[Taxacom] OMG! OMG! Run for your lives! End of the World!

Thu May 6 04:13:50 CDT 2010

Yes, there is not really much of a story here: the requirements 
of the ICBN are met.

However, using print-outs of electronic publications is potentially 
at odds with Rec. 30A, and is not guaranteed safe. If this becomes 
common practice, it is possible that (sometime in the future) 
a Rule will be instituted that such print-outs have to meet 
certain requirements, such as that they are evidently intended
for the permanent scientific record (and are not just a pile of 
sheets stapled together), or in terms of numbers of copies in their
'print run', etc). In that case it is possible that these names 
may (retroactively) lose their status. 

These names do live on the edge, and may fall over.

Paul

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu namens Karen Wilson
Verzonden: do 6-5-2010 10:16
Aan: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Onderwerp: Re: [Taxacom] OMG! OMG! Run for your lives! End of the World!

You've hit the nail on the head, Kristina.  This could be considered a beat-up by 'Nature'! 

If you turn the story around, Sandy has clearly met the ICBN's requirements by putting hard copies in 10 libraries, which is more than the Code lays down - strictly the Code only requires 2 copies, unfortunately. The last Nomenclature session (Vienna 2005) did agree to add a recommendation (Rec. 30A) that authors/publishers should deposit hard copies of any nomenclatural publication in at least 10 libraries. It's only a recommendation in this version of the Code, but it is likely to become the accepted minimum to deposit, whether a publication is hard copy only or electronic as well. 
The date of publication is the date on which the publisher (or agent) sends ('makes available', in the terminology of the ICBN) the copies to those ten libraries. 
The current Code is online at http://ibot.sav.sk/icbn/main.htm for those who want to read more...

In practice, Sandy has done the same as one of my colleagues did with a short publication on new taxa in Grevillea in 1986; in that case it was a 'self-published' paper that was sent to a lot of libraries by the author, plus given to us individually here in the National Herbarium of NSW. 

The advantage in Sandy's case, of course, is that the paper is also available electronically to a much wider audience. Whether that will be ephemeral availability or not we have yet to see, but long-term electronic archiving is improving all the time, if still not as reliable as books on a shelf generally are (and yes, I have heard it said that the only secure publication is on stone tablets!).

It seems likely that many smaller journals (and larger ones?) will move soon to a very limited print run, maybe with 'print-on-demand' as well, and will rely on the Web version of their journals to reach the wider audience. The deposit of at least some hard copies in libraries seems a sensible measure, whether required by the Code or not, in terms of persistence into the future. As I keep telling our IT people, long term storage/archiving equates to centuries for us biologists, not 3-5 years. 

 At the least, Sandy and 'Nature' have ensured that discussion will be animated in our Electronic Publication Committee (of which Sandy is a  member) as well as in the broader botanical community in what's left of the period before the IBC in Melbourne in July 2011. 

Karen Wilson
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Karen L. Wilson, AM  |  Senior Research Scientist  Plant Diversity Section  |  National Herbarium of NSW  |  Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, Mrs Macquaries Road, SYDNEY NSW 2000, AUSTRALIA 

Adjunct Assoc Prof, University of New England Secretary-General XVIII IBC Organising Committee - to take place in Melbourne July 2011
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-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Kristina LEMSON
Sent: Thursday, 6 May 2010 3:42 PM
To: Jim Croft; TaxaCom
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] OMG! OMG! Run for your lives! End of the World!

Actually, aren't they are complying with the code, rather than 'getting around' I, as the article puts it?

Kris

On 6/05/10 6:12 AM, "Jim Croft" <jim.croft at gmail.com> wrote:

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100505/full/news.2010.221.html?s=news_rss

--
_________________
Jim Croft ~ jim.croft at gmail.com ~ +61-2-62509499 ~ http://www.google.com/profiles/jim.croft
'A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity.'
 - Robert Frost, poet (1874-1963)

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