• taxonomically and geographically resolved data on marine life and ocean environment;

• interactivity with similar databases;

• access to interactive physical oceanographic data at regional and global scales;

• software tools for biogeographic analysis.

.

• Dr Geoff Boxshall F.R.S., The Natural History Museum, London, UK;
• Dr Mark J. Costello, Executive Director, The Huntsman Marine Science Centre, St Andrews, Canada;
• Dr Daphne G. Fautin, Curator, The University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence, USA;
• Dr Kim Finney, Chief Information Officer, National Oceans Office, Hobart, Australia;
• Dr Rainer Froese, FishBase-Coordinator, Institut f?r Meereskunde, Kiel, Germany;
• Dr Dennis P. Gordon, National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Wellington, New Zealand;
• Dr J. Frederick Grassle, Director, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA;
• Dr Yoshihisa Shirayama, Director and Professor, Seto Marine Laboratory, Shirahama, Japan.
• Dr John Wilkins, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA.
• Ex-officio members of the IC are:
• the OBIS Webmaster
• Dr Phoebe Zhang
• OBIS post-doctoral Research Fellows
• Dr Karen Stocks
• Dr James Wood

OBIS-SEAMAP requires that all data be searchable by taxon name and by geographic coordinates.

The minimum data requirements for a record to be returned by the search are basically the what, when and where of an observation:

• SPECIES.  A scientific name (Genus species) is preferred, however data at higher taxonomic levels, such as genus, family or order is also allowable. If you record species codes, a look-up table is also required.
  

• LOCATION.  The latitude-longitude coordinates are used. They can be in decimal degree or degree/minute/second. Positive values for negative longitude are acceptable as they are.
  Because the accuracy of the geographical position of different records may differ, information on the spatial resolution will be included in the meta-data.
• TIME.  The date and/or time of the observation should be provided. Almost any format is acceptable.

Virtually any formats are acceptable unless the data are written in device-dependent binary format that needs to be decipher. Acceptable formats include:

• Excel shreadsheet
• comma/tab separated values (CSV text)
• Access database (.mdb)
• DBF
• ESRI shapefile

We appreciate it if you send us the whole dataset. As described above, fields other than the required ones are not made public without your permission.

Also, we can summarize data to show up on the OBIS-SEAMAP web site while holding the complete data in our database. Consider this an offsite archive for you data, if you will.

Once the dataset is registered in the OBIS-SEAMAP database, we let you review it. In this review, you have chance to edit metadata through web interface. In general, you want to edit abstract, porpuse, contact information. We appreciate it if you fill out field descriptions.
If you provide us metadata in the form of journal articles, text and so on, we try to fill out the metadata fields as much as possible.
The following information is automatically generated.

• Species taxonomic information
• Geographic extent

Your dataset is listed in 'Datasets' page by institution. In Detail page, all the metadata you put will be viewed. OBIS-SEAMAP users can download your data in CSV or ESRI shapefile formats, which include the required fields only. No additional fields are available without your consent.
When getting to Detail page or trying to download data, users will be shown OBIS-SEAMAP Terms of Use which they must agree to proceed. In short, the Terms of Use restricts users from using your data in any publication without obtaining your permission.
Your data will be searched, mapped and summarized along with other datasets. This is often the case when users want to extract observations for species in question.
Finally, your data will be connected to searchable clearinghouses such as OBIS, FGDC, NBII, Geography Network and KNB.

We believe that colleagues who opt to collaborate with us by incorporating their data into OBIS-SEAMAP will benefit because:

• The research / results of the contributors will reach a broader and more diverse community;

• The work of individual researchers will become integrated into a larger whole, and thus become easier to assimilate, while remaining theirs in terms of scientific credit;

• The integration into OBIS contributes to an ever-growing scientific legacy for future generations.

• satisfaction to contribute to the scientific community and public understanding of the global ocean.
• your data will help address research questions over larger spatial - temporal scales.
• linkages with other OBIS initiatives will allow studies across taxonomic groups.

• data posted on OBIS-SEAMAP will be enriched in a variety of ways:
• standardized metadata and searching / subsetting tools, will be displayed via an online mapping server.
• eventually, OBIS-SEAMAP data will be connected to searchable clearinghouses such as OBIS, FGDC, NBII, Geography Network and KNB.
• as a data contributor you can provide valuable feedback as to which specific features / tools you would like us to implement.

• posting information on OBIS-SEAMAP provides a convenient way for data dissemination / outreach.
• make data available to collaborators.
• impress funders.
• develop new collaborations.
• outreach to the general public (essential component of NSF-funded projects).

• OBIS-SEAMAP provides a dynamic data archive.
• the checking of scientific names in OBIS-SEAMAP datasets may lead to the identification of errors, which may not have been noticed otherwise.
• scientific names will be automatically updated via the OBIS system.
• OBIS-SEAMAP datasets will be archived in an easily accessible, searchable database.
• The OBIS-SEAMAP database will also serve as a back-up system.

I have not "exhausted" the use of my data and still have many plans for further analysis. I would like to complete this before I submit any data to OBIS-SEAMAP. Are there accommodations for this scenario, or are there incentives for me to make the data available sooner?

At what stage do "users" of the dataset have to contact the owners for their permission to publish? I would prefer a system whereby the user can download the data but has to submit a proposal to the owner before any analysis begins. This gives the opportunity for collaborations - obviously, more potential for joint publications which is an incentive.

How can we reconcile the more restrictive OBIS-SEAMAP terms of use with the OBIS / GBIF policies of free, unrestricted flow of information?

How would this work realistically, since once users will be able to access OBIS-SEAMAP data through any OBIS portal, and will not be required to login or agree to OBIS-SEAMAP terms of use?

The SEAMAP Terms of Use

How do scientific journals perceive the OBIS-SEAMAP "terms of use" ?