Meeting Biodiversity Standards with Specify 7

What this was about

Grant Fitzsimmons presented Specify Collections Consortium work that lets collections keep local flexibility while sharing data in standard form. He described exportable schema-configuration packages, an updated, detached web portal (largely contributed by the Florida Museum), and a new Darwin Core mapping tool built on the Specify Query Builder. The tool supports Occurrence, Event and Taxon cores, every GBIF-registered extension, and custom terms by IRI. It shows term definitions in the app, auto-suggests mappings, starts from existing queries or templates, and enforces GBIF's minimum required terms. Release is expected by the first quarter of next year, and the SCC is joining multi-CMS work on the Darwin Core Data Package.

Why it matters. Mapping local CMS schemas to Darwin Core is a persistent bottleneck for publishing. A mapping tool in the CMS that knows GBIF extensions and requirements could lower the barrier for hundreds of institutions.

In the room

• The SCC is a non-profit funded only by its member institutions and offers hosting, asset management and workshops.
• Customisations (schema configurations) can be exported as packages and shared between institutions, databases or disciplines.
• The updated web portal is a detached copy of Specify data that can hide sensitive localities and Red List species. It is free to SCC members and largely contributed by the Florida Museum of Natural History.
• The new mapping tool uses the Query Builder interface to map fields to Darwin Core terms, grouped by class, with in-app term definitions, IRIs and examples.
• It supports Occurrence, Event and Taxon cores, all GBIF-registered extensions (e.g. identification history, GGBN, Audiovisual Core), unregistered extensions and custom terms by IRI.
• Adding a field auto-suggests a mapping. Adding an extension (e.g. Audiovisual Core) maps its standard terms automatically, and the tool flags missing GBIF-required terms.
• Release is expected by Q1 of next year. The SCC is also in the multi-CMS Darwin Core Data Package grant project and a planned Leiden hackathon, and all work will be public on GitHub.

Notable moments