Re; Electronic publishing: Where is FLORA ONLINE ?

[Margaret L. Baker]

Adolf,
As a matter of curiosity, I tried searching for the document you mentioned.
It took all of about 5 minutes. Much faster that I could ever find a
similar reference in even a commonly available print publication.

A librarian might have a problem unless s/he specialized in botanical
references, just as they do now with print publications.

gopher://muse.bio.cornell.edu:70/00/taxacom/flora.online
26. Festuca (Poaceae) of North America - interactive identification and
    information retrieval, S. G. Aiken & M. J. Dallwitz. 1991. Disk 8.

Margaret Baker (An interested amateur)

_________________________

At 7:30 AM 3/17/96, Adolf Ceska wrote:
>FLORA ONLINE was (or still is?) an electronic journal, once closely
>associated with TAXACOM. It has published over twenty-five issues. I had a
>bookmark for the gopher where it was archived, but that bookmark does not
>work for me any more. I have some issues on 5 1/4 " diskettes, but I
>cannot read them, because I have only a 3 1/2 " disk drive. I am sure that I
>can find a large floppy reader, but I am certain that I won't find a
>librarian who would be able to find me the following "paper" :
>Aiken, S.G. & M.J. Dallwitz. 1991. Festuca (Poaceae) of North America -
>Interactive identification and information retrieval. Flora Online 26.
>(January 14, 1991)
>
>I am NOT looking for this particular paper, I use it only as an
>example. Please notice that this paper appeared just about five years ago.
>
>I am a self-appointed editor of BEN (Botanical Electronic News) an in its
>almost four year existence, BEN published notices on over sixty species
>new for the flora of British Columbia.  These records have been ignored by
>people who compile data on the B.C. flora.
>
>It is amazing how much information is in the "cyberspace." At the present
>time this information is in its plasmodial stage and there is an urgent
>need for "electronic librarians." There are some nodes that help us to
>find what we are looking for ("Helsinki" web site, Australian National
>Botanical Garden gopher, library catalogues accessible from melvyl,
>etc.), but the "electronic publishing" is still in its infant stage.
>
>I am an avid proponent of electronic publishing (cf. BEN), but I am very
>skeptical about its role in publishing new species. What is the meaning of
>"LITERA SCRIPTA MANET" in this electronic age?
>
>Adolf Ceska, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
>aceska at freenet.victoria.bc.ca