[Taxacom] Biodiversity Informatics on wikipedia - contributions welcome

[Stephen Thorpe]

Excellent work Tony, though wording could be slightly better, viz.

> community-editable compilation of taxonomic information on species

not just on species, actually - Wikispecies can handle information on  
taxa of any level, including discussions on phylogeny as to be found  
in TOL etc. - we can do all that and more!

Also, to be "ultra-picky", calling it "community-editable" carries  
some negative connotations. Yes, anybody can edit it, but the history  
of who edited it when is preserved and any counterproductive edits  
(vandalism) are easily reverted. I would re-write your sentence thus:

open source compilation of taxonomic information, easily kept up-to-date ...

Cheers,

Stephen

Quoting Tony.Rees at csiro.au:

> Fair enough! Actually while you were writing this email I had  
> already created a new section "Biodiversity Informatics projects of  
> the world" on the "Biodiversity Informatics" Wikipedia page, and  
> included a link to Wikispecies prompted by your previous post  :)
>
> Regards - Tony
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen Thorpe [mailto:s.thorpe at auckland.ac.nz]
> Sent: Thursday, 6 August 2009 5:20 PM
> To: Rees, Tony (CMAR, Hobart)
> Cc: s.thorpe at auckland.ac.nz; rogerhyam at mac.com; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Subject: RE: [Taxacom] Biodiversity Informatics on wikipedia -  
> contributions welcome
>
> Sounds to me like you have written it off, but I wonder if you have
> looked at it
> much lately, as the "bare bones" are starting to gain weight! If it
> isn't a true database, then it is BETTER than a database. It can do
> anything a database can do, and more, if you know how it works
> properly. Although the main taxon pages are strictly formatted,
> anything can go on the associated talk pages. It can handle the
> following features:
> (1) synonymy
> (2) homonymy
> (3) images
> (4) links to pdfs and other websites
> (5) distribution
> (6) associated organisms
> (7) disputed classifications
>
> Basically, Wikispecies is fast becoming a "hub" with links to other
> relevant websites, and also a library and structured bibliography of
> epic proportions...
>
> Just for one average example, have a browse through Leptofoeninae:
>
> http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Leptofoeninae
>
> Stephen
>
>
> Quoting Tony.Rees at csiro.au:
>
>> It's true! I guess someone else can fix my omission, maybe... - I
>> tend not to look at Wikispecies myself very much, finding it a bit
>> "bare bones" for many purposes... also not a true database
>> (methinks) although aspiring to some of the same goals.
>>
>> Regards - Tony
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Stephen Thorpe [mailto:s.thorpe at auckland.ac.nz]
>> Sent: Thursday, 6 August 2009 4:33 PM
>> To: Rees, Tony (CMAR, Hobart)
>> Cc: rogerhyam at mac.com; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
>> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Biodiversity Informatics on wikipedia -
>> contributions welcome
>>
>> Tony,
>> Is it just me, or have you just managed to write a whole lot on
>> Wikipedia about taxonomic databases without even a mention of
>> Wikipedia's somewhat relevant sister project, Wikispecies????
>> Cheers,
>> Stephen
>>
>> Quoting Tony.Rees at csiro.au:
>>
>>> Dear all, (and Roger),
>>>
>>> As a "Biodiversity Informatics" and biological data management
>>> person myself, I have been somewhat underwhelmed by the treatment of
>>> this topic to date on Wikipedia (basically almost nothing on the
>>> designated page, plus a competing page "Biodiversity Information"
>>> that said even less), so I have made a start at restructuring the
>>> relevant page: you can see my efforts at
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity_Informatics
>>>
>>> As stated above it is just a start, plenty more to do, so anyone
>>> interested is welcome to pitch in. There is also a page for comments
>>> and general discussion at:
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Biodiversity_Informatics
>>>
>>> I decided it might also be helpful to create an associated page for
>>> taxonomic databases, now done, see:
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxonomic_database
>>>
>>> Happy wikitinkering/wikiimproving,
>>>
>>> Regards - Tony
>>>
>>> Tony Rees
>>> Manager, Divisional Data Centre,
>>> CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research,
>>> GPO Box 1538,
>>> Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
>>> Ph: 0362 325318 (Int: +61 362 325318)
>>> Fax: 0362 325000 (Int: +61 362 325000)
>>> e-mail: Tony.Rees at csiro.au
>>> Manager, OBIS Australia regional node, http://www.obis.org.au/
>>> Biodiversity informatics research activities:
>>> http://www.cmar.csiro.au/datacentre/biodiversity.htm
>>> Personal
>>> info: http://www.fishbase.org/collaborators/collaboratorsummary.cfm?id=1566
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
>>> [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Roger Hyam
>>> Sent: Wednesday, 5 August 2009 12:18 AM
>>> To: Taxacom
>>> Subject: [Taxacom] New Blog Post: Calling Time on Biological Nomenclature
>>>
>>> http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/509
>>>
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>>
>>
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