In 2021, the Symbiota Support Hub (SSH), a newly-funded domain of iDigBio, was created to support, improve, and expand existing Symbiota-based data portals. Critical to this mission has been Portal Advancement Campaigns: initiatives of approximately one month in which the SSH directs sustained effort and attention to a specific data portal with the goals of:
- Updating collection metadata and facilitate publishing of data to global aggregators (e.g., GBIF & iDigBio)
- Auditing current images: repairing or removing broken links.
- Identifying data quality and Darwin Core alignment issues that can be fixed in batch and offer batch data cleaning
- Providing additional training to users and admins and/or develop documentation and resources, as needed
- Helping to build and expand the portal community
Practically, portal campaigns generally consist of four virtual “Office Hours” meetings for a specific portal community to discuss key topics, including data publishing, data cleaning, troubleshooting, and community building. These meetings always include time for questions and discussion of any issues experienced by the community. Presentations made during these meetings are recorded for reference and for community members who cannot attend synchronously.
Register for upcoming campaign meetings and review past meetings here.
