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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The following is a message from Douglas Sellers at
NatureServe:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>NatureServe is pleased to announce the release of a public
working draft (version 0.3) of an XML schema to describe species
occurrence-level data as reflected in NatureServe’s biodiversity data
model. We are seeking public review and comments on this version until <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>March 3, 2006</span></b>. Comments received
during the review period will be addressed in the next release, version
1.0. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>NatureServe is evolving its data delivery strategy to use
XML-based, Web services protocols. Last month the NatureServe Species
Schema, describing species profile-type information managed by NatureServe, and
familiar to many through our NatureServe Explorer website (<a
href="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer"
title="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer">www.natureserve.org/explorer</a>),
was released for public review. The Species Occurrence Schema that is the
subject of this announcement is complementary to that schema, and focuses on
describing spatially explicit species locality data as managed by the
NatureServe network. The data represented by this schema provides a new
level of spatial precision not currently available on NatureServe Explorer. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Our Web services strategy for sharing data among NatureServe
network members and with the broader community is dependent upon the usability
of these XML schemas. For this reason, we are seeking as wide a review as
possible among our colleagues within the biodiversity informatics community,
and especially from those organizations that regularly rely on and interact
with NatureServe data. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Reviewers are invited to submit comments on either the
content or the structure of the XML documents. Content reviewers will
want to follow the link for the human-readable documentation. We have
also provided a sample document for review, which contains example data in XML
format for one species occurrence record of <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Ardea
herodias</span></i> (Great Blue Heron). <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Reviewers should also note that this schema incorporates
mapped occurrence location information, represented as polygon shapes. In
compliance with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards for web map and web
feature services, the spatial elements of the species occurrence schema are
represented using Geography Markup Language (GML). In addition to the
human readable documentation, technical reviewers will find useful the links to
the XSD documents. Technical reviewer comments may cover the names of the
XML tags, the nesting of the XML document, the structure of the XML schema, and
the organization of the GML components. Technical reviewer comments from
organizations that may develop applications to consume NatureServe data as
expressed by these XML schema are highly encouraged.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The NatureServe Species Occurrence Schema documentation can
be found at: <a
href="http://services.natureserve.org/technical/speciesOccurrenceSchema.htm"
title="http://services.natureserve.org/technical/speciesOccurrenceSchema.htm">http://services.natureserve.org/technical/speciesOccurrenceSchema.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Please submit comments using the feedback forms found at the
same location, or via email to:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a
href="mailto:services@natureserve.org" title="mailto:services@natureserve.org">services@natureserve.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The complementary NatureServe
Species Schema documentation can be found at:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://services.natureserve.org/technical/speciesSchema.htm"
title="http://services.natureserve.org/technical/speciesSchema.htm">http://services.natureserve.org/technical/speciesSchema.htm</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Reviewers may find it useful to
compare the two documents. While the public comment period for the
species schema has closed, we will consider new comments as time permits within
the schedule for releasing the next version. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><em><i><font size=2 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;color:navy;font-style:normal'>Kat Maybury<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></em></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><em><i><font size=2 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;color:navy;font-style:normal'>Director, Botany
Department<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></em></p>
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style='font-size:11.0pt;color:navy;font-style:normal'>NatureServe</span></font></i></em><i><span
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