[Taxacom] Caveat emptor (raw taxanomic data)

[bti at dsmz.de]

Stephen,
To be quite honest I was thinking of databases like GenBank/EMBL. CoL  
and ITIS is something different. ITIS still uses the prokaryote  
taxonomy from a book that was published in 1957 - while correct at the  
time it is just a wee bit out of date now. However, I am fairly sure  
that most people working with prokaryotes probably don't know that it  
is there and the experts just smile and move on.
Brian

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

> It is correct to blame the databases for bad data - at least the  
> ones like CoL
> (http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2008/info_about_col.php) who
> make claims like this:
> 'Species 2000 and ITIS teams peer review databases, select  
> appropriate sectors
> and'
> Is this not taking responsibility for data quality/reliability???
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "bti at dsmz.de" <bti at dsmz.de>
> To: Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>
> Cc: Kenneth Kinman <kennethkinman at webtv.net>; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Sent: Wed, 25 August, 2010 4:51:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Caveat emptor (raw taxanomic data)
>
> 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
>>
>>        
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> Taxacom Mailing List
>> Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
>> http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
>>
>> The Taxacom archive going back to 1992 may be searched with either of these
>> methods:
>>
>> (1) http://taxacom.markmail.org
>>
>> Or (2) a Google search specified as: 
>> site:mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom 
>> your search terms here
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> Taxacom Mailing List
>> Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
>> http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
>>
>> The Taxacom archive going back to 1992 may be searched with either of these
>> methods:
>>
>> (1) http://taxacom.markmail.org
>>
>> Or (2) a Google search specified as: 
>> site:mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom  your search terms here
>>
>>
>
>
>
> Dr.B.J.Tindall
> DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikro-
> organismen und Zellkulturen GmbH
> Inhoffenstraße 7B
> 38124 Braunschweig
> Germany
> Tel. ++49 531-2616-224
> Fax  ++49 531-2616-418
> http://www.dsmz.de
> Director: Prof. Dr. J. Overmann
> Local court: Braunschweig HRB 2570
> Chairman of the management board: MR Dr. Axel Kollatschny
>
> DSMZ - A member of the Leibniz Association (WGL)
>
>
>



Dr.B.J.Tindall
DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikro-
organismen und Zellkulturen GmbH
Inhoffenstraße 7B
38124 Braunschweig
Germany
Tel. ++49 531-2616-224
Fax  ++49 531-2616-418
http://www.dsmz.de
Director: Prof. Dr. J. Overmann
Local court: Braunschweig HRB 2570
Chairman of the management board: MR Dr. Axel Kollatschny

DSMZ - A member of the Leibniz Association (WGL)