Missouri Botanical Garden Open Conference Systems, TDWG 2013 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

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Assisted restructure of web content for paper-based presentation: a look at work flows and data representations
Alice Heaton, Simon Rycroft, Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton, Ben Scott, Koureas Dimitris, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Vince Smith

Building: Grand Hotel Mediterraneo
Room: Africa (formerly America del Sud)
Date: 2013-10-31 11:15 AM – 11:30 AM
Last modified: 2013-10-08

Abstract


Data, and in particular relational data, are never independent from the platform in which they were recorded. When data are entered with an online tool, to be primarily accessed online, the existence of access mechanisms, such as hyper-links or faceted searches, have an impact on how the data are entered and structured.


Such data typically need to be restructured for use in different contexts. The Scratchpads Publication Tool assists users in selecting and re-organising specific parts of the data contained in a given Scratchpads site, with the aim of producing a traditional paper-based presentation of the data. The Scratchpads Publication Tool allows users to submit the generated paper simply and directly to an online publisher, such as the Biodiversity Data Journal (via the Pensoft Writing Tool).


No amount of forward planning can ever predict how data are going to be accessed, processed and re-structured. Instead we must continuously analyse those processes to make good decisions about storage and access. This talk aims to show not just the work flow of the Scratchpads Publication Tool, but the ways in which the data are structured and modified at each stage of the process and how that informs that work flow.