[Taxacom] Rocket science, not?

[David Patterson]

As this recurring discussion shows, the challenges of an integrated biology
are complex, but not - as Rod is ready to point out - unachievable.

In terms of currency, EOL and GBIF established GNI - a semanticized global
names index that is currently in soft release with a small trickle of
content at globalnames.org.    This structure reflects the value of names to
biodiversity information management, and to taxonomy.    If all players
register and contribute and players 'watch', then we can achieve the
currency that is being  sought and do so with a communal infrastructure
rather than rely on individual projects and the vicissitudes of their
funding.

GNI is seen as part of a rich global names architecture, and one of the next
components will be the integration of the nomenclators - with Rich Pyle and
Paul Kirk leading the charge.  That would create the framework against which
registration of authoritative sources and their recommendations as to which
name to use could be assembled, allowing this information to accompany the
name.  For this to work, we need to assemble the reconciliation environment
through which synonymies and mis-spellings (needed by those of us who use
names for indexing information) can be cross-mapped.  The flagging of
elements within the reconciliation groups allows preferred taxonomies and
names and lexigraphy to be declared and communicated.

Taxonomy is dynamic, species are arbitrary, and any vehicle that is designed
for the future must allow for diversity of opinion and evolution.  So no one
body establishes universal authority, and that spectre should be dismissed.
Expect a future where you can chose among schemes, if you feel confident,
discriminate among concepts, and label with the name that think is most
appropriate. 

Hopefully we will see some key elements become more public at eBiosphere-09,
and an expansion of ownership of communal multipurpose names management
structures that rely on web services to interconnect the players.

David Patterson


-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
[mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Paul Kirk
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 3:53 AM
To: Roderic Page
Cc: Bob Mesibov; TAXACOM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Rocket science, not?

Yes, EoL needs to handle all names but then one hits the 'who decides
which names go in the top tier and which are synonyms or undecided' ...
EoL is not a tool for taxonomists - who can make their own informed
decisions - but for all the others who need some sort of guidance.

And after more than a decade of lobbying the 'monographers' who
contribute to Species 2000 / CoL of the value of including at an
appropriate point the nomenclators (those who have the names you want to
see exposed in EoL) we (Species 2000) do have an agreement that this is
the way forward. But, including old names so as to be complete is lower
priority than filling in some of the missing GSDs - and where resources
are limited ...

However, GBIF have (for example) all Index Fungorum content available so
I guess EoL will eventually get there. I think we are all pulling in the
same direction but perhaps not all on the same compass heading.

Paul

-----Original Message-----
From: Roderic Page [mailto:r.page at bio.gla.ac.uk] 
Sent: 11 May 2009 08:37
To: Paul Kirk
Cc: Bob Mesibov; TAXACOM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Rocket science, not?


On 11 May 2009, at 08:21, Paul Kirk wrote:

> A couple of points ...
>
> All newly published names are not necessarily new species, although 
> I'm sure those published by Bob are OK ... ;-) ... so, they do not all

> need a page on EoL. Unless, of course, everything gets an EoL page and

> some pages just become deprecated to synonymy over time. Is this a 
> realistic option - sounds like it's close to the results from a search

> in Google where one is never sure which of the many hits is the 
> 'correct' one.

Surely EOL needs to handle ALL names? If a user enters a synonym they
will want to get something, whether a page on that name, or a page on
the "accepted name" of that synonym. A page for each name is the
approach I'm exploring in my wiki project.


>
>
> The CoL is an aggregator, dependant on the underlying database for 
> content, so it's unfair to say that a newly described species is not 
> yet in the CoL if it's not yet in the relevant contributing database.

Alternatively, CoL needs to expand it's set of contributing databases.  
I understand how CoL works, but it's slow pace of growth has all sorts
of knock-on effects, including limiting the coverage of EOL (which uses
CoL as its main source of names).

>
>
> I think we all know that UBio is in stasis because the driver moved to

> another vehicle ... ;-)

>
>
> Paul
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Roderic Page
> Sent: 11 May 2009 08:05
> To: Bob Mesibov
> Cc: TAXACOM
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Rocket science, not?
>
> Dear Bob,
>
> This is a frustration that I share. These large projects are failing 
> to keep up with the pace of discovery (something I complained about 
> here http://blog.eol.org/2008/05/29/sos-state-of-observed-species/ ).
> There's no intrinsic reason for this, but I think it reflects the fact

> that some projects appear to be in stasis (uBio?), and others don't 
> have a mechanism for rapidly aggregating information.
>
> Regards
>
> Rod
>
>
> On 11 May 2009, at 02:37, Bob Mesibov wrote:
>
>> Just an observation, not a criticism:
>>
>> I published a new genus (Noteremus) and two new species in it last 
>> month in ZooKeys, which is gaily adorned with LSIDs, and thanks to 
>> the superb efforts of Richard Pyle and others, you can find the names

>> today in ZooBank. You can't find them through the webpages of ITIS, 
>> or the dynamic Catalogue of Life checklist, or uBio.
>>
>> By mentioning this here I may have wetted my chances of finding out 
>> when they would have naturally gravitated to those aggregators. I 
>> can, however, disclose the result of my silent watch on 
>> Ginglymodesmus, which I published in Zootaxa in 2005. It's not in 
>> Zoobank, or ITIS, or CoL or uBio.
>>
>> If you Google on Noteremus you get both of my specialist websites 
>> (one on Tasmanian multipedes, the other on Australian millipedes in 
>> general), ZooBank and ZooKeys. If you try Ginglymodesmus you get my 
>> two websites, Zootaxa, a specialist-maintained Photobucket page and 
>> an amateur Flickr group on Myriapoda.
>>
>> I agree with Rod Page that we're not talking about an either/or, and 
>> didn't mean to suggest we were. It's a 'both', but bottom-up seems to

>> be growing vigorously while top-down is still working on data 
>> standards.
>> --
>> Dr Robert Mesibov
>> Honorary Research Associate
>> Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and School of Zoology, 
>> University of Tasmania Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, 
>> Australia 7316
>> (03) 64371195; 61 3 64371195
>> Website: http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/mesibov.html
>>
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>
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> Roderic Page
> Professor of Taxonomy
> DEEB, FBLS
> Graham Kerr Building
> University of Glasgow
> Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
>
> Email: r.page at bio.gla.ac.uk
> Tel: +44 141 330 4778
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> Blog: http://iphylo.blogspot.com
> Home page: http://taxonomy.zoology.gla.ac.uk/rod/rod.html
>
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>
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---------------------------------------------------------
Roderic Page
Professor of Taxonomy
DEEB, FBLS
Graham Kerr Building
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

Email: r.page at bio.gla.ac.uk
Tel: +44 141 330 4778
Fax: +44 141 330 2792
AIM: rodpage1962 at aim.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1112517192
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rdmpage
Blog: http://iphylo.blogspot.com
Home page: http://taxonomy.zoology.gla.ac.uk/rod/rod.html







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