Collaborative Research: ABI Development: Kurator: A Provenance-enabled Workflow Platform and Toolkit to Curate Biodiversity Data

伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳·香槟分校和哈佛大学获得赠款，用于开发科学数据数字化、共享、集成和使用的软件工具。美国(乃至全球)自然科学收藏数字化面临的巨大挑战，需要同时关注数字化效率和生成数据的效用。这笔赠款将开发一种新的、可扩展的、开放源码的工具包(Kurator)，用于自动化和半自动化的工作流程，并提供多样化的管理服务，以帮助生物多样性研究和其他方面。这个项目将加强发现和理解，同时促进教学、培训和学习。一名博士后将接受起源增强型工作流程技术培训，并为Kurator的设计和实施做出贡献。将在本科生和研究生课程中教授数据管理管理的原则，重点是来源。该项目还将通过与iDigBio和生命百科全书的合作，加强研究和教育的基础设施。将为本科生和高中教育工作者开发关于数据质量和数据管理的教育单元和外联活动。几个专题收集网络将通过iDigBio提供数据以供测试，以确保传播高质量的数据。没有相关Web服务的关键社区权威文件将作为Kurator参与者和服务提供给更大的社区。Kurator将包括一个用户友好的网络界面，供用户在保持出处的同时配置和启动工作流程，以及一个用于快速开发新的管理服务和工作流程变体的工作流程平台。后者还将用于“包装”当前不能作为服务使用的有价值的域授权文件。新的“馆长在回路”工作流技术使我们能够通过FilteredPush、其他辛迪加方法和发现环境使用人工交互参与者，直接让半自动管理管道中的专家参与进来。Kurator将允许检查数据谱系以促进可信度评估，支持发布的重复性，向监管数据的法律程序提供信息，并为特定资源的反馈提供背景。Kurator将根据现有服务对从硬拷贝标本标签获得的原始数据进行定制处理，包括分类名称解析、地理参考和重复标本检测，以及为适当的受控词汇表创建新的可定制参与者以清理数据，从而促进数字化工作。在需要时，半自动服务可以使用注释服务和现有的发现环境调用专家审查。管理管道可以与其他工作流程相结合，用于分析生态、进化、物候、基因组和相关数据，可以很容易地共享或改变用途，并可以供发布。

The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and Harvard University are awarded grants to develop software tools for scientific data digitization, sharing, integration and use. The considerable challenge to digitizing natural science collections in the U.S. (and globally) necessitate a focus on both digitization efficiencies and the utility of the generated data. This grant will develop a novel, extensible, open source toolkit (Kurator) for automated and semi-automated workflows with diverse curation services to aid biodiversity research and beyond. This project will enhance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training and learning. A postdoctoral fellow will be trained in provenance enhanced workflow technology and contribute to Kurator design and implementation. Principles of data management curation with a focus on provenance will be taught in undergraduate and graduate courses. This project will also enhance infrastructure for research and education through collaborations with iDigBio and the Encyclopedia of Life. Educational modules and outreach activities on data quality and data curation will be developed for undergraduates and high school educators. Several Thematic Collection Networks will provide data via iDigBio for testing to insure dissemination of high quality data. Critical community authority files that do not have associated web services will be made available to the greater community as Kurator actors and services. Kurator will consist of a user friendly web interface for users to configure and launch workflows while maintaining provenance, and a workflow platform for rapid development of new curation services and workflow variants. The latter will also be used to "wrap" valuable domain authority files that are not currently available as services. New "curator-in-the-loop" workflow technology allows us to directly involve experts in semi automatic curation pipelines, using human interaction actors via FilteredPush, other syndication methods, and discovery environments. Kurator will allow examination of data lineages to facilitate the assessment of credibility, supports repeatability in publication, informs legal proceedings where data are regulated, and provides context for feedback to a given resource. Kurator will facilitate digitization efforts through custom processing of raw data obtained from hardcopy specimen labels against existing services, including taxonomic name resolution, georeferencing, and duplicate specimen detection, as well as newly created customizable actors for appropriate controlled vocabularies to clean the data. Where required, semi-automated services can invoke expert review using annotation services and existing discovery environments. Curation pipelines can be integrated with other workflows for analysis of ecological, evolutionary, phenological, genomic and related data, can be shared or repurposed easily, and can be made accessible for publication.