Since I know the images are there, it is then a simple matter to call
them up and embed them into other pages of my own design, a function then
available to any third party in the future.

Just another thought - and sometimes simple / large outreach is good...

Regards - Tony

Tony Rees, New South Wales, Australia
https://about.me/TonyRees

On 2 December 2017 at 08:05, Tony Rees <tonyrees49 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Without reading either in full as yet, the following 2016 book and
> contained chapter also look worth checking out:
>
> The GEO Handbook on Biodiversity Observation Networks https://link.
> springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-27288-7
> Chapter: Involving Citizen Scientists in Biodiversity Observation
> https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-27288-7_9
>
> Regards - Tony
>
> Tony Rees, New South Wales, Australia
> https://about.me/TonyRees
>
> On 2 December 2017 at 06:21, Mary Barkworth <Mary.Barkworth at usu.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> My  apologies to everyone. There is another deadline (actually a few) but
>> I really appreciate all the suggestions. I am eager not to reinvent the
>> wheel - and yes, being able to rely on someone else for system maintenance
>> would be important.
>>
>> I was asked what I wanted to be able to do with the images and the flip
>> answer is anything that is possible now and that becomes possible in
>> future.  A less flip answer is look at changes in plant coverage, termite
>> mound abundance, spread of an invasive species, increased frequency of oil
>> spills - depending on what, where and how, the images were recorded.
>> Images allow ordinary people with minimal formal background to participate
>> in environmental monitoring by contributing  potentially useful information.
>>
>> Mary
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of
>> Tony Rees
>> Sent: Friday, December 1, 2017 11:27 AM
>> To: taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
>> Subject: [Taxacom] Fwd: Any suggestions of open source monitoring
>> software/web sites that stores and makes available location images?
>>
>> Keeping on... Morphbank http://www.morphbank.net has a "localities"
>> function here; http://www.morphbank.net/MyManager/?tab=localityTab
>> (quotes
>> 121,000 localities entered spread over 6,000 pages) which can have
>> associated images, although the initial few default pages all say "No.
>> images: 0". I guess if you have a known locality name you can search for
>> it, though... Morphbank seems set up/originally intended for individual
>> species/specimens but you could see whether habitats would be in scope, I
>> imagine.
>>
>> Again it will ultimately come down to which project seems the best fit
>> for your people/clients to consider, will permit easy search and retrieval
>> of the images as needed, and is likely to be there for the long term (with
>> somebody else doing the system maintenance!!)
>>
>> Regards - Tony
>>
>> Tony Rees, New South Wales, Australia
>> https://about.me/TonyRees
>>
>> >
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of
>> > Tony Rees
>> > Sent: 29 November 2017 20:04
>> > Cc: (Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu)
>> > Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Any suggestions of open source monitoring
>> > software/web sites that stores and makes available location images?
>> >
>> > Hi Mary,
>> >
>> > iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/) seems to have a lot of
>> > traction for species observations globally. Maybe there is an element
>> > of this that could suit your needs? I guess important factors for your
>> > decision would be to seek a system with substantial take-up already
>> > and onward data sharing already in place, have likely sustainability
>> > into the future, as well as other aspects / functionality already in
>> > place that could benefit your project in ways beyond your immediate
>> initial need.
>> >
>> > Regards - Tony
>> >
>> > Tony Rees, New South Wales, Australia
>> > https://about.me/TonyRees
>> >
>> > On 30 November 2017 at 05:17, Peter Rauch <peterar at berkeley.edu> wrote:
>> >
>> > > Mary,
>> > >
>> > > "...record standardized images of a location...."
>> > >
>> > > "...tracking changes over time at that location".
>> > >
>> > > "...the way collections networks bring specimen data together."
>> > >
>> > > Without more details on what sorts of "changes" are to be detectable
>> > > by these "standardized" images, it's a bit of a challenge to know
>> > > whether any existing systems would suffice.
>> > >
>> > > How about https://www.usanpn.org/natures_notebook
>> > > and https://www.usanpn.org/nn/become-observer
>> > > and https://www.usanpn.org/
>> > >
>> > > There are lots of good ideas (about "standardization" and "location"
>> > > and "change" [of a sort --phenological] and a way to "bring data
>> > together"
>> > > nationally), though the diving in deep to systematize and record
>> > > phenological information specifically may be beyond your need.
>> > >
>> > > I think the first question that needs more elaboration is what you
>> > > want from "standardized images" and "what changes"?
>> > >
>> > > Peter
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > -----Original Message-----
>> > >
>> > > > From: Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On
>> > > > Behalf Of Mary Barkworth
>> > > > Sent: 28 November 2017 21:00
>> > > > To: (Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu)
>> > > > Subject: [Taxacom] Any suggestions of open source monitoring
>> > > > software/web sites that stores and makes available location images?
>> > > >
>> > > > I am interested in encouraging people to record standardized
>> > > > images of a location and saving them to a web site, with
>> > > > appropriate metadata, so
>> > > that
>> > > > they could be used to track changes over time at that location.  I
>> > > > know this sort of work is done, but I would appreciate being told
>> > > > of a
>> > > program,
>> > > > web site and or organization that brings such resources together
>> > > > the way collection networks bring specimen data together.
>> > > >
>> > > > Mary
>> > > >
>> >
>> >
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