About this website and the project in general
This website is a project in development and there is lots to be done. The idea is that when everything is in place, a bunch of people will all be collaborating together to populate it.
The background to this project
Speaking of the Otways is a regional online implemention of a concept called EcoGeographica. EcoGeographica, is a system through which people will be able to share knowledge, images, sound and video describing and depicting nature and landscapes. It will eventually exists as both a series of 'Speaking of ..." websites, each devoted to a different region, and as a database system that runs on users desktops. Users will be able to share information and files via either implimentation.
Key concepts
Some key concepts underpinning EcoGeographica / Speaking of the Otways are:
- Visitors will be able to become members and be able to participate in building the content. Scientists, field naturalists and the general public will be welcome to contribute. Non-members will be able to browse the content provided by the members (with exceptions for particularly sensitive information such as the location of especially rare species).
- Contibutions will be accepted from specialists, enthusiasts and the general public. Users will be able to comment on audit and rate each others contributions.
- All things, subjects and topics (entities) in or describing nature will be able to be entered.
- Categories, which are groups of entities, will be able to be defined. The use of such categories will facilitate searching for entities. For example; 'large marsupials' is a category under the Fauna theme, which includes various large marsupial species. Entities will be able to be assigned to more than one category. Categories are listed in the left side navigation panel.
- All entities and categories are assigned to themes. These are listed as the tabs across the top of the website.
- Descriptive text and files (such as image, text and media files) will be able to be linked to each theme, category and entity.
- Entities will be able to be linked to each other in various ways. This will enable the user to, for example, look up a place, get a list of habitats found in that place, and then get lists of plant or animal species found in these habitats.
About the developer
EcoGeographica and Speaking of the Otways is currently the work of a single developer - Craig Allen - with the support and bemused/confused interest of friends and family. You can find out a little more about me at my personal website >> www.craigallen.net.au
The inspiration for Speaking of the Otways
My love of the Australian bush, flora, wildlife and landscapes are my primary inspiration for creating this website. Sadly, throughout this beautiful land of ours these things are in decline or retreat.
Many people are largely oblivious to the natural world, and their impacts of it. Many appreciate it, but do not understand it well. Others, seeing it change and regretting the losses, feel powerless to prevent the degradation they perceive.
I conceived this website as an antidote to this situation in the Otway Ranges region. The idea is that it will enable people to collaborate in documenting Otways nature and landscapes in order to celebrate them, to share knowledge about them, and to look out for and protect them.
My hope is that through documenting the natural wonders of the Otways, we will be better prepared to undertake conservation activities, and will have the ammunition we need when voicing concerns about degrading processes, proposals and activities.
How you can help
Help with the content
I welcome your comments and ideas, and any information, images, sound files etc. that you can donate (images etc. will be credited appropriately.) At the moment the interactive aspects of the site are not yet implemented. When they are, you will be able to log in, and will be able to write, edit and comment on pages.
I'm working on making it possible for visitors to add content directly to the website. But this may take a few months, so for now I have to do it manually through my web authoring software. If you would like to contribute, please contact me to discuss your collaboration.
Help with building the website
If you're skilled in web development - in particular with Javascript, PHP, mySQL or SQL, then contact me to discuss how you can the project.
Regards
Craig Allen