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

[Stuart Fullerton]

and------ if you stay with this long enough you will find that "everyone"
is doing a list and then there are those that do nothing but make lists of
lists.

and it is true, very very true, disgustingly true - there is no free lunch.
nothing is free.   but we do keep trying to believe. sorta like al the
tellamarkerters that keep trying to tell me that they are not selling
something.

but i can hardly wait to see what any of these list listers do with the
insects.  even the specialists do not agree within a given taxa (where
there are two or more specialists working a given taxa) so good luck!

cheers!    i just chop wood

rof

christian thompson wrote:

> 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

--
Stuart M Fullerton ROF, Research Associate in charge of Arthropod
Collections (UCFC), Dept. of Biology, University of Central Florida, PO
Box 162368, Orlando, Florida, 32816-2368, USA. stuartf at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu
OR stuartf at biology.ucf.edu  (407) 823-6540 (no voice mail)
<http://biology.ucf.edu/bugs/>