Automated rare species and new species discovery alerts via crowdsourcing
First Claim
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1. A social network system for posting observations and sharing of information on observations of wildlife species among a multiplicity of users who are observers of wildlife species, comprising:
- a central system with a server capable of communicating by Internet with computers or handheld computer devices of a multiplicity of users,the central system having registration means for receiving, via users'"'"' computers or handheld computer devices, registration information entered by each user, including at least user name, email address, home location and whether the user'"'"'s observations are to be made public in the system,the central system also including means for receiving species observation information posted by each of the multiplicity of users, the species observation information including at least species name, location of observation, date and time of observation,the social network system further including validation means for peer validation of users'"'"' posted species observations, by enabling users to vote on likely validity of other users'"'"' posted observations and means in the central system for tabulating votes and assigning a confirmed or unconfirmed status to the observation based on the votes, andthe social network system having filter means enabling each user to restrict types of other users'"'"' observations to be sent to the user.
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Abstract
This invention provides a social network for wildlife species observers, e.g. birders, to verify accuracy of observations made of wildlife in the field, and includes issuance of automatic rare species alerts when a sighting is determined to be rare, all via a web site.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A social network system for posting observations and sharing of information on observations of wildlife species among a multiplicity of users who are observers of wildlife species, comprising:
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a central system with a server capable of communicating by Internet with computers or handheld computer devices of a multiplicity of users, the central system having registration means for receiving, via users'"'"' computers or handheld computer devices, registration information entered by each user, including at least user name, email address, home location and whether the user'"'"'s observations are to be made public in the system, the central system also including means for receiving species observation information posted by each of the multiplicity of users, the species observation information including at least species name, location of observation, date and time of observation, the social network system further including validation means for peer validation of users'"'"' posted species observations, by enabling users to vote on likely validity of other users'"'"' posted observations and means in the central system for tabulating votes and assigning a confirmed or unconfirmed status to the observation based on the votes, and the social network system having filter means enabling each user to restrict types of other users'"'"' observations to be sent to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method providing and operating a social network system for wildlife species observations posted by a multiplicity of users on the Internet-based network, under the control of a central server linked to computers, tablets or hand-held computer devices of users, comprising:
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providing an Internet web site including multiple pages, with ability for users to register with user name and other required user information, log in to the web site, and post species observations made by a user, with the central server, receiving and storing information relating to observations posted by users, displaying on the web site posted observations of a multiplicity of users, for viewing by users of the web site, enabling each user of the web site to vote on likely validity of posted observations of other users, with a positive or negative vote on validity of each posted observation, and counting votes on a posted observation via the central server and applying preset criteria to the count of positive and negative votes automatically to confirm or not confirm a posted observation, and indicating on the web site a confirmed status or a non-confirmed status of a posted observation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification