harvesting information to sustain our forests: creating an adaptive management portal

BLM Briefing – Lois Delcambre, Tim Tolle 1

Harvesting Information to Harvesting Information to Sustain our Forests:Sustain our Forests:

Creating anCreating anAdaptive Management PortalAdaptive Management Portal

NSF DIGITAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMNSF DIGITAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAM


Project FundingProject Funding

• Duration: 3 years - started August 2000

• Budget: $1.5 million

• Principal financial sponsors– National Science Foundation: Digital Government

Program– Bureau of Land Management (Oregon State Office)– Forest Service (R-6 and PNW Station)– National Park Service (Western Region)


PartnershipPartnership

Strategic PlanningRegion 6

USDA Forest ServiceTim Tolle

Computer Science OGI School of Science & Eng.

OHSULois Delcambre

Co-Project Directors


Staff Scientist, Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryMark Whiting

Science Advisor, USDI, National Park ServiceRegina Rochefort

Communications Director, USDA Forest Service, PNW Research StationCynthia L. Miner

Chief, Office of Technical Support, Forest Resources, USDI Fish and Wildlife ServiceMonty Knudsen

Executive Director, IMFN SecretariatFred Johnson

MD, Asst. Professor, Division of Medical Informatics and Outcomes Research, OHSU Paul Gorman

Sustainable NorthwestMartin Goebel

USDA Forest ServiceSteve Solem

President, IUFRO, Oxford Forestry Institute, Dept of Plant SciencesJeff Burley

Co-Inventor of the Topic Map ModelMichel BiezunskiAdvisory Board

Forest/environmental expertiseForest/environmental expertise Computer science expertiseComputer science expertise


The academic teamThe academic team

Computer ScienceLois Delcambre

Dave MaierMat Weaver

Shawn BowersRupa Tummala

Sun Murthy

Environmental Science& EngineeringPatty ToccalinoJulia Norman

Management inScience & Tech.

Fred PhillipsNicole StecklerMarianne Koch

Balbinder Banga

Dave Hansen, George FoxUndergraduate students

Kinley CampbellEmily Langston

JordanWirfs-Brock


Balance of three, parallel goalsBalance of three, parallel goals

• Research….in cs, environmental science, in business, management, pschology/sociology

• Development…deployment

• Application…in the Adaptive Management Area Network of the Pacific Northwest


Capabilities of The Forest PortalCapabilities of The Forest PortalDocumentDocumentUploadUpload

File:

Author:

Browse

Title:

Type:

Contact:

Notes:

More...


Capabilities of The Forest PortalCapabilities of The Forest Portal

MetadataMetadataAttachmentAttachment

Metadata

Browse

Property Value

Browse

Browse

Browse


Capabilities of The Forest PortalCapabilities of The Forest Portal

SearchSearchKeyword Search

SearchKeyword:

Browse Category

Location > Region 6 > Wenatchee National Forest

BOR Road Issues A memo to the U.S. Department of the …[Metadata] [Similar Documents]

Appeal Decision: Plum Creek Checkerboard …Final decision, pursuant to 36 CFR 215, appeal on …[Metadata] [Similar Documents]

Interstate 90 Final Record of DecisionDocuments my rationale and selection of Alternatives …[Metadata] [Similar Documents]

Interstate 90 LegislationConference report on H.R. 438, making Omnibus …[Metadata] [Similar Documents]

Metadata Search


Capabilities of The Forest PortalCapabilities of The Forest PortalSimilarity Similarity SearchSearch

Find Similar DocumentsFind Similar Documents(through associated(through associatedMetadata)Metadata)

Browse Category

Location > Region 6 > Wenatchee National Forest

BOR Road Issues A memo to the U.S. Department of the …[Metadata] [Similar Documents]

Appeal Decision: Plum Creek Checkerboard …Final decision, pursuant to 36 CFR 215, appeal on …[Metadata] [Similar Documents]

Interstate 90 Final Record of DecisionDocuments my rationale and selection of Alternatives …[Metadata] [Similar Documents]

Interstate 90 LegislationConference report on H.R. 438, making Omnibus …[Metadata] [Similar Documents]

Metadata

Property Value Using


Steps to an AMA PortalSteps to an AMA Portal

IdeaBox

Try things outGet feedback

TestPortal

DocumentsMetadata

CVs

Use byspecialists

AMA initialPortal

DocumentsMetadata

CVs

Use byAMA staff

AMA productionPortal

Agency server& licenses

Use by opencommunity


Major Track:Major Track:Application Needs Application Needs Metadata Metadata

Interviewing

Identifying User Needs

Articulating functionality

Choosing controlled vocabularies

Evaluating controlled vocabularies

Preparing controlled vocabularies

Representing/using metadata Metadata++


The Problem, User Needs, Controlled Vocabs.Tim Tolle with active participation of FS, BLM, AMA, …

Finding & Choosing GlossariesTim Tolle with Kinley Campbell, Eric Landis

Evaluating Controlled Vocabularies Julia Norman, Patty Toccalino

Preparation of Controlled Vocabularies(Computer Science Team) Rupa, Emily, Shawn

Metadata++ Primary research activity: Mat Weaver, Lois Delcambre,

Dave Maier

Application Needs Application Needs Metadata Metadata


Major Track:Major Track:How to build a portal?How to build a portal?

Metadata++Document identification

Portal productsGazetteer

Metadata entry

Document repository

GIS functionality

Distribution

User Interface


Architectural Issues for the Forest Portal(Computer Science team) Dave Maier, Dave Hansen, Lois Delcambre, Mat Weaver

DOIs, handles

GIS, Gazetteer, connection to Metadata++

Evaluating Portal Products(Computer Science team) Rupa Tummala, Mat Weaver, Dave Maier, Lois Delcambre

Evaluation of MS Sharepoint, Oracle portal product, Greenstone digital library

looking for: document repository, metadataattachment

looking for tools to leverage

How to build a portal?How to build a portal?


Major Track: Major Track: If we build it…will they come?If we build it…will they come?

AMA as a research consortia

Successful/unsuccessful portals &business models

Facilitators/Inhibitors of Information Sharing


Evaluating Portal Business ModelsBalbinder Banga, Fred Phillips

Analyzing Research ConsortiaFred Phillips, Gary Summers, Jordan Wirfs-Brock

Inhibiting/Facilitating Information SharingNiki Steckler, Marianne Koch

Case Study of AMA CollaborationsVictoria Sturtevant

If we build it…will they come?If we build it…will they come?


Other IdeasOther Ideas

Access document subparts?

Look for snippets of structure?

Introduce structure incrementally?

Gather bits of information together (in bundles)?


Building the Sandbox …Building the Sandbox …to support similarity searchto support similarity search

across multiple domainsacross multiple domains


DocumentsDocuments

•“Document” used very loosely – could be just about anything

•Vary in format (text, map, dataset, …)

•Vary in purpose (formal assessment, informal letter, …)


Traditional MetadataTraditional Metadata

Author: Parley Pratt

Purpose: Environmental Assessment

Location: Wenatchee National Forest

Keyword: Interstate 90

Keyword: Snoqualmie Pass

•Fields with values

•May or may not use “controlled vocabulary”

•Allows for basic searches


Enhanced MetadataEnhanced Metadata

Parley Pratt

Author

Environmental Assessment

PurposeWenatchee

National Forest

Location

Interstate 90

Snoqualmie Pass

Keyword

• Instead of fields and values, we use explicit properties and terms

• Metadata is represented by connecting a document with a term via a property


Enhanced MetadataEnhanced Metadata

Parley PrattAuthor


Purpose

WenatcheeNational Forest

Location

Interstate 90

Snoqualmie Pass Keyword

Editor

NEPA

Cle ElumRanger District


Super Enhanced MetadataSuper Enhanced Metadata

Parley PrattAuthor


Purpose


Location

Interstate 90


Editor

NEPA


Explicit hierarchy of properties and terms allows for enhanced

searching.


Super-Duper Enhanced MetadataSuper-Duper Enhanced Metadata

Parley PrattAuthor


Purpose


Location

Interstate 90


Editor

NEPA


WesternHemlock

Additional relationships of various types between terms allow for super-

duper enhanced searching (i.e. similarity

search, …)


For More InformationFor More Information

• www.cse.ogi.edu/forest

• Tim Tolle • Lois Delcambre


Project focuses on the:

Adaptive Management

Areas

USDA Forest ServiceUSDI Bureau of Land

ManagementUSDI Fish and Wildlife Service


Adaptive Management Portal:Adaptive Management Portal: a value-added, Internet-based a value-added, Internet-based

serviceservice

• Provide multiple access paths to forest information.

• Preserve local autonomy and local focus of each site.

• Support diverse users and types of information.

• Use proposed, existing, and de facto standards for content, classification, and technology.

• Be low-cost, scalable, extensible.


Task 1 – StatusTask 1 – Status• Workshops @ Snoqualmie Pass Adaptive Management

Area, Cle Elum, WA (June and July)

• Interviews with Forest Service Corvallis Forest Sciences Lab and USGS FRESC, Corvallis (August)

• Interviews with Central Cascades Adaptive Management Area, Eugene (August)

• Interviews with the Applegate Partnership and its associated agencies (August)

• Rainier National Park (planned for October)


Things we’ve learned from Task 1 Things we’ve learned from Task 1 NSF Digital GovernmentNSF Digital Government

• work is project-based

• multiple agencies are involved

• each agency serves as information gatherer;

information broker; information consumer

• primary product is information: assessments, studies,

surveys, environmental impact statements

• even though information is a primary product,

information technology is secondary (stewardship of

the land is the primary mission)