[Taxacom] Rocket science, not?

[Mary Barkworth]

Rocket science is simple to a rocket scientist. Developing databases and
creating tools to make use of data aggregations is not straight forward
to many of us. 
It seems there are a few changes that might help us all, whether
specialists or aggregators. One is to pressure an organization such as
GenBank to have a mechanism for recording - and making highly visible-
that a sequence seems to be based on a misidentified source. Of course
the original donor should be informed and given a chance to respond. One
of the features about IPNI and TROPICOS (both botanical resources) that
makes these such useful resources is that small errors are corrected
within 24 hours. For more complex questions, one is provided with a
wealth of information and contacts - and help in understanding the
problems one needs to resolve before a change can be made. Thank you
Kanchi Gandhi, Gerrit Davidse, and Jim Solomon (the people whom I
contact most frequently in this connection).

Another is to help such resources by providing them with the information
they need to maintain and enhance their completeness. Most journals
require that sequence data be submitted to one of the aggregating
organizations before or with publication. The same approach for names
would help. I suspect that some journals automatically submit new plant
names to TROPICOS and IPNI. If we could extend this approach around the
world, it would be really helpful - perhaps GBIF's regional nodes could
encourage such an approach. Clearly the software needed already exists. 

Correcting distributional information in GBIF is probably more difficult
because there is so much of it, but at least there is a chance to do so
with the specimen-based information (and, with good images, some aspects
of observational data). What is difficult is when GBIF accepts secondary
data, data aggregated by some other source and fed as that source's
records into GBIF. Another approach that would be "not rocket science"
to someone with more computer skills than me would be to set up an RSS
feed from GBIF (or national nodes) when there is a new record for a
species/genus in a particular region. It should be possible to state at
what geographic level the record comes from, and whether there are other
records for the area under a synonym. Anyone want to develop this? Or
does it exist? If it does exist, please tell us where. 

Mary