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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">From: "Cane, Jim"
<Jim.Cane@ARS.USDA.GOV><br>
To: "apoidea@lists.usu.edu" <apoidea@lists.usu.edu><br>
<br>
Victor Gonzalez introduced me to this exciting new web site
yesterday. It serves the general purpose that I intended with the
“apoidea” listserv, which is to bring together the far-flung community of
bee biologists around the world. The listerv only can do this
through email communication. This new, efficient, well-designed web
site does it with a great deal of well-coordinated content, better than
most department’s own web pages or those of many institutions and
agencies. Think of it as a virtual Department of Melittology for
us, minus the tedious faculty meetings, useless forms, boring reports and
the like. I just joined and already found it quick and easy to
upload a picture and my own publication bibliography. Look at some
of Victor’s contributions to see some of the potential. <br>
<br>
For an overview, Victor writes:<br>
<br><br>
“The goal of the portal on bees is to make information on diverse aspects
of the biology and systematics of bees accessible to everyone. The
website is primarily developed and maintained by the community, for the
community. It includes illustrations, photographs, and diagnosis for each
species as well as information on the nesting biology, parasites, floral
records, conservation status, distribution, economic importance, etc.
Bibliographic references can be uploaded and attached to PDF files. Each
reference can be linked to the species or genera treated in each work.
Videos can also be uploaded. This is an example of a webpage for a wool
carder bee:
<a href="http://apoidea.lifedesks.org/pages/486">
http://apoidea.lifedesks.org/pages/486</a> <br><br>
Each species webpage can also be downloaded and saved in a pdf. The
content of this website is also fed directly into the Encyclopedia of
Life
(<a href="http://www.eol.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.eol.org/</a>),
which then compiles it in a single page along with other available
information, including Discover Life, GBIF, etc. This is what it looks
like in EOL:
<a href="http://www.eol.org/pages/329043">
http://www.eol.org/pages/329043</a> <br><br>
Members of the portal will have access to a personal website where
contact information, interests, links to other personal or labs pages,
etc., can be uploaded. This is an example:
<a href="http://apoidea.lifedesks.org/user/6">
http://apoidea.lifedesks.org/user/6</a><br><br>
Any content uploaded by any member will have his/her authorship with a
permanent URL. Contents can also be updated whenever new information is
available. Links to the original source and credits are also available in
EOL. The site is easy to use and there are short video clips that will
guide you through the processes of creating taxon pages, adding images,
and references, etc.
(<a href="http://help.lifedesks.org/quickstart" eudora="autourl">
http://help.lifedesks.org/quickstart</a>).<br><br>
To date, the portal has 22 members who have created nearly 600 webpages
for bees from all bee families and included more than 1000 pictures and
66 bibliographic references available in PDF. <br><br>
If you want to participate, you can create an account here:
<a href="http://apoidea.lifedesks.org/user/register">
http://apoidea.lifedesks.org/user/register</a> <br>
jim<br>
<br>
===============================<br>
James H. Cane<br>
USDA-ARS Pollinating Insect Research Lab<br>
Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322 USA <br>
tel: 435-797-3879 FAX: 435-797-0461<br>
email: Jim.Cane@ars.usda.gov <br>
<a href="http://www.ars.usda.gov/npa/logan/beelab">
http://www.ars.usda.gov/npa/logan/beelab</a><br>
<a href="http://www.biology.usu.edu/people/facultyinfo.asp?username=jcane" eudora="autourl">
http://www.biology.usu.edu/people/facultyinfo.asp?username=jcane</a><br>
Gardening for Native Bees:
<a href="http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/plants-pollinators09.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/plants-pollinators09.pdf</a>
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