While the specific services that nodes provide vary from one Participant to another (see Section 5), a node’s staff need to cover a number of typical functions:
- Management and coordination
- Outreach, communications, public relations and institutional networking (regional, national or thematic level)
- Fundraising and project writing
- Administrative work (financial management, reporting, organizing events and meetings etc.)
- Capacity enhancement
- Technical support service for data holders (helpdesk)
- ICT support, webmaster & database management
- Software development (data capture and cleaning tools, data visualization tools, data portal & web interfaces, web services, etc.)
- Data analysis & modelling
- Scientific liaison and promotion of data use in relevant research communities
This diversity of functions makes it clear that nodes require staff with a wide range of skills ranging from administrative support to expertise in biodiversity informatics. Deciding how to staff a node will, of course, depend on its expected roles, the level of financial support and the hosting agreement or institutional location of the node. In cases where nodes are integrated into larger institutions, functions like administrative tasks are often provided through in-kind support from the host. The institutional landscape at the Participant level will affect the importance given to particular skills: for example, where a node is coordinating a large number of biodiversity-related institutions, it will need greater emphasis on outreach and networking skills.
To cover the main functions listed above (assuming administrative support is provided by the host institution), Participants can consider at least the following four roles to ensure the node’s engagement with stakeholder communities, while providing the necessary technical skills to provide good technical support to data holders and users:
- A node manager as the manager of the team, responsible for the majority of the interactions with the GBIF network and Secretariat including representation on the Participant node managers’ committee. Nodes may either combine this role with one of the three below or, ideally, dedicate an individual exclusively to the position of node manager.
- A person with a scientific background, knowledge of the relevant research communities, and the ability to motivate and communicate with data holders, data users and those engaged in policy development
- A person with a background in biodiversity informatics, skills in data management, and the ability to provide technical assistance to data holders and data users while maintaining databases
- A person with an informatics background, able to develop and maintain an informatics infrastructure to enable biodiversity data publishing and support access to biodiversity data, for example, through a national data portal.