COBWEB Biological Records Working Group Meets Welsh Local Record Centre Managers in Aberystwyth





The 26th of February 2015 saw the COBWEB Biological Records Working Group (BROWG) bring together representatives from the 4 Welsh Local Records Centres, Natural Resources Wales, Welsh Government and technical experts representing the  commercial and academic sectors from within the COBWEB consortium.

 

The objective of this lively and challenging workshop was to try and understand how the findings and developments from the COBWEB project ‘fit’ in the world of biological recording and where COBWEB’s innovative technologies and approaches could support or improve the way biological records are collected, managed, validated and exchanged.

 

The managers from the Welsh Local Record Centres shared their undeniable breadth of experience and expertise in the field of biological record collection and management and painted a clear picture of the importance of biological records in supporting and informing a range of commercial and public sector interests such as planning, land-use and research. They also underlined the importance of effective relationships with recorders to secure continued participation in the voluntary networks that form the basis of biological recording in Wales. This discussion is particularly interesting to COBWEB where the importance of motivating volunteers is considered key to maintaining levels of participation and quality in data collection especially in fast paced, ever changing digital world in which COBWEB sits.

 

There was a fascinating discussion on the importance of the reputation and credibility of the recorder as a measure of the quality of a biological record. This is especially true in the case of certain plant or invertebrate species that are hard to identify correctly. Jamie Williams from Environment Systems gave a eye opening synopsis of the COBWEB work investigating privacy issues associated with sharing data that can be associated with individuals, such as their locations and activities, and the importance of managing this potentially sensitive information appropriately and securely. Also of relevance was a discussion on the use of innovative COBWEB quality assurance and data validation methods that could be used to build confidence and trust in a biological record and also in its recorder.

 

The workshop was both informative and valuable to all participants and will be the first of series of engagements between COBWEB and biological record organisations.

Date: 

Thursday, February 26, 2015 – 12:00 to 15:00

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