Problem with CD ROM for publishing taxon descriptions

[Robin Leech]

Again, do not get me wrong.  I do love to handle, fondle and grope an old
book.  There is just something about an old book - such as Clerck's 1757
Svenska Spindlar (Swedish Spiders) - that a reprint of, or any rendering of
would just not impart to me.  There is a smell, a sense of history, all
kinds of things, that are not imparted to me by reprints and CDs.
Similarly, I have an original of A. Tullgren's 1944 Svensk Spindelfauna.  3.
Fam. 1-4.  Only 6 copies are known to have survived WWII, so Eric Classey,
the English Bookseller, arranged for a reprinting based on photocopying the
original.  The reprint came out in 1970.  The reprint copy "just does not
have it", in my view.  The paper is different, and the original figures are
sepia, not black and white.
Robin Leech

----- Original Message -----
From: Leah Larkin <leah-perle at MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU>
To: <TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 1999 9:56 AM
Subject: Re: Problem with CD ROM for publishing taxon descriptions


> Gregor Hagedorn beats me to the punch:
>
> >One difference we should be aware of is that a CD ROM most likely
> >cannot be read in 20 years, whereas a book can be used as reference
> >after 100 years.
>
> I couldn't have typed it better myself.  One of the seminal moments in my
> development into a taxonomist/evolutionary biologist was seeing 150 year
> old drawings of plants in books at the Academy of Natural Sciences in
> Philadelphia.  Fortunately, the technology for reading that book (the
> eyeball) was still available, else I might have become a lawyer!
>
> Christian Thompson retorts:
>
> >Hence, DVD drives can easily read old CDROMs. ....
> > So, I am not worried about whether my CDROMs will be
> >readable in 20 years or so. They will clearly outlive me.
>
> I'm sure that's what the guy who invented the floppy thought!
>
> Don't get me wrong; I think CD-ROMs are a fabulous means of dissemination
> information, and I applaud their use in taxonomy, but they should in no
way
> be considered "permanent" records.
>
>
> Leah Larkin
> Department of Integrative Biology
> University of Texas at Austin
> Austin, TX 78712
> FAX:  (512) 471-3878
> *please note new address*
>