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 About NRIN
The Natural Resources Information Network (NRIN) is a collaborative initiative of FORREX Forum for Research and Extension in Natural Resources and other natural resource agencies in British Columbia. Through NRIN, users are able to take advantage of a wide variety of tools that help improve both their access to, and distribution of natural resources information relating to British Columbia. View publications, events, bulletins, listings of natural resources organizations and participate in discussions. Working together, users and information providers are collaborating to build an online environment that improves links between natural resources agencies, decision-makers and communities. The publications catalogue will continue to be a cornerstone of NRIN. With expanded awareness of NRIN in British Columbia's natural resource agencies, FORREX anticipates that a greater number and diversity of publications will soon be available. FORREX offers interested organizations extension support to assist in connecting content to NRIN. FORREX also provides services to improve users understanding and application of the knowledge shared through NRIN. Visit http://www.forrex.org for more details about FORREX's extension services.
Special Thanks!
The development of NRIN was funded by Forest Renewal BC.With the launch of the pilot NRIN site, FORREX would like to extend thanks to the following organizations who, as members of the NRIN Technical Team, assisted in initial systems development: The following organizations have formally agreed that as an end user, they are in general agreement with the principles of NRIN and will benefit directly from the information to be made available through NRIN. In addition, organizations identified by a "P" annotation have agreed to participate by registering significant information catalogues to NRIN. Organizations identified by "T" sit on the NRIN Technical Team.
FAQ
What is NRIN?Who can use NRIN? How sustainable is NRIN? How can I get help on interpreting information made available through NRIN? How can I help in the development of NRIN? How does NRIN work? How can my organization become an NRIN resource site? What browsers work with NRIN? How do I get technical support for NRIN? What is metadata? What does metadata do for you? How do I create metadata? What kind of metadata does NRIN need? Who should create metadata? How much metadata currently exists in NRIN? MOTIVATION What is NRIN? NRIN is a web-based discovery and retrieval system that provides access to natural resources information and data geographically-distributed across British Columbia. It is facilitated by the FORREX Forest Research Extension Partnerhip in collaboration with participating agencies. The mission of NRIN is to provide direct and timely access to natural resources information wherever it resides by linking information providers to a "one-stop-shop" on the Internet. Information provided through NRIN includes documents, images, research datasets, events, bulletins, organization contacts and discussions. Who can use NRIN? NRIN is open to all users. To access information through NRIN you must have: an Internet connection, a Web browser and an email address. There are no restrictions to query NRIN, search for information or review metadata files. To order information, you must click on the link provided or contact the appropriate distributor. Data creators or distributors retain the rights to control access to their information. Some distributors may require additional information from you before you can access their information. Some distributors may charge a fee for some materials. How sustainable is NRIN? NRIN was developed with funding from Forest Renewal BC. Information management is, and will remain a major program in FORREX's corporate plan. We intend on seeking financial support for NRIN through our Ecosystem Legacy Fund and contributions from participating organizations. FORREX will also investigate generating revenue from related web-based technologies to support NRIN so that is remains a free service for all users. CONTENT SUPPORT How can I get help on interpreting information made available through NRIN? If a ‘Point of Contact’ is identified for an information resource, they are available to answer your questions. FORREX Forum for Research and Extension in Natural Resources also has extension specialists who can help you interpret and apply materials shared through NRIN. Click here for their contact information. RUNNING NRIN How can I help in the development of NRIN? To ensure that NRIN continues to be developed transparently, with a user-centred focus, FORREX's activities are assisted by input from the Natural Resources Working Group and a Technical Team drawn from that group. The Natural Resources Working Group provides an ongoing outlet for interested individuals and organizations to actively participate in NRIN development. The Technical Team provides advice relating to information management approaches, systems management, and operating principles. If you're not a member of these groups your ideas are still needed! To share your ideas, or to request more information about the NRIN Communications Group, please email nrin@forrex.org How does NRIN work? NRIN relies on XML (extensible mark-up language) a common language for sharing metadata. Connecting to NRIN involves the use of XML in three ways: · Entering information through an online form · Embedding XML into your Web pages · Periodically converting existing databases into XML. Our goal is to connect existing information sources without changing your local data management methods. FORREX provides extension services to assist you in building your connection to NRIN or introducing local data management practices. Email nrin@forrex.org for more information. How can my organization become an NRIN Resource site? Organizations become a formal NRIN Focal Point or NRIN Node to increase the visibility and accessibility of the information they provide. They may also wish to take advantage of the system to streamline their information delivery systems. NRIN Focal Points and Nodes are recognized as authoritative contributors of natural resources information. To become a formal NRIN Resource, Step 1. Contact FORREX. Step 2. Be prepared to discuss your organizations existing hardware, software, communications tools and the level of effort required to maintain your information. Step 3. Participate in the development of a Project Charter with FORREX that identifies specific roles and responsibilities. Levels of participation and roles and responsibilities may vary from one NRIN Resource to another. For example, some Sites may host their own information or provide links to information that is maintained elsewhere. Some may update their information monthly, others every few months. Step 4. Work closely with FORREX and NRIN project personnel to build or configure local information catalogues or web pages, or create local metadata records. What browsers work with NRIN? NRIN will work with all browsers that support Javascript. In general this means versions 4.0 and above for both Netscape and Internet Explorer. How do I get technical support for NRIN? Contact FORREX by one of the methods listed below: Phone: (250) 371-3746 Email: society@forrex.org METADATA What is metadata? Metadata is literally "data about data." It is a way of documenting information about the data itself. It answers the who, what, when, where, why and how about a piece of data. It can be used aid the identification, description and location of information resources. For example, the title, author, publisher, and ISBN number are all metadata information about a book. The following links will take you to further information and examples of metadata. Federal Geographic Data Committee http://www.fgdc.gov Global Information Locator Service http://www.gils.org Dublin Core http://www.dublincore.org What does metadata do for you? Metadata allows you to find more precisely the content you want, and to identify what it is that you found after an Internet search. It can also show the relationship between one source of information and other. Most importantly, it can help you publicize and support the data that your organization has produced. Who should create metadata? Anyone who creates information should know how to create metadata. Ideally, metadata producers should be technically-literate. The creator of an information resource knows the most about the background behind the data and is best able to catalogue it. There should be good communication between the metadata producer and the creator of the information resource. What kind of metadata does NRIN need? NRIN is built upon a small sub-set of the FGDC framework, but is capable of reading many types of metadata. If your organization has an information catalogue FORREX may be able to provide you with the support needed to map that catalogue to the NRIN framework. If your organization has not yet started cataloguing information we recommend you investigate using the Dublin Core or GILS metadata framework. Please feel free to email FORREX for extension support in this area. How do I create metadata? First you need to understand the information you want to make available. Then you need establish a metadata standard. There are a number of standards available. See "What is metadata?" for more information. Then you will need to decide how you will create your metadata. Your steps will include: 1. Assembling information about your data. 2. Creating a digital file containing metadata. 3. Mapping your metadata structure to NRIN if you have used a non-NRIN schema. Data must be in XML format. 4. Verifying the content of the metadata. How much metadata currently exists in NRIN? NRIN is composed from many sources of data. Each of these sources of data are referred to as catalogues in NRIN. Below is a listing of just some of the catalogues NRIN has the ability to search through in order to assist you in your information finding needs! General Products Alex Fraser Research Forest BC Ministry of Forests Canadian Forest Service Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program Forest Investment Account Forestry Innovation Investment Program FORCAST Forest Renewal BC Research FORREX FORREX - Conservation Biology FORREX - SEDA: Forest Health (partial) Inner Coast Natural Resource Centre Innovative Forest Practices Agreements Lignum Malcolm Knapp Research Forest McGregor Model Forest Association Mountain Caribou Compendium Northwest Community College Slocan/Canfor South Okanagan Similkameen Environmental Sciences Network Sustainable Forest Management Criteria and Indicator Initiatives University of British Columbia Vanderhoof Innovative Forest Practices Agreements Watershed Restoration Program: Kamloops Forest Region |
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