At this late date, collaborating with/supporting the Archive (who's already picked up a lot of it) or similar would probably be the most efficient solution. If it wasn't clear below, a lot of this particular project involved pointing out towards other sources hosted elsewhere, (which may or may not still be online) as well as hosting some data locally; not sure how we'd help preserve that curation value.
-- phoebe On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 2:29 PM, Samuel Klein <meta...@gmail.com> wrote: > That is certainly appropriate. We should consider how we could help. Could > someone with government contacts find out what that would entail and what > their primary maintenance expenses were? > On Sep 20, 2012 4:24 PM, "George Herbert" <george.herb...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Query - would making this on-topic for the Foundation be appropriate? >> >> I.e., is the Foundation perhaps hosting and curating these apps and >> data a reasonable project for us to take on? Even if it took some >> time to return some of the apps to usable, bringing over the data sets >> and software to an archival location and offering to host turning it >> back on again if the prior researchers or another subject matter >> expert stepped up to help with that seems possible. >> >> >> -george william herbert >> george.herb...@gmail.com >> >> On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 1:01 PM, phoebe ayers <phoebe.w...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> > (off-topic for Wikimedia, on-topic for access to knowledge in general) >> > >> > The below news is sad, but not unusual, and increasingly common as >> > government budgets shrink. The NBII was a multi-year effort to >> > collect, curate and make accessible sources of biological data, >> > especially about the US. The site is archived here, among other >> > places; I don't know what happened to the data files that were hosted. >> > >> http://wayback.archive-it.org/2361/20120105233212/http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt/community/nbii_home/236 >> > >> > Mostly, I think this is a reminder that what we do vis a vis >> > advocating for free licenses, reusable data, distributed curation etc. >> > is *important*. It's a safeguard against failure that's hard to >> > imagine in the short-term but almost inevitable in the long-term >> > (though in the world of knowledge projects, Wikimedia may -- >> > ironically and surprisingly enough! -- end up being one of the most >> > resilient long-term platforms). >> > >> > -- phoebe >> > >> > >> > >> > ----- Forwarded Message ----- >> > From: "Frederick Stoss" <fst...@buffalo.edu> >> > .... >> > >> > Please pass this on to other library associations and their >> > appropriate science and environmental units, especially SLA. >> > >> > >> > >> > You may recall the modest clamor late last year with the shuttering of >> > the Website of the National Biological Information Infrastructure >> > (NBII) within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which was terminated >> > on October 1, 2011, as a result of a Federal budget cut and >> > re-organization within the USGS. The final elimination of the NBII >> > Website takes place at the end of this month. Here is the official >> > wording about the termination of this once important and richly >> > populated data resource on the flora and fauna of the United States, >> > and detailed inventories of resources, services, publications and >> > tools related to biodiversity, ecology and related aspects of the US >> > biomes: >> > >> > >> > >> > “In the President's budget for Fiscal Year 2012, the National >> > Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), a program under the U.S. >> > Geological Survey’s Biological Information Management and Delivery >> > Program, was terminated. As a result, the funding that facilitated the >> > NBII Node partnerships, as well as the development and maintenance of >> > databases, applications and systems, is no longer available. On >> > January 15, 2012, all NBII websites/applications with an *.nbii.gov >> > URL were removed from the internet. >> > >> > “This website currently provides the latest information on >> > communications with partners, the disposition status of NBII Web >> > sites, data and applications, and general FAQs related to the NBII >> > Program’s termination. The NBII Program close-out will be complete on >> > September 30, 2012, and the www.nbii.gov URL will be turned off on >> > that date. The termination information provided here will be made >> > available on the USGS FAQ site after September 30, 2012.” >> > >> > Note those last two sentences: >> > >> > >> > >> > “ The NBII Program close-out will be complete on September 30, 2012, >> > and the www.nbii.gov URL will be turned off on that date. The >> > termination information provided here will be made available on the >> > USGS FAQ site after September 30, 2012.” >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Wikimedia-l mailing list >> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l >> >> >> >> -- >> -george william herbert >> george.herb...@gmail.com >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list >> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l >> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- * I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers <at> gmail.com * _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
