uBio: List of the genera of all living organisms: Insects

[christian thompson]

To: Vratislav Richard Eugene Maria John Baptist of
Bejsak-Colloredo-Mansfeld and others

Rick's appeal sound great: Let's help uBio make a comprehensive name
list for all of us. So, give them your names!

Unfortunately, he does not tell the real truth about the uBio project,
about its business model*. uBio seeks to profit from the labors of
taxonomists* without returning anything to them or our community.

uBio has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for their project on
the premise that nomenclatural and taxonomic information is free. They
have received money from the Mellon, Sloan, etc.,  foundations, for
example, to develop a comprehensive "thesaurus" for life, but they did
not factor any funds for the poor taxonomists who have or will supply
the names. uBio feels such name information is FREE! And that we all
should just give it to them or they will simply take it from us.

Unlike the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) which is
willing to help taxonomists compile authoritative list of names with
grants or even Species2000 which recognizes the value of taxonomic and
nomenclatural compilations, uBio is based on a free information model.

I have spent years and thousands of US taxpayers' money building a
comprehensive set of Diptera (fly) names (see www.diptera.org under
names). We have now more than quarter of million names, but we are still
far for completion. The critical task of having each name checked by a
specialist and verified as to its original data and current taxonomic
placement remains to be done. But rather than help with such task, uBio
merely wants to take what has been done and return nothing. They will
ask, but in the end they will just take! [Just as ALL did]

I am not the only one. Joe Hallan is another target for sure. Joe, who
has worked for years without any support, has a huge set of generic
names. While I have not heard from them, I suspect uBio is going after
BIOSIS and other large name holders, seeking their names for free.

Compiling even a simple list, like Neave's Nomenclator Zoologicus, took
many person-years of effort. But many, who have worked with Neave and
are truly grateful for those years of effort, know that much more needs
to be done. So, projects that seek solely to take from the labors of
others for their benefit without returning anything to help us to make
better tools and databases should be shun.

Will anyone fund our efforts to build authoritative databases of
taxonomic names when uBio delivers what they promise? Few organizations
today support nomenclatural and taxonomic research, but even fewer will
do so in the Future when uBio supposedly has done it all!

I hope the readers of TAXACOM will boycott uBio. They do not deserve
our support as they are not interested in support us.

=============================================
*To be fair to uBio, their business model and approach is based on
historical reality. Taxonomists have been giving away their expertise
for years without any compensation! We do identification for free or the
specimens themselves**. Free IDs, why not free names? Doctors,
engineers, other scientists (physicists, chemists, etc.) do not give
their expertise away for free and as a result their information is
considered of value to Society and funded accordingly. Taxonomists need
to wake up and take notice. uBio isn't alone, no one expects to pay
taxonomists for their expertise!

**I don't know what the practices are in Europe and other non-USA
countries, but in the USA you go to the doctor and pay for the
diagnostic tests and the doctor retains the specimens, having complete
rights to any value derived from them! Yet most users expect free
identifications and that their voucher specimens be returned! There
should be no question about taxonomists being losers as in giving
information away for free no one wants to support us!

As Pogo said years ago, we have met the enemy and it is us! So, now is
the time to draw that "line in the sand." Work with organizations like
GBIF or Species2000 who are working with the taxonomic community,
finding support for them, etc. And fully appreciate that taxonomic
information is of value and should be "paid for," not free for the
taking. Shun the others.

And as for uBio, who undoubtedly will respond to this message: Tell us
truthfully how much you have received from various foundations, etc.,
and how much of that has gone to taxonomists to compensate them for
their critical work.






F. Christian Thompson
Systematic Entomology Lab., USDA
c/o Smithsonian Institution
MRC-0169 NHB
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
(202) 382-1800 voice
(202) 786-9422 FAX
cthompso at sel.barc.usda.gov e-mail
www.diptera.org  web site