[Taxacom] saturday morning fun

[Stephen Thorpe]

http://www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/content/2010/f/pt00009p021.pdf

regarding the above,

(1) yes, something like this is what needs to be done with *all groups* before 
GBIF can even start to offer anything solid; but

(2) it would be a mistake, IMHO, to employ taxonomists to do this synthesis, for 
they should be doing *primary taxonomy* before more taxa go extinct, and not 
spending their time synthesising their own data for digestion by GBIF. In a way, 
there is a danger here of it being done by experts in the *wrong area*! They 
need to have expertise in botanical nomenclature and bioinformatics, not in 
plant taxonomy. However, the job is *easier* than doing actual *primary 
taxonomy*, which may attract some taxonomists to the task ...

(3) I'm not sure how *GBIF* can limit overheads on work done by institutional 
taxonomists?? If the taxonomists are spending work time on the GBIF project 
without bringing in much in the way of overheads, then they are going to be put 
under pressure by their institution to get it done quickly and/or do other more 
lucrative projects concurrently, which risks compromising the quality of their 
work for this project




________________________________
From: David Remsen (GBIF) <dremsen at gbif.org>
To: Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>
Cc: David Remsen (GBIF) <dremsen at gbif.org>; David Campbell 
<pleuronaia at gmail.com>; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Sent: Tue, 30 November, 2010 9:47:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] saturday morning fun

I don't wish to continue this thread forever but I would like to clarify 
something about the funding.  GBIF has a policy on not contributing more than a 
minimal amount (~10%) in overheads to ensure that the funds were utilised for 
the proposed work.

An example of one of the projects that was catalysed and supported by GBIF is 
the Early Land Plants Today consortium.  Please see 
"http://www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/content/2010/f/pt00009p021.pdf"

David

On Nov 29, 2010, at 11:54 PM, Stephen Thorpe wrote:

>> The assumption that "people are paid in museums and other organisations to
>> digitise and enter data into collections databases"
> is often incorrect.  Often they aren't paid, or else they are minimally paid.
> Thus, it becomes a job for student assistants, volunteers, etc., who often 
>don't
> have a good grasp of taxonomy, geography, etc., while more competent 
>taxonomists
> can't find paid employment
> 
> I think it is more complicated than this ... yes, the actual work is often 
done
> by summer students, etc., but if GBIF is giving millions to taxonomists to
> compile checklists, as David has indicated, then that money is going 
somewhere.
> I suspect that it isn't given directly to independent taxonomists, but to
> taxonomists at institutions where the institution will take half as 
>"overheads",
> and then the taxonomist will get paid to "supervise" the summer students. All
> they need is their "chicks for free" and we have a damn good 80s rock song!!! 
>:)
> 
> Stephen
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: David Campbell <pleuronaia at gmail.com>
> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Sent: Tue, 30 November, 2010 11:35:45 AM
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] saturday morning fun
> 
> There seems to be appreciable problems in GBIF's attempts to deal with
> homonyms.  Papillina, for example, was used first in Gastropoda and
> then in Porifera.  GBIF has apparently harvested the Porifera taxonomy
> from one source and data records for the snail from other sources.  I
> did try emailing GBIF about it.
> 
> Probably the greatest problem is that there's generally no support for
> actual taxonomists to check the data for compilations of this sort.
> The assumption that "people are paid in museums and other
> organisations to digitise and enter data into collections databases"
> is often incorrect.  Often they aren't paid, or else they are
> minimally paid.  Thus, it becomes a job for student assistants,
> volunteers, etc., who often don't have a good grasp of taxonomy,
> geography, etc., while more competent taxonomists can't find paid
> employment.
> 
> --Dr. David Campbell
> The Paleontological Research Institution
> 1259 Trumansburg Road
> Ithaca NY 14850
> 
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