[Taxacom] Pop article on taxonomy's decline

[dipteryx at freeler.nl]

Van: Donat Agosti [mailto:agosti at amnh.org]
Verzonden: vr 28-1-2011 14:07

Sorry, something messed up the last paragraph in my posting, 
it should read as this
[Donat Agosti] 

> At the same time, there are a huge number of bottom up initiatives 
> that do not talk to each others (Rod Pages' bubble). An IT 
> infrastructure is needed to make them talk to each other and
> provide at least one entry to the information in this highly 
> decentralized system you mention. If there is not such a platform,
> this is not happening. Nobody talks about the multiple of
> highly incomplete, orphaned bottom up DBs, for which a lot of 
> money has been spent, though in very little increments.

***
I don't know about that; I have never seen something go off the web
(being relocated, yes; removed, no). Instead there is a continuous
stream of additions, at a speed faster than I can keep up. There is 
also ever more connectivity; I would be inclined to think there may 
be too much connectivity already as high-quality sources are being linked up with garbage (relatively speaking).
* * *

> [...]
> The fact is, that we as a community do not deliver even the most 
> basic of our data, a comprehensive list of taxa. 
> [...]

***
I am not at all sure that a list of taxa is the most basic commodity
in taxonomy, let alone a comprehensive list (if there can even be 
such a thing). A list of taxa is a pretty advanced result.

Paul