[Taxacom] BioRSS

[John Grehan]

Rod,

Am I correct that the main page listing is automatically updated? At least
that is my impression. As I had the tab still up on my Browser today (25th)
I noticed the most recent listings to be Nov 24. If updating is constant,
is there a standard time of the day for this? A constant update would
certainly make for a convenient reference to check each day or whenever,
even for a limited range of publications, rather than having to constantly
check individual journals which is too time consuming. And it looks like
systematic articles turn up which gets me to biogeography which is my main
interest in being able to easily view new articles as they appear.

As for journal coverage, is it possible to see the full list of journals
currently scanned by your application? That would make it easy to suggest
additions. If there is no web link for that, please send the list to me at
my email address (or to Taxacom directly). Also, remind me of how your
program works - I presume it relies on journals or books having some kind
of web posting of their contents so your program can collate that
information.

While I might whine on a bit about the problem of limited coverage,
something like this is certainly better than nothing. It is rather
depressing to think that after some decades of so-called 'bioinformatics',
'big data' and all the other rhetorical crap that was floated out there for
the big money grants etc, that this very basic knowledge base for the study
of biodiversity appears to have never been addressed. If it were, Rod would
not have to still be fiddling around trying to come up with a solution
several decades later. If ever there were a grant worth enterprise (to get
the funds necessary to locate and incorporate all relevant journals and
keep the system permanent) this would appear to fit the bill.

John Grehan