ICNCP 1995 online?

[Piers Trehane]

In message  <199508141922.MAA20332 at violet.berkeley.edu> peterr at violet.berkeley.edu writes:
>On Mon, 14 Aug 1995 18:32:10 GMT, <dvader at INDHORT.DEMON.CO.UK>
>Piers Trehane, Chief Editor, 1995 ICNCP, announced:
>
>>The 1995 International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants
>>will be going to press very shortly.
>
>Will there be an online version of ICNCP accessible on the internet?
>If so, fine.
>
>If not, could you give a brief commentary on the considerations that went
>into deciding not to make it available online too?
>Peter

When the IUBS International Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated
Plants met last year at the Center for Urban Horticulture (University of
Washington) Seattle, we did not formally discuss making the resulting Code
available on the internet.

I do remember discussing the possibility informally with some attendees of
the concurrent symposium on cultivated plants and I am sure there is a
demand for this service.

I am not sure that the Code's publisher (soon to be announced) will want
to see his investment potentially damaged by a reduction in sales of hard
copy: codes of nomenclature are hardly "best-sellers" and do not demand
large print runs.

There would also be technical difficulties in mounting an on-line internet
version with the various typographical and pagination conventions used in
a Code.  There are some 200 pages in the new ICNCP - mostly taken up with
invaluable appendices and we would need to look at WWW pages or something
similar to show the full content.

I do not want to sound negative about issuing the Code on-line but I think
much more work (and editor's time !!!!!) needs to be spent on the idea.

I imagine that the Commission would be receptive to the idea - after all,
the Code needs to be distributed as widely as possible if it is to gain
acceptance internationally and what better way that via internet. A suitable
vehicle has to be found.

Here's an idea for the future:  why not persuade IUBS (& IUMS for that matter)
to provide WWW facilities for _all_ Codes?  If this was done, _anyone_ with
an interest in names would know that all the essential information is gathered
together in one site.

If it became an IUBS/IUMS edict that all Codes were made available in this
way, it might be easier to negotiate with the publishing community.

Over to you David Hawksworth (President of IUBS)! (Harmonizerman)

--
Piers Trehane
Chief Editor, 1995 ICNCP
dvader at indhort.demon.co.uk