[Taxacom] Wikispecies is not a database: part 3 (after thinking about it!)

[Stephen Thorpe]

OK, some good issues have been brought up, but there is some confusion still:

(1) Is Wikispecies a database?
I now think so again! I don't see any good reason to adopt Rod Page's  
overly narrow concept of a database, but instead see more sense in  
Tony Rees' broader concept (as per his Wikipedia article), into which  
he was (at least initially) willing to include Wikispecies. So  
Wikispecies is a taxonomic database, albeit a simple one with  
particular strengths and weaknesses. This may be more than just a  
semantic issue: someone could try to justify yet another taxonomic  
database initiative by saying 'no, no, no, Wikispecies isn't a  
taxonomic database ...'

(2) actually, I am not saying that Wikispecies is better than a  
database in Rod's narrow sense. I am saying that it is better (by  
virtue in part of being free and easy to update) than all these other  
similar initiatives, like EOL, TOL, Australasian/Oceanian Diptera  
Catalog, Fiji Arthropods checklists, Fauna of New Zealand catalogues,  
..., none of which are databases in the narrow sense either. If there  
is a need for databases in the narrow sense, then that is another  
issue altogether, about which I have little opinion, except when it  
comes to the paramount importance of data quality over infrastructure.

(3) Wikispecies was probably created as an amusement for the general  
public (or at least one deviant minority thereof!). Nevertheless, it  
is a free and already fully functional infrastructure that can be used  
as a convenient resource of useful taxonomic information. It is a very  
good database for taxonomists and other people interested in taxonomic  
information. It is not so interesting for bioinformatics people, who  
have even more "deviant" interests (just kidding!) like which part of  
the world are most new taxa being described? (Auckland, obviously -  
thanks to Zootaxa!) If you want to find out the current state of  
taxonomy of a particular family (or other group), then Wikispecies  
ought to be your first port of call. If the relevant section has been  
done, you will find an up-to-date list of taxa in that family, lists  
of relevent references (many with links to pdfs), images of taxa, and  
links to other relevant databases. It would be really good if  
taxonomists would be so good as to add such information to Wikispecies  
in their particular areas - it would contribute to a very useful  
"community resource".

(4) the only point on which I strongly disagree with Rod is when he  
said in his blog that Wikispecies should stick to nomenclature and not  
adopt a classification! This would be throwing the baby out with the  
bathwater! A PURELY nomenclatural database, if it is even possible,  
would be incredibly uninteresting and only of very limited utility.  
No, the model for Wikispecies which I have in mind is as an up-to-date  
synopsis of the TAXONOMY of each particular group.

(5) so, can anybody suggest advantages of EOL, TOL, etc. over  
Wikispecies, of a magnitude that would justify the huge amount of  
money and beauracracy that goes into those initiatives? Some may see  
the fact that Wikispecies is open source (community editable) as a  
disadvantage, but I see it as open-ended peer review...

(6) the 3 most important things about any kind of taxonomic database  
are data quality, data quality, and (you guessed it) data quality!  
This is a huge topic, but just three aspects to data quality are: (1)  
how up-to-date is it? (2) how verifiable is it? (3) has it been  
compiled by someone with the appropriate levels of understanding and  
experience to be able to make proper sense of it? With regard to (3),  
I REALLY dont want to see crap (or outdated) information get locked up  
in closed sources databases, and used to make management decisions  
about biosecurity, conservation, etc.

Summary: Wikispecies is an undervalued and underutilised resource of  
taxonomic information, which is very good for some purposes, but less  
good for others. There is a proliferation of other initiatives (EOL,  
TOL, etc.), involving huge and expensive beauracracies, which are no  
better than Wikispecies for these purposes.

Stephen



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