The first workshop was entitled "GNOMA - A Global Nomenclators Architecture" and focused on examining the rationale, logistics and challenges to coordinating a set of independent initiatives that collectively catalogue nomenclatural acts according to the different codes of nomenclature. The outcome was to develop a common terminology, define common services and formats, and lay the groundwork for a follow-on meeting in Australia in October, prior to the TDWG annual meeting.
The second workshop focused on identifying strategies for populating ZooBank, the developing registry for animal names. Attendees included ICZN commissioners, data managers from a number of large zoological databases, representatives from Zoological Record, and representatives from other nomenclatural databases attending the GNOMA meeting who provided their perspectives regarding common issues such as the registration of new species names.
In October, GBIF will be co-sponsoring a workshop with The Encyclopedia of Life, just prior to the TDWG meeting, called Nomina III. This workshop will continue the work of the GNOMA meeting to explore and define specifications for a more unified framework for the global nomenclatural databases to provide uniform name services and be in a better position to utilise the global GBIF network as a potential mechanism for species name registries.
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