How can we maintain and continue to benefit from our planet’s biodiversity? A first step, the effective exchange of information about biodiversity, needs an efficient and stable means of naming species. For animals, this is achieved with the Linnaean system of binominal nomenclature, introduced in 1758, and a comprehensive set of rules administered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). Although the Linnaean system and the ICZN code have been hugely successful, they are often perceived as failing to meet the needs of today’s biologists. To meet these new demands, we propose the creation of a mandatory web register for all new animal names, and the subsequent inclusion of all existing animal names and nomenclature in a single information system....We propose a register of new zoological names — ZooBank — to be established and administered by the ICZN, and bolstered by a mandatory requirement, in the next edition of the code, for the registration of new names. The register would be web-based and open-access, and would cover all taxonomic ranks relevant to the code.
Also see the technical paper which the Nature comment above merely summarizes.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 10/03/2005 08:41:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
