ABI Sustaining: Geolocate for the Biodiversity Research Community

自2002年以来，GEOLocate项目一直致力于开发、分发和支持创新解决方案，以便从位置的自由形式文本描述中推导出地理空间坐标，通常是从收集和/或观察生物标本的地方。它产生了一套基于网络的工具和服务，这些工具和服务已成为收集和调动生物多样性收藏信息的工作流程的重要组成部分，最终使研究人员和公众能够查阅自然历史收藏中保存的大量标本档案。 用地理空间信息注释生物多样性采集记录，使标本出现在数字地图上可视化，并使研究人员能够将出现与其他类型的数据（例如，环境数据）。 这些数据提高了我们研究重要科学和社会问题的能力，例如濒危物种保护，环境恢复和应对全球气候变化。 GEOLocate长期以来一直服务于自然历史收藏和研究社区的地理参考需求，并已被集成到许多第三方生物多样性数据管理和分析系统中。该项目将使GEOLocate平台能够继续为自然历史收藏数据的半自动地理空间参考提供技术和支持，同时解决长期可持续性问题，以维持运营超过本赠款的时间。具体而言，该项目将使网络客户端、服务器软件、空间数据、托管基础设施和最终用户支助服务得以持续运行和日常维护。 该项目将继续教育最终用户，就大规模地理参照项目提供指导，并促进使用地理参照的最新标准和最佳做法。 最后，该团队将与自然历史收藏界、第三方整合合作伙伴和其他相关利益攸关方合作，评估和实施一个财政可持续性模型，以便在未来为平台提供支持。 GEOLocate项目网站位于：http://www.geo-locate.orgThis奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Since 2002, the GEOLocate project has been engaged in developing, distributing and supporting innovative solutions for deducing geospatial coordinates from free-form textual descriptions of locations, typically from where biological specimens have been collected and/or observed. It has resulted in a suite of web-based tools and services which have become critical components of workflows to digitize and mobilize biodiversity collections information, ultimately giving researchers and the public access to the vast archive of specimens held in natural history collections. Annotating biodiversity collection records with geospatial information enables specimen occurrences to be visualized on digital maps and allows researchers to relate the occurrences to other kinds of data (e.g., environmental data). These data increase our capacity to study important scientific and societal issues, such as endangered species conservation, environmental restoration, and preparing for global climate change. GEOLocate has long served the georeferencing needs of the natural history collections and research communities and has been integrated into numerous third-party biodiversity data management and analysis systems.This project will permit the GEOLocate platform to continue providing technology and support for semi-automated geospatial referencing of natural history collections data while addressing long-term sustainability in maintaining operation beyond the length of this grant. Specifically, this project will enable continued operation and day-to-day maintenance of web clients, server software, spatial data, hosting infrastructure and end-user support services. The project will continue to educate end-users, provide guidance on large-scale georeferencing projects and promote the use of the latest standards and best practices for georeferencing. Finally, the team will work with the natural history collections community, third-party integration partners and other relevant stakeholders to evaluate and implement a model for fiscal sustainability enabling support for the platform into the future. The GEOLocate project web site is located at: http://www.geo-locate.orgThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.