Natural Sciences Collections Association

When uploading the taxonomy of Anolis from The Reptile Database, scratchpads is reading each synonym of each species as a separate species, so it's creating a species level node for each synonym on the resulting taxonomy tree. Also it is importing every entry twice (in total there are 385 species of Anolis in The Reptile Database, but scratchpads is importing 5205 taxa!). http://sandbox.scratchpads.eu/taxonomy/term/8#overlay=admin/structure/ta...

Is it possible to harvest the EOL content as independent objects? so they can be easily hidden or organized individually (instead of having a single block of EOL content).

Improve the layout for newly added fields in the nomenclature block on taxon pages. Especially text area fields don't look good, see http://myrcia.myspecies.info/myrcia-sl/marlierea-bipennis.

By Ameena Mughal, Intern at Leeds Museums and Galleries on the Voices of Asia projectHajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, is the last and fifth pillar of Islam and occurs in the last month of Dhul Hijjah, which is in the twelfth month of the Islamic Calendar. Muslims around the world of different ethnicity, status and class gather together and pray to Allah. The first member of my family to perform Hajj was my great grandfather in 1976, then later my grandparents and my own parents.  My grandmother first went to Hajj in 1985 and acquired many objects including a wall hanging of the Kaaba which was given to my parents as a gift. 
It is a large red velour wall cloth showing the Masjid al-Haram of Mecca with the sacred Kaaba stone.  The Kaaba meaning cube in Arabic is an ‘ancient stone structure that was built and re built by Prophets as a house of monotheistic worship’. Muslims do not worship the Kaaba, and its environs, instead it serves as a focal and unifying point for Muslims. The wall cloth illustrates Muslims performing Tawaf which is where pilgrims walk seven times around the Kaaba whilst reciting prayers and there are five different types of Tawaf, three of which are performed during Hajj. 
Mecca is the most important city to Muslims: it was the birthplace of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), the place of the divine revelation, as well as the location of the holy pilgrimage of Hajj. There are three different types of Hajj: Hajj Al-Tamattu, Hajj Al-Qiran and Hajj Al-Ifrad. Many Muslims in Britain including my family perform the Hajj Al-Tamattu, this is where pilgrims perform Umrah first and then perform Hajj however two different Ihrams are worn.  Umrah is an extra pilgrimage and can be performed during anytime of the year.  If a pilgrim just completes Umrah they do not perform the rites at Mina, Muzdalifah, and `Arafat which one would do during Hajj. A Muslim must perform Hajj at least once in their lifetime, if they can afford to.
The first stage of the pilgrimage is preparation; one must bathe themselves and be covered in the white garment of the Ihram. An Ihram is a garment that consists of two un-sewn white plain cloths that must be worn by a male pilgrim.  A pilgrim before beginning their pilgrimage must be in the state of Ihram which is ensure that pilgrim is pure.  For example a pilgrim will not be allowed to engage in marital relations, shave or cut their nails, use perfume or scented oils and are not allowed to fight or argue. Many pilgrims return to using traditional teeth cleaning sticks, called miswak, rather than use their modern toothbrush and toothpaste. This bundle of miswak sticks are Hajj souvenirs, and were donated recently by Nahid Rasool.
Pilgrtims must also express their intention of performing Umrah and Hajj by reciting the Talbiyah which translates into ‘Here I am O Allaah, (in response to your call), here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Verily all praise, grace and sovereignty belong to You. You have no partner.’   This declaration is significant as at Hajj a pilgrim must seek redemption and ask Allah to keep them on the path of righteousness. They then perform Tawaf Al-Qudum which is also to show their intention for Hajj. Once a pilgrim has performed Hajj, it strengthens their bond to Allah and Islam, and upon their return to their home, they must take steps in becoming a better Muslim. 
A very fond childhood memory of mine is eating dates and drinking Zamzam water once my father had returned from Hajj and my mother would always recall the story of Hajar’s search for water for her son Ismaeel (Ishmael). Therefore on the first day of Hajj, pilgrims have to perform Sa’y and this is the passing between the hillocks of Safa and Marwah.  Hajar was sent away to the desert and in Mecca her baby Ismaeel (Ishmael) became very weak and Hajar ran seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwah in search of water.  Allah then sent Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) who struck the ground from that spot to which clear water came gushing out and today is known as the Zamzam well. Pilgrims remember Hajar’s agony, her strong bond with her child and how Allah heard her cry for mercy and helped her.  This marks the end of Umrah and pilgrims then wear their second Ihram, make their intention for Hajj by reciting the Talbiyah, as well as perform Tawaf and Sa’y as they have previously done for Umrah.This box of Ajwa dates was also presented by Nahid Rasool, as an example of a Hajj souvenir. She comments: Dates were one of Prophet Muhammad's favourite food, and we also believe that if you have eight of these Ajwa dates every day, you will have good health.

One of the five pillars of Islam is to pray five times a day therefore pilgrims must ensure that they read all prayers. After performing Sa’y, pilgrims go to Mina and perform their prayers before leaving for Arafat on the second day. Pilgrims perform Wuquf at Arafat, where they pray at the Mount of Mercy, reflecting on their lives, seeking redemption. A Muslim comments ‘that standing at Arafat was extremely emotional and overwhelming’, and as well as mentally enduring, Hajj is also physically enduring. On the second day some pilgrims climb Jabal Rahmah where the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) delivered his last sermon and once the sun has set pilgrims leave for Muzdalifah. There they collect forty nine pebbles which they will throw at the three pillars of Jamarat over the next few days. 
On Eid al-Adha pilgrims set off to Mina where they perform the stoning (ramy) in which they must hit each of the three pillars of Jamarat with seven pebbles going from east to west.  This is done because it is said that devil appeared to Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) at three different stone heaps and that he tried to tempt and misguide him.  Thus Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) ordered Ibrahim (Abraham) to throw stones at the devil so that he withdrew from him. The three pillars represent the devil however the largest stone signifies his temptation of Ibrahim (Abraham) against sacrificing his son Ismaeel (Ishmael), the middle stone illustrates the temptation of Ibrahim’s wife Hajar to induce her to stop him and lastly the small stone symbolises the persuasion of Ismaeel (Ishmael) to avoid sacrifice.  The aim of this is to dispose of the devil and become closer to Allah. According to a Muslim woman ‘performing stoning made me realise I can stop myself from doing bad things and I can say no to temptation’.  Hajj teaches discipline and provides millions of Muslims with strength and guidance.
Another pillar of Islam is to give Zakat (charity) therefore once the stoning has been performed; an animal such as a sheep or a goat is sacrificed as commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael. Another duty is that men have their hair shaved off and women have a lock of hair cut off. They then proceed to Masjid al Haram in Mecca to perform Tawal Al Ifadah and this is a formal rite of Hajj in Mecca. Pilgrims also perform Sa’y, drink Zamzam water and they no longer have to wear the Ihram.  During the last days of Hajj pilgrims go back to Mina and will stone the three pillars, and return to Masjid Al Haram and perform their last seven circuit circumambulation of the Kaaba which is known as Farewell Tawaf and this is the completion of Hajj.  
It is difficult for many non Muslims to understand the journey of Hajj but it is both mentally and physically rewarding, the view of the Kaaba overwhelms many Muslims, the beauty of Mecca and the unity of people is outstanding. During Hajj Muslims display strength, kindness, commitment and harmony and pilgrims gather from many different cultural backgrounds to worship Allah.  It is truly mesmerising to see the equality and, the bond between Muslims, as one individual explains ‘I do not think I will be able to describe the appreciation of being amongst a large gathering, in which we are all engaged in the same activities to achieve the same goal.’ 
During the recent Ahlul Bayt Islamic Society display in Parkinson Court at the University of Leeds, (23-24 April 2012), visitors were able to see a model of the Kaaba, as well as the items illustrated here. From 21 May to 1 June 2012 Leeds Museums' Hajj items will be part of a larger Islamic display for schools at Leeds Grand Mosque on Woodlea Rd. The star Hajj item is this fragment of Kaaba cloth given to Hussein, King of Hejas (Arabia) in 1917, to a Mr Fox as a diplomatic gift.
In the forthcoming ‘Voices of Asia’ displays, which will be installed in the World View Gallery at Leeds City Museum from 2014 onwards, one of the focuses will be Faith and Worship.  Islamic items will be shown, as part of a series of Faith installations enriched by the involvement and personal comments from each Leeds faith community.  The above Kaaba covering cloth fragment will definitately be shown, and these newly acquired Hajj souvenirs.  In the autumn of 2012 we plan to run a discussion forum for this project, to bring together the communities who want to take part and open up the debate on which topics to highlight.  If you are interested in participating please contact the curator, Antonia Lovelace, or by e-mail at antonia.lovelace@leeds.gov.uk
Ameena Mughal

Last night a contingent from UCL including colleagues from Museums and Public Engagement, UCL Centre for Digital Humanities and Heritage Without Borders headed down to the illustrious premises of 8 Northumberland for the 10th Anniversary Museums and Heritage Awards. In total three UCL projects had been shortlisted; the move of the Grant Museum for Project on A Limited Budget, the Grant Museum’s QRator project for Innovations, and Heritage Without Borders for The International Award. Did we bring home the silver (glass)? Well from the title of this post you can gather we did but you’ll have to hit the jump to find out more..

We won the Innovations award for QRator: Visitor Participation Through Social Interpretation. Here’s what the award looks like, complete with our grubby finger prints from last night. Some of them may even be comedienne and broadcaster Sue Perkins’ who presented the award.

There’s a whole raft of people who need thanking and who were instrumental in the QRator project. In no order they are: Andrew Hudson-Smith and the original team behind Tales of Things from UCL Centre for Advance Spatial Analysis, Steven Gray from CASA who developed the QRator app and has been our 24/7 helpdesk ever since, Claire Ross from UCL Digital Humanities who worked with me originally in trialling QR codes in the Grant Museum and who has been instrumental in researching, supporting and spreading QRator, Melissa Terras and Claire Warwick also from Digital Humanities who have given continuous feedback on the project as well as share the burden of the numerous published papers on the project, Susannah Chan from UCL Museums and Public Engagement for inventing the mounts for the iPads, Grant Museum Manager Jack Ashby who writes the content and designs the displays for QRator, Grant Museum colleagues Emma-Louise Nicholls and Simon Jackson who moderate the content day in and day out, UCL Public Engagement Unit for their funding and support of the project, Sally MacDonald Director of UCL Museums and Public Engagement who has been a huge driving force behind the project and key to realising it and of course the visitors of the Grant Museum who interact with QRator and interpret the Grant collections. Without them this project would literally be nothing.

Here’s what Director of Museums and Public Engagement, Sally MacDonald, has to say about the project:

“Museums are traditionally rather passive places where visitors read labels written by curators. Even museum interactives are usually pre-programmed with set responses. We wanted to experiment with putting public dialogue at the heart of the museum and QRator has helped us do that in a way that could transform the way museums work. What’s even better is that it’s been such a great collaboration with a group of really creative researchers across several UCL disciplines. Already it’s leading to new projects”

We’re not bitter about not scooping the other awards, getting shortlisted was achievement enough, especially as there was a wide range of really impressive projects from a sector that has been hard hit with cuts, you can see the full list of winners, commendations and the full shortlists here.

UPDATE: The Digital Urban blog post about the award. Clare Ross’s thoughts on the evening over at her blog.

UPDATE 2: Now with Flickr gallery. Warning some images may depict slight inebriation/elation.

Is it possible to change the default search type to Taxonomy rather than Simple on my scratchpad (Nannotax)? This is something that users have requested from me and it would make sense.
thanks Jeremy

In the character project settings there should be an option to add a menu item for the project.

The name of my character project is "Lice characters", but instead on http://carnidae.taxon.name/character-project/1#overlay-context=character... it just says "Character editor" in the title and the breadcrumb. That is not very useful.

At http://carnidae.taxon.name/character-project/1#overlay-context= I have added an image to the "Head" group, but it doesn't show. The image for character 2 shows but the text is cut. I also added an image for each state of character 1, but only part of one image is visible. The size of the images probably needs to be reduced.

When I enter a text character a box opens with the title "Editing text character". Please add the name and description of the character so that I know which character I am currently adding/editing. Same for DNA characters.

Now is the time for all keen botanists to head to the hills.  The Spring Gentian is a sight not to be missed and it is in flower now.  This plant is an arctic-alpine species with very special requirements and grows in only a few places.  It is easy to see inUpper Teesdale(Cow Green Reservoir) and on The Burren in the West of Ireland but the weather has to be bright as the flowers close up if there is insufficient sun.

The day we made our expedition was not promising and although it was May it was cold and windy with overcast skies.  However, there were many plants, almost hidden in the grass with petals tightly closed.  One or two flurries of snow dampened our spirits and we found some Bird’s Eye Primrose to photograph instead.  A Golden Plover kept a wary eye on us from a distance and then flew away.  Many other interesting plants grow in the reserve but few are in flower so early in such an inhospitable place.  At length patience paid off and the skies brightened.  The brief sunny spell was sufficient for several of the flowers to open and photographs were duly taken.  They really are a startling blue and on a sunny day must be a wonderful sight.  I imagine the Victorian botanists took a great many plants for herbaria but we are more enlightened nowadays and the plants are protected by law from humans and by fencing from rabbits.

A short walk to view Cauldron Snout is recommended and warmed us up on a cold day.

 

 

 

The Spring Gentian featured on a UK postage stamp in 1964.

by Christine Walsh, Botany volunteer

When in Africa a couple of years ago, I looked high and low for these gorgeous animals. I mean EVERYwhere. When we finally caught up with a clan (clue), another tourist in our jeep attempted to ruin the moment by harping on about how disgusting they were. Sadly, for an unfathomable reason, this animal does appear to generally induce an upturned nose amongst the general public. Which is so UNFAIR!! This animal is amazing and I am going to set the record straight on why. This week’s specimen of the week is…

 

**!!!THE SPOTTED HYENA!!!**

 

1) Hyenas are highly misunderstood, intelligent and beautiful animals. Yes… they are. Although dog-like in appearance, they are more closely related to cats, come on- we all love cats. Ok so the high shoulders, sloping down to the bum that is much lower, does give the hyena a slightly ‘interesting’ appearance, but really it just gives them character.

 

2) The spotted hyena is actually the second largest carnivore in the whole of Africa, only beaten to the gold medal by the lion. They are extremely powerful animals that possess one of the strongest bite forces of ALL mammal species. So they should at least get the respect, if not the love, right?

 

3) Ok they are scavengers, but firstly- so?! I’ll have you know that scavenging is actually an extremely energy efficient way of life, thus, in this day and age of climate change and global warming, the hyena should be the template for a model citizen in terms of its eco-friendly ways. Secondly- in reality scavenging is very widespread. EVERYONE does it! Lions, tigers, bears… So why do hyenas get such a bad rep? Never been to a carboot sale? (You really should, they’re great).

 

4) You’ll like this one. Clans have a strict hierarchy. Once a male has bitten, growled, and clawed his way up through the clan to be the most high ranking male- he is still subordinate to the absolute lowest of the low ranking females. (Snigger.) Female hyenas are way more aggressive than males and can weigh up to 14 % more, to keep them in line.

 

5) Hyena cubs are born with a full set of gnashers, and their eyes already open. Within minutes of bursting forth into the African sun, hyena cubs fight each other for milk and it is here that the hierarchy begins to be established for later life. No pressure then.

 

On display we have two spotted hyena skulls, one striped hyena, and a cousin of the three hyena species- the aardwolf. What is also very exciting is that we now have an official Specimen of the Week plaque- YAY! You will find it currently sitting proudly in front of the spotted hyena skull, which seems to have a bigger grin than normal today.

On Friday I gave you this object to identify: I chose this object because it gave me a chance to take a photo using my new phone camera and a hand lens (inspired by an article by Nigel Larkin in the latest NatSCA News). I thought it might be a bit of a challenge, but [...]

I've wanted to edit the taxon description of Dioscorea bulbifera. When I click on the edit tab (Between 'view' and 'clone'), it takes me to this
http://dioscoreaceae.e-monocot.org/node/701#overlay-context=node/701&ove...
rather than allowing me to edit the node.

The Cultivation field does not have an associated NID field for the reference in the excel download.

We are getting this error on the Literature tab (http://dioscoreaceae.e-monocot.org/biblio)

I'm having a problem uploading content (using 'content' --> 'taxon description' --> 'import') I have more than one taxonomy tab, one for 'plants' and one for 'pollinators', and the problem is when I try to import it doesn't give me a choice as to which tab to import to. It appears to always just automatically import to the first of my tabs (currently 'plants').

When images are deleted from the media folder, they do not disappear from the scratchpad. All of the images on this page cannot be found when browsing image nodes.
http://myrcia.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/361/media

Autocomplete fields not working when bulk modifying entity values in SPM nodes in the following site (not tested in other sites):

http://cypripedioideae.e-monocot.org/taxonomy/term/8#overlay=admin/conte...

Modify entity values work on other content types and the autocomplete fields work normally when adding a single SPM node.

We're trying to add infra-generic ranks to the slipper orchid site and can't find parent terms in the drop-down box under 'Relations.'

http://cypripedioideae.e-monocot.org/taxonomy/term/8#overlay=admin/struc...