Atlas of Living Australia Newsletter 5 (24 December 2008)
All information in these newsletters is included in the ALA website at http://www.ala.org.au/ and past newsletters can be found at http://www.ala.org.au/news.htm. Please send us an email (atlasoflivingaustralia@csiro.au) if you wish to be added to the mailing list for this newsletter, or if you wish to be removed from the list.
Seasons Greetings from the ALA team
The ALA team would like to thank all those who have expressed interest in the project during 2008. It has been a year of laying foundations and we look forward to delivering some results in 2009.
See: http://www.ala.org.au/docs/ALA_SeasonsGreetings.pdf
ALA user needs analysis
A team from the Australian Museum has recently completed a project to analyse user requirements for biodiversity information and to identify areas in which the ALA can assist users. This document will be an essential tool in setting the direction for the work of the ALA over the next few years. The main body of the report is available through the ALA web site.
For more information, see: http://www.ala.org.au/userneedsanalysisreport.htm.
Priority setting for the ALA
The ALA now has several essential tools to guide us in our planning and help us to set priority goals for the project. These tools include:
- A survey of Australian natural history collections. The information is being fed into the Biodiversity Collections Index (http://www.biocol.org/).
- A survey of tools and software of potential use to the ALA – see http://www.ala.org.au/toolsurvey.htm.
- A user needs analysis for users of biodiversity information in Australia – see http://www.ala.org.au/userneedsanalysisreport.htm
We now need to take the next steps and identify specific projects, tools and services which should be the primary focus of attention for the ALA up to June 2011. These projects should be selected to maximise the benefit to users of biodiversity data and to demonstrate the potential benefits which are to be expected from bringing all available information on all Australian species online in an integrated form.
The ALA is therefore seeking input into defining the set of projects which will best meet these goals. Please take time to look at the documents and provide your comments.
Full information can be found at http://www.ala.org.au/prioritysetting.htm – responses are required by 28 February 2009.
