[Rangelands] Rangelands West January 2011 Newsletter
Rangelands West
pfanderj at u.library.arizona.edu
Tue Feb 1 12:08:06 MST 2011
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Update from the Steering Committee • January 31, 2011
[2]Steering Committee Message | [3]Tech Committee Update | [4]Annual Meeting
News | [5]Grant Project Progress | [6]WERA Update | [7]State Site Highlights
| [8]Calendar
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_From The Steering Committee
Happy New Year! Happy Newsletter! _
Greetings to all Western Rangelands Partners from your WRP Officers.
Wow! 2010 summer and fall seem to have disappeared! Did it really happen?
Maybe we’ve been in a time machine set on fast-forward!
In any case, to jump-start the new year and get us all back in touch about
all the things that have been and will be happening, we have created this
online newsletter to be sent out on a regular basis. As you can see, there
are various sections where WRP members can contribute. In particular, we’d
like to highlight different partner sites every month, so let us know if you
have some new feature or content on your state site that we can bring to
everyone’s attention.
If you have other ideas or suggestions on how to make this newsletter more
interesting and useful, please let any of your WRP officers know.
Sincerely,
Amy Shannon, Chair (ashannon at unr.edu)
Mark Thorne, Vice Chair (thornem at hawaii.edu)
Jeanne Pfander, Secretary (pfanderj at u.library.arizona.edu)
_________________________________________________________________
_Tech Committee Update –
by Jeanne Pfander ([9]pfanderj at u.library.arizona.edu)
Links:
9. mailto:pfanderj at u.library.arizona.edu
The Arizona sub-group for the WRP Technical Committee has been working hard
over the past year, checking in periodically with other members of the
committee. We conducted an iterative design and discussion of the desired
metadata fields with the UA team, our FAO colleagues and the broader WRP
Technical Committee. Our goal is to keep the metadata schema for the
WRP/Global Rangelands repository simple but useful and consistent with
standards currently in use by our stakeholders and partners. The result was
a modified Dublin Core schema with 15 core/basic fields and additional
fields for selected document types (books, conference papers/proceedings and
journal articles/issues).
We also have a draft workflow for inputting records for the WRP/Global
Rangelands repository, created by the FAO and revised with input from the
Arizona team. More recently we have focused on drafting a mock-up of a
redesigned home page.
We will be scheduling a conference call to share the mock-up of the home
page with the Steering Committee and also Barb will take it to the upcoming
SRM meeting in Billings for group review and discussion. We’ll let you know
when those meetings are scheduled. We welcome your input!
Members of the Technical Committee (as noted in minutes from last year’s WRP
Annual Meeting) are Jeanne Pfander, Barb Hutchinson, Amy Shannon, Allison
Level, Sherm Swanson, Mark Thorne, and Norm Harris.
_________________________________________________________________
_WRP Annual Meeting News –
by Rachel Frost ([10]frost at montana.edu)
Links:
10. mailto:frost at montana.edu
Plans are underway for the May 22-24, 2011 Annual WRP meeting, to be held
this year in Bozeman, MT.
We will meet on campus in the new Animal BioSciences building. There is a
brand new technology transfer room that is fully equipped for remote
meetings. However, it would still be nice to have as many people as
possible attend in person. The agenda is under development.
The conference hotel will be the Best Western Gran Tree Inn in Bozeman
(http://arizona.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=4a8a026e17&e=8fcff3e640.
The rate is $80.00 ($86.60 including all taxes). The rooms are nice, so
maybe people can double up to save some money.
There is an airport in Bozeman, but people may also want to check out flying
into Billings (2.5 hr drive from Bozeman). Sometimes it is more reasonable,
sometimes it is not. (There is an Allegiance flight from Phoenix to Bozeman
on certain days that is very affordable, i.e. $80/roundtrip ticket. I think
Allegiance also runs from Las Vegas on certain days. Those of you in Tucson
and Nevada might check into that option.)
More details will follow. We are striving to make the meeting as economical
as possible (simplifying lunches etc.), while still allowing you to
experience some of the unique things that Montana, and particularly Bozeman,
has to offer.
_________________________________________________________________
_Grant Projects Progress_
_Repositioning Rangeland Education for a Changing World – A Higher Education
Challenge Grant_
by Karen Launchbaugh ([12]klaunchb at uidaho.edu)
There is currently a strong demand for a workforce of knowledgeable,
well-trained, and highly-skilled rangeland professionals to manage the
grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, and deserts that dominate the landscapes
of North America and the globe. Rapidly changing demands for rangeland
products and ecological services has fueled the need to revitalize existing
rangeland education programs. The Range Science Education Council (RSEC) was
awarded a USDA Higher Education Challenge grant in October 2010 to clarify
the knowledge and skills needed by future rangeland professionals and
revitalize rangeland science curricula and instruction to better meet
demands for well qualified rangeland professionals in the face of a critical
workforce shortage.
Links:
12. mailto:klaunchb at uidaho.edu
This project is a collaboration of range science educators from the
University of Idaho, Humboldt State University, New Mexico State University,
Oklahoma State University, South Dakota State University, University of
California-Davis and Utah State University. The project will 1) analyze the
knowledge and skills needed by modern rangeland professionals, 2) design or
redesign rangeland curricula and courses to meet modern demands, 3) promote
delivery methods to appeal to a contemporary student audience, 4) enhance
faculty teaching, and 5) increase access and enrollments in university
rangeland programs. To accomplish these goals and objectives the RSEC will
work with the Western Rangeland Partnership, Society for Range Management
and other organizations interested in transforming rangeland science and
management to meet the needs of current and future rangeland management
professionals. For more information, contact Karen Launchbaugh at the
University of Idaho ([13]klaunchb at uidaho.edu).
Links:
13. mailto:klaunchb at uidaho.edu
_The Range Science Information System - An Advancement to Provide On-line
Access to Published Rangeland Research_
by Karen Launchbaugh ([14]klaunchb at uidaho.edu)
Rangeland management decisions need to be logical and defensible. To
accomplish this goal, planning and decisions should be based on field data
and relevant published scientific information. Challenges to acquiring and
using appropriate research include finding relevant and reputable research
articles amidst the massive amount of available published research and the
limited time that land managers have to identify, acquire, and read existing
scientific literature. Electronic search tools are becoming increasingly
available to enhance our ability to find and store research articles for use
in land management decisions. The University of Idaho and Montana State
University are collaborating to create a database of articles for anyone
with internet access. To accomplish this goal we will redesign and expand a
Montana State Digital Initiatives Project available at:
http://arizona.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=f89d4b4d19&e=8fcff3e640. The Range Science
Information System (RSIS) will constitute a special collection within
RangelandWest and all information in RSIS will be available in
[16]www.rangelandswest.org. This on-line rangeland information system will
focus on peer-reviewed refereed journal articles with the goal to: 1)
decrease time required to identify current, relevant published research, 2)
increase ready access to good published research to make it easy for land
managers to read research articles (i.e., one-click electronic download),
and 3) create a database of published research that can be easily updated
and annotated.
Links:
14. mailto:klaunchb at uidaho.edu
16. http://arizona.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=efec61d58e&e=8fcff3e640
_Rangeland Health eXtension Update – _
Rachel Frost, Mindy Pratt, Lovina Roselle, and John Tanaka met in Logan, UT
last September and made an intensive push to get pages written and
reviewed. Most of those pages are now out for copy editing.
The eXtension Rangelands website is getting close to being able to launch
but _we need your help_! We are still short in getting the FAQs written
(both questions and answers) and reviewed. Multiple pleas have been sent to
extension specialists with little response, but we are still working on
those. If you can help with the FAQs, contact Sherm Swanson
(sswanson at cabnr.unr.edu).
Once we get to the launch date, participants will be asked to volunteer to
answer incoming questions in the Ask an Expert module. eXtension is talking
about converting the website away from the Wiki to Drupal in the near
future. This should make your participation easier.
Come to the program at SRM “Foraging for Rangeland Information in an
Unfamiliar Virtual World," Monday, February 7, 1-5pm to hear more about the
eXtension Rangelands progress and plans. For more information or to provide
input, please contact Sherm Swanson ([17]sswanson at cabnr.unr.edu) or any of
the other leads mentioned above.
Links:
17. mailto:sswanson at cabnr.unr.edu
_Global Rangelands Project Update_ —
In September 2010, a workshop was held at the University of Arizona to
officially launch the “Global Rangelands” project, recently funded by the
USDA International Science & Education program. The objectives are to
develop: (1) a fully searchable international repository of full-text
articles, documents, images, and multi-media teaching, learning, and
outreach materials; (2) applications to facilitate expanded knowledge of
international work in rangeland research, teaching, and extension; (3)
multi-media learning modules on global rangelands; (4) synthesis documents
on aspects of international outreach practices relevant to Extension
programming; and (5) a customized search interface that improves access to
rangelands information and encourages direct user engagement. Presentations
and discussions were held on Drupal open-source content management system
capabilities and issues; implementation of the AGROVOC multi-language
controlled vocabulary; metadata formats for original content; metadata and
vocabulary issues for harvesting content from other sources; integrated
search of both original content and harvested/imported content; possible use
cases of RDF and Linked Data; integration of social media applications and
multi-media learning objects; and engagement of collaborators and
stakeholders in the development of the portal. At the same time, the
possibility of developing user-requested services such as Google-like search
capabilities that rank results in terms of relevancy and importance were
examined. The workshop resulted in a refined action plan for developing the
system through an iterative process with the first phase planned for
completion by February 2011 followed by a second phase to be presented at
the annual meeting of the Western Rangelands Partnership in May 2011. If
you are going to be attending the SRM conference in Billings, please let
Barb Hutchinson know as there are plans to give a demo of the new site to
gain user feedback.
_________________________________________________________________
_WERA Update_
by Barb Hutchinson ([18]barbarah at ag.arizona.edu)
Links:
18. mailto:barbarah at ag.arizona.edu
Thanks to all of your support and fast action, we have had the best showing
yet in the folks who are officially signed up as members of the Agricultural
Experiment Station WERA project which is known under the name of “Rangelands
West Partnership”. There are 14 states represented in the now almost
famous “Appendix E” including Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho,
Kansas, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and
Wyoming – and Montana will soon be on board! As you may remember, our
current five-year WERA 1008 project ends as of September 2011 and we have
resubmitted a proposal for another five years to take us through September
2014! Our new proposal has been submitted to the NIMSS system and will be
reviewed by the Western Directors at their Spring Meeting in March. Our
Administrative Advisor, Vice Dean Colin Kaltenbach (UA), will let us know as
soon as he receives the final word.
_________________________________________________________________
_State Site Highlights_
It’s time for “show and tell”! What are you proud of on your Rangelands West
state site? Is there a unique resource or tool that you want to profile? It
can even be something on another WRP partner’s site!
I took a quick tour through our state sites and here are a few of the cool
things I found:
• A virtual tour of Idaho rangelands! See
[19]http://arizona.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=1f9fa975bb&e=8fcff3e640
l?dhtmlActivation=fullscreen
• Small Acreage Landowner Teaching Materials linked from the
Wyoming site! See
[20]http://arizona.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=4b81bb0d5a&e=8fcff3e640
e.htm
• Sagebrush Vernacular: Architecture of Rural Nevada - an
exhibition of 120 photographs of rural Nevada architecture. See
http://arizona.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=c364a9a26a&e=8fcff3e640
Links:
19. http://arizona.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=b9eec09dd7&e=8fcff3e640
20. http://arizona.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=cb4edbcdde&e=8fcff3e640
Please send your ideas, suggestions or nominations for State Site Highlights
to Jeanne Pfander, WRP Secretary, [22]pfanderj at u.library.arizona.edu.
_________________________________________________________________
Links:
22. mailto:pfanderj at u.library.arizona.edu
_Calendar of Events_
_• Society for Range Management Annual Meeting_
http://arizona.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=ccecf6aaf0&e=8fcff3e640
• February 6-10, 2011
• Billings, Montana
• Concurrent Session "Foraging for Rangeland Information in an
Unfamiliar Virtual World," Monday, February 7, 1-5pm
_• Western Rangelands Partnership Annual Meeting_
http://arizona.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b386fc680b8d8c5b2019d1a6f&id=8fc758b1c3&e=8fcff3e640
• May 22-24, 2011
• Bozeman, Montana
• Location: "New" Annual Bioscience Building, Montana State
University
• Tentative Hotel: Best Western Gran Tree Inn ($80/night)
TECH BITE—State Site Issues
We know some of you are having trouble getting the support you need to
maintain and develop your state sites. The Arizona Rangelands site is also
experiencing problems, but it cannot be fixed until we finish development of
the new central Rangelands West/Global Rangelands website architecture. As
we begin work to re-create Arizona Rangelands, we can also look at options
for helping you with your state site. Please contact Jeanne, Barb, or Sheila
if you need assistance. Thank you!
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