[Taxacom] pro-iBioshphere project Web Site launched

Tue Nov 6 08:01:15 CST 2012

Wonderful, Donat,

Your answer is perfect although Paul did not really frame his question 
properly.

This is another example of waste, re-inventing the IT / computer software 
instead of investing in scientific content.

For more than a half century, since computers first became accessible, IT 
has continually got large sums for as you wrote
" to produce more efficiently, richer and easier accessible open access 
content ..."

but nothing really has gone into developing that "content " as the 
underlying assumption is taxonomic content is FREE!

Check out the old article "Why Museum computer projects fail" in Museum News 
1981, vol. 59 (4): 40-49. Nothing has changed.

The Public would be better informed if funds were invested in CONTENT, new 
and enhanced observations of our natural world, so we can make better 
decisions about what is driving things like climate change, loss of 
biodiversity and even the one no one speaks of "whether we generating NEW 
biodiversity."

But instead, a few more dollars / euros will be wasted on "new technology" 
to better deliver the old content.

Oh, well ...

Sincerely,

Chris

from home

-----Original Message----- 
From: Donat Agosti
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2012 6:28 AM
To: 'Paul Kirk' ; TAXACOM at MAILMAN.NHM.KU.EDU
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] pro-iBioshphere project Web Site launched

Hi Paul

It is not about creating another database, encyclopedia but figuring out 
what new technological and conceptual  possibilities and ideas are emerging 
that could be used, that need be tweeked to produce more efficiently, richer 
and easier accessible open access content hopefully  reaching beyond the 
traditional users of our publications, aka biodiversity knowledge management 
system. Hopefully, you will be able to agree to the outcome that the EU 
funders look forwards to make decisions that suit our community. The best 
way of course is, if you participate in the workshops and contribute your 
experience and knowledge. Most of them are open and hopefully attract 
exactly people like you that are deeply emerged in and highly critical of 
this work.

Cheers

Donat

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Kirk [mailto:p.kirk at cabi.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2012 2:43 PM
To: Donat Agosti; TAXACOM at MAILMAN.NHM.KU.EDU
Subject: RE: [Taxacom] pro-iBioshphere project Web Site launched

Thanks Donat,

WOW - one family out of 500 :-)

Less than convinced.

Paul
________________________________________
From: Donat Agosti [agosti at amnh.org]
Sent: 06 November 2012 10:40
To: Paul Kirk; TAXACOM at MAILMAN.NHM.KU.EDU
Subject: RE: [Taxacom] pro-iBioshphere project Web Site  launched

Hi Paul
No, fungi are not ignored. Some Russulaceae taxa will be part of a pilot 
study conducted as part of the project, as well as  some Bryophyta. Also, 
there is an effort made to emphasis mycrohizae relation in other pilots.
All the best
Donat

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Kirk [mailto:p.kirk at cabi.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2012 1:58 PM
To: Donat Agosti; TAXACOM at MAILMAN.NHM.KU.EDU
Subject: RE: [Taxacom] pro-iBioshphere project Web Site launched

Yet again the fungi are ignored in a major EU project ... at a time when the 
ash tree is being devastated across europe by an emergent fungal pathogen. 
When will botanist realize that plant do not have roots - they have 
mycorhizae? How can 'Data acquisition and curation' and 'Semantic mark-up' 
be carried out when a major branch on the tree of life is ignored?

Paul M. Kirk
Mycologist
________________________________________
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu 
[taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] on behalf of Donat Agosti 
[agosti at amnh.org]
Sent: 06 November 2012 08:51
To: TAXACOM at MAILMAN.NHM.KU.EDU
Subject: [Taxacom] pro-iBioshphere project Web Site  launched

Pro-iBiosphere is a European Union  FP7 funded project to develop an outline 
of a future European open biodiversity knowledge management system. The 
Pro-iBiosphere project has been launched on September 1, 2012 for the period 
of 2 years addressing technical and semantic interoperability issues and 
challenges that will ultimately lead to a more efficient system of the 
management of biodiversity information.  For practical reasons and to 
demonstrate the functionality of the proposed ideas, the test beds are 
primarily the production of floras and faunas produced at the partner's 
institutions, how they can be linked to external datasets, and how the new 
information can be made more widely accessible.

A series of open workshops will be help to discuss specific tasks in the 
envisioned system.

Consortium partners are the Naturalis Leiden, the Royal Botanical Garden 
Kew, the National Botanic Garden Belgium,  the Botanic Garden and Botanical 
Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Sigma Orionis, Pensoft and Plazi.

More information is available at http://www.pro-ibiosphere.eu/

Donat Agosti

Plazi / Pro-iBiosphere

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