Annelidans,
First, I'm wondering how some of you are reacting to this sudden
mini-deluge of annelid mail on a Monday morn, especially the
Russians. DON'T WORRY, it won't continue at this level. If it is
a problem I might be able to arrange an occasional digest to those
who have to unsubscribe.
Jim Blake wrote:
> Is there enough information on polychaetes and related annelid
> groups to warrant still another internet site? ...
I think (hope) Jim that you'll find the specialist group draws in and
encourages interaction from people who would otherwise be intimidated and
silent in a list with a broader charter. I don't think 'Deepsea' is dead
quite yet, but it is a puzzle why it has not been more active.
Robin Wilson writes:-
> Many of us are now building databases of taxa and references. I suggest
> that it would be very useful if we were to design a form for exchanging
> data, and to use these forms to post to the list all new taxa and all
> references in a a format that we could all use to import to our own
> databases.
Robin, that is a beautiful idea! I would prefer to see it done by means of a
World Wide Web form, an example of which is the new PRO form attached to my
home page. In theory, if someone was prepared to host the site, you could fill
in the form online at the WWW site, and a script would take the information
and add it to an online database automatically.
> I could post a suggested "new taxon" form if there was any sort of interest
> in this idea.
How do you plan to process the form? Or is that up to each individual? I'd
want some format a computer could parse automatically. But, as I found with my
e-mail PRO forms, it is almost impossible to stop people filling them in
'wrongly' so that the computer produces garbage.
I won't even mention how difficult it is to get people to remember to send in
a form ... (oops). Data verification? But in principle I love the idea.
Geoff
--
Geoff Read <gread at actrix.gen.nz>
Annelida resources => http://www.actrix.gen.nz/users/chaeto/index.html
