More GBIF questions (was: ITIS)

[B.J.Tindall]

At 11:56 23.6.2004 +0200, Meredith Lane wrote:
>More important to this discussion, however, is your last question "who
>is to do this (using databases in innovative ways to sort out
>nomenclature)"?  Seems to me that the answer is another question: Who
>has always done the work of sorting out nomenclature?  It's just that
>now there are some new tools to help (and speed up the process), which
>it seems a good idea to use.

Meredith
Again I agree, but this would imply "expert taxonomists" familiar with the
Code, which brings me back to my earlier e-mail which asks the "3rd"
question who is going to do that when people are not trained in this area!?
Changing the technology does not replace the need for a certain expertise.
The two go hand in hand - expertise and technology.
Brian


>
>Meredith
>Meredith A. Lane, PhD
>PR & Scientific Liaison
>GBIF Secretariat
>Global Biodiversity Information Facility
>mlane at gbif.org
>www.gbif.org <http://www.gbif.org>
>
>
>Paul van Rijckevorsel wrote:
>
>>>Wolfgang Lorenz wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>>On a side note, two questions:
>>>>
>>>>
>>1.) Obviously, since the Rio Convention there have been increased efforts
>>(GBIF, Species2000, UBIO, etc.) to address and solve the 'names problem'
>>(part of the 'taxonomic impediment'), but it seems to me that the logic
>>central role of the Codes (IZCN, ICBN, etc.) has received too little
>>attention, so far.
>>In Coleoptera Carabidae, I have to deal with more than 60.000 names (without
>>counting secondary generic combinations) for 34.000 species, and I
>>encountered more than 1000 names problems that cannot be settled on the
>>basis of the current ICZN Code (4th ed.). Obviously there is an urgent need
>>for several important amendments in details of the Code (see also recent
>>discussions on the ICZN-list).
>>
>>+ + +
>>I think I missed what the "ICZN-list" is?
>>+ + +
>>
>>From: Meredith Lane <mlane at GBIF.ORG>
>>
>>
>>>It seems to me that we need to clarify a little more closely that there
>>>
>>>
>>are really two classes of "names problems" :
>>1)  Those that arise from nomenclatural practice as governed (or not) by
>>the Codes -- such as those you describe for your carabids.
>>2)  Those that arise because of transcription errors of one sort or
>>another (e.g. taxonomist who named it got the orthography wrong, person
>>who ID'ed a specimen spelled the name wrong, person who entered specimen
>>data into a database committed a typo).
>>
>>+ + +
>>I have never seen "name problems" divided into those two classes. It is more
>>usual to divide them into:
>>1) taxonomic problems ("This species belongs into what genus?" and perhaps
>>"This name has an insufficient diagnosis and supporting material to place
>>it. Is it a separate species at all?")
>>2) nomenclatural problems (like, rediscovered old names threatening
>>established names; also, the question to correct or not to correct the
>>taxonomist who named it but got the orthography wrong)
>>
>>Besides that there are various problems such as "unpublished names" in
>>current use and indeed transcription errors.
>>+ + +
>>
>>
>>
>>>Fixing the Codes won't take care of class 2
>>>
>>>
>>
>>+ + +
>>In some cases it will
>>+ + +
>>
>>
>>
>>>, but it is *many* of those
>>>
>>>
>>that ITIS, Species2000 and GBIF have to deal with, in addition to the
>>confusions occasioned by class 1. Gradually, as those working on GSDs
>>(global species databases) for various groups of organisms complete
>>their work, much of the name-clutter will be cleaned up. [...]
>>
>>
>>
>>>GBIF would be pleased to talk with the Commissions about ways that its
>>>
>>>
>>Electronic Catalogue of Names of Known Organisms (ECAT) could be
>>utilized in innovative ways to speed up the process of sorting out
>>nomenclature, and perhaps even eliminating the future generation of
>>synonyms
>>
>>+ + +
>>The ICZN is put together by a Commission, but the ICBN is "amended" by a
>>more complex procedure, as is (I think) the Bacterial Code. Using databases
>>"in innovative ways to speed up the process of sorting out [the]
>>nomenclature" sounds promising, but who is to do this?
>>
>>Paul van Rijckevorsel
>>Utrecht, NL
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>--
><http://www.gbif.org>
>


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