New Biocultural map layer

Hi E-ANTHers, We recently introduced for the Google+ community Biocultural
Landscapes & Seascapes (BCLS), what is called a #minchuzu google map layer,
see here
http://minchizu.withgoogle.com/map.html#i=110834970079444098643&m=list).
This new layer of information for BCLS has huge potential for education and
science purposes, as it allows you to automatically transform your posts in
BCLS (geotagged photos, geotagged science papers or geotagged biocultural
field work) into a local position on a google map layer closely linked to
the google+ BCLS community. This is very interesting to help scientists,
managers or other people interested in geographically discovering and
understanding science information/references accumulated around the
biocultural functioning of a given area of the world.
However, members of the BCLS community (especially ethnobiologists,
biocultural scientists and media specialists) quickly realized there were
ethical issues associated with this mapping project, as it is built on
geotagged photos + local biocultural information (see comments of this post
https://plus.google.com/102918354484271170378/posts/1KdFoynrd8k). We
discovered that the #minchuzu  layer system that combines geotagged info,
photo, map location, (potentially face tagging) ... raises new problems that
are still not specified by the +International Society of Ethnobiology. We
are taking this problem very seriously in BCLS. We started a draft of the
rules that should be followed in the BCLS community for posting standalone
photos in general on BCLS, AND geotagged photos/science papers (+ associated
biocultural information) in particular on the #minchuzu  map layer
(https://plus.google.com/107478410160659334381/posts/8uMtmD6bXKf). However
we do not pretend the rules are perfect as this is a fairly novel and
evolving problem related to technological changes. We therefore need your
help to build this code of ethics to help members in BCLS respect the life
of local people and associated biocultural context. We need two things:

- 1) People with experience in photographing local people in their
biocultural context for science and media/public outreach that could help
improve the draft of these rules (including deleting some parts of concerns)
if they can.

- 2) We would like to give a specialist on these issues a leading /
moderating role around the ethics and education around those issues in BCLS.
Because it is a new and evolving problem (due to Google technological
advances) that is not specified yet by main board societies. I see the
position of this specialist as an opportunity to build connections with the
board of ethics of these societies (e.g., +International Society of
Ethnobiology), in order to help them improving international recommendations
on this problem, and vise versa to help us improving the rules of BCLS in
this regard.

You can help working on this project on the BCLS community here:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/110834970079444098643

Just follow these 3 steps to join the BCLS community:

1. Create a Google+ account as explained in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMIO3YvylEk
2. Click on https://plus.google.com/communities/110834970079444098643
3. Click on the red icon "join community" � Welcome! you are now a BCLS
member.

Kind regards,
The BCLS community manager

Dr. Jean-Baptiste Pichancourt
Office:  +61 (0)7  3833 5680
jean-baptiste.pichancourt@csiro.au

CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Ecoscience Precinct (GC-west),
41 Boggo road,
Dutton Park QLD 4102,
Australia

------------------------------------------------------------
eanth-l@listserv.uga.edu - A forum for discussing ecology and
the environment in anthropology and related social sciences.
For more information, or to unsubscribe, visit our website at
http://www.eanth.org