[Taxacom] Caveat emptor (raw taxanomic data)

[bti at dsmz.de]

I am afraid that Ken is right. The reliability of data is a key issue.  
While it is easy to "blame" databases they are generally at the mercy  
of data sets that others deposit. Little attention is given to  
maintaining reliable infrastructure, which is what good science also  
relies on.
Brian


Quoting Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>:

> Yeah, the 'Caveat emptor' caveat is all well and good, BUT:
>
> I suspect that some of the big funders and likely serious end users of
> biodiversity informatics databases want more than anything to avoid  
> the need for
> 'Caveat emptor', and actually think that that is what they are  
> funding/going to
> get. They want expertly vetted information which they can rely on, and use to
> make conservation/biosecurity management decisions etc.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Kenneth Kinman <kennethkinman at webtv.net>
> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Sent: Wed, 25 August, 2010 3:49:19 PM
> Subject: [Taxacom] Caveat emptor (raw taxanomic data)
>
> Dear All,
>       The consumer of anything, whether it be of taxonomic data, food
> products, or other products, must increasingly be aware that "caveat
> emptor" (buyer beware) is always the best policy in a world where
> quantity tends to be increasingly valued over quality. 
>         As for food products, the recent massive egg recall is a case in
> point.  The U.S. government isn't general going to be very proactive in
> preventing bad products from reaching the market place, but just
> reacting to the problem months after the fact.  In my opinion the same
> generally goes for the products of scientific research funded by
> government agencies.  It can vary from excellent to pouring money down a
> rat hole.     
>       In the case of eggs, some are now calling for more pasteurization
> of eggs, but that clearly raises the cost of such eggs, and also will
> probably end up in cases where producers will cut corners and sell
> half-way pasteurized eggs, and unwary consumers could pay more and still
> get sick from oontamination.  And the price of "organic" (but
> unpasteurized) eggs is already going up, but there is no guarantee that
> such "organic" eggs do not contain salmonella.  Some fraction almost
> certainly do.  The only safe solution is to thoroughly cook eggs (if the
> yolk is not cooked to a solid state, eater beware). Scrambled eggs are
> perhaps a safer bet than fried.   
>       Same with taxonomic information.  If you don't process and "cook"
> the raw data properly, you are likely to get "sick" results.  It doesn't
> matter if it is morphological or molecular data, either can give you
> "sick" results if you don't process it properly and then weigh each in
> an appropriate manner (depending on the taxon and the information
> available).  You can't depend on governmental agencies to protect you
> from contamination in your food OR your taxonomic data.   
>       ---------Ken Kinman
>
>        
>
>
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