An open access register for animal taxonomy will offer a free online resource for checking animal names and registering new species. The database, called ZooBank, will be the first ever single reference resource for zoologists conducting research or naming newly discovered
species when launched this quarter. “We are trying to encourage scientists, authors and journal editors to deposit the original description of a species in ZooBank, as well as registering its taxonomic details,” said Andrew Polaszek, executive secretary of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the body behind ZooBank.
Thomson Scientific’s Zoological Record database of articles relating to named species is currently the primary resource for zoologists. “Zoological Record scans and indexes the published literature on animal names,” said Polaszek. “The problem is that the descriptions can be published anywhere in over 1,100 specialised journals, so original animal names are widely scattered.” ZooBank will provide a single online interface. Polaszek expects a new interface to allow new names to be checked and registered to appear later this year. It will offer links from taxonomic records to full-text articles in Zoological Record and other sources....“Biodiversity research is calling for a site like this,” said Nigel Robinson, head of operations at Zoological Record.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 4/10/2006 12:24:00 PM.
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.
