a dream work: online counter for new species...

[Richard Pyle]

I think the system used by LifeMapper (www.lifemapper.org) is a good model
for credit-as-motivator. Check out the stats page under "Individual Members"
tab, "Member Overview", "Member Reports (by number of jibs)".

Aloha,
Rich

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Taxacom Discussion List [mailto:TAXACOM at LISTSERV.NHM.KU.EDU]On
> Behalf Of Steve.Shattuck at CSIRO.AU
> Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 3:37 PM
> To: TAXACOM at LISTSERV.NHM.KU.EDU
> Subject: Re: a dream work: online counter for new species...
>
>
> For credit to work, you'll need to be able to quantify individual
> contributions.  You'll need a system where you get statistics like "J.
> Bloggs contributed 340 taxon record updates during 2003 out of a total
> of 5798 updates received".  Not unlike the ISI Citation Impact numbers.
> For people to contribute in a meaningful way (rather than just now and
> then, or on weekends) this sort of metadata will need to be part of
> these systems.
>
> And reviewers/line managers will need to be able to get an idea of the
> impact these contributions make.  If a web site gets 100 million hits a
> year contributors should get more "credit" than those contributing to a
> site getting half a million hits a year.  It's like publishing in Nature
> compared to grey literature.  And we can't really do this now.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Your comment was informative, though I think there's a misunderstanding.
> What I meant by "credit" was something that could be used as leverage
> to, e.g., apply for a position, or secure funding, directly advance
> one's scientific career, and so on. Print publications can rather
> immediately achieve this for taxonomists, and exclusive internet
> publications - however well credited to an author and lasting - aren't
> (yet,
> unfortunately) as powerful in that department.