Call for Participants for Workshop on Collection Data Integration

The Natural History Collections Research Coordination Network (CollectionsWeb, http://www.collectionsweb.org) is seeking participants for a workshop entitled “New Research Opportunities Emerging from Integrating Data Across Different Taxonomic Collections.”  The workshop will be held March 26-28, 2010 at the Iberville Suites Hotel in downtown, New Orleans.  The workshop will explore new research opportunities and synergism that can emerge when data are integrated across collections representing different groups of organisms.  Examples of the kinds of data integration that will be explored include associations among organisms, such as symbionts, parasites and their hosts, plants and herbivores, and environmentally or geographically defined communities (e.g., aquatic organisms, desert biota).  The workshop will also explore challenges to retrieving data from different kinds of collections, and enabling new search criteria (e.g., by association, habitat, geography).  Persons interested in participating in the workshop should send a brief statement (1-3 paragraphs) describing their interest or experiences in integrating data across diverse taxonomic collections and a 2-page CV or biographical sketch to Hank Bart (hank@museum.tulane.edu).  Selection of participants will be on-going in the months of October and November, however participation is limited.