[Nhcoll-l] Passenger Pigeon Manifesto

Tue Sep 22 04:58:23 EDT 2020

Dear Doug,

You are all way correct on this, but the same is true (at least in part) for the museum collections data available on internet. Museum people are aware of this (I hope), but the user outside the museum world, grab the species identifications as some sort of truth. The problem is not to make pictures or museum data available. The problems are:

1.       There is usually no disclaimer telling what actually an identification really means.

2.       There are not enough taxonomists in the world. (It should be attractive and well paid etc.)

3.       Those taxonomists should produce research and curate collections, there is so much else they have to do.

Another aspect. When I am cleaning up in a collection of a group which I am not familiar with (presently birds) I am so happy when I can google on a bird name no longer in use and at least find a picture which give a hint on what kind of bird am I looking for!

Best wishes,

Erik Åhlander
vertebrate zoology and museum history

ZOO
Swedish Museum of Natural History
PO Box 50007
SE-10405 Stockholm
Sweden
+46 0 8 5195 4118
+46 0 70 225 2716
erik.ahlander at nrm.se

Från: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> För Douglas Yanega
Skickat: den 22 september 2020 02:26
Till: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Ämne: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Passenger Pigeon Manifesto

On 9/21/20 8:55 AM, Adam Harangozó wrote:
Dear All,
I would like to share news about a publication that just came out and is very relevant to natural history and heritage:
"Signed by a large number of professionals, the Passenger Pigeon Manifesto is a call to public galleries, libraries, archives, and museums to liberate cultural heritage that has already been digitised."
The Manifesto: http://ppmanifesto.hcommons.org<https://url11.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1kKWGn-0005kV-4y&i=57e1b682&c=ZFY52ozqYuWCEYUQi0075yNR5sJXJC_FUtp-ZGKIqYt4goTnWVxZey0NleUBW8LPrltv0s8EpS1tTRZR2tGlH83SEZkJnL7ZZHhAWr-tGjAoKF7u2bVdZlq9uw-4lWDFH6A_IfO7jUmnh2JYqWbWi9vGTsVuXLOoTdcESxoN_8G7PGsYEHs0BEuHFswXm717vKH27CK1sUMVv47lcs47A5MSfBUVTYq3kOYVMnawTEfXKUrGNIeHvUe9KCArn0KbUWhy_4nd6mye_wILRGVo8-SW9FMymRiXTsZqwl-GXlQrMq4CRVDJSYdqwoSx55HNXi5OSSjXchuA1bATcMFk-dq2hEovhrJzeA71NEnY-pQ5EeuTW_tTIXihQyyPwDs5SYIR954Ixq-s3-GvruzI5REGvk_eZQQdKxf3TcbdehJacNcvOCWx0CTbMtgD92zu4Yenrm-F7cjDi1yQHGUBQvIPqC9nEVsnv2-UxTlaFtkm0Wofwd7gpaB4PKIZOF1v4_H4QlUR4H7UB9y0AmriuXe3SnCvJBuFzcBE6AFDxJOtBUNCLnadnBe6O3UKc1Cu> It was published by multiple platforms online and will appear in print publications too.
Please do share it with others and consider acting on the call. Twitter posts for sharing are available here: https://twitter.com/adamhrngzo/status/1305522265803505665<https://url11.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1kKWGn-0005kV-4y&i=57e1b682&c=VLHrWu4l99ChY78ffbVm2FlemrXHZZIH0ptoN89M1bkU_Jh51eCKo52wyLaM-nqS6TXAO1kirRYdpu4SG28Rc7ONYnEFtrm-6qZkL5XhDkaKrWNm5LaZoE7UqyTy96Au8J8LnQGZ2_2XjtPvk9q4Q4pLyuXVFVRLuFxwm4uNkPWQuDFt64NaIsKR2pdEG2Bk7VYDpbCJtHEayAe6ydo8VYBmDgnYHykVbbKUdyBA9v8qCwrhu28MPS9ShTNSz5W1vvZaYRHuiTRr8K96PVcKWw>, https://twitter.com/Europeanaeu/status/1305872588103725056<https://url11.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1kKWGn-0005kV-4y&i=57e1b682&c=gzOL3_oOlaW8vfZC38i444alnEDCCVieadgtJlP3348evIZ3zr2wzTicucBuIIf9fIALq4Nl7QJaaxgv1pvbsziBYBD3lwSxlpWcCboNdZUVlqqwS5WixUIHPrN_K3wb3FgKXWpqlG1pbEMZW1LNyAa9BRO8a2fgw-a7vMOcFO3PRj-E1jWL5N5oXtIYjrP981KlofbWMmyktHiUCyGOkhDQZNsncFI3nSiD3hilnWGcYMpGQO6YU5-mnMlvz0N4pZATERoJI2Yn5Va3EFvQkA>

There is a fairly significant problem with one of the suggestions included in this ambitious and otherwise carefully-thought-out document, at least insofar as images that link to taxonomy:

The closing section suggests to make use of the Wikimedia Commons (WC) as a source for "liberated" digital images. While on the surface this is a good idea, the problematic aspect is that a fairly substantial portion of the images presently archived in WC fall into two categories that greatly undermine their utility - (1) many are from outdated sources, using scientific names linked to the original image sources but that are no longer valid, resulting in inappropriate placement in the WC hierarchy, and (2) many are misidentified, using scientific names that do not apply at all to the species in the image. On top of which, (3) many of the taxonomic hierarchies appearing in WC are themselves outdated, using family names or other higher taxonomic ranks that are obsolete or configured differently than what appears in WC. Case in point: the passenger pigeon louse (Columbicola extinctus) is presently classified in the Order Phthiraptera, in the Superorder Psocodea; in WC, however, Psocodea is incorrectly listed as an Order, and Phthiraptera is not one of its constituents. People using WC as a source of taxonomic data are often being given outdated and erroneous results.

Adding more images from more sources will only increase the number of contributed images falling into these undesirable categories, unless a substantial effort is undertaken to employ qualified taxonomic experts who can act as "digital curators" and address the presently chaotic misplacement, misidentification, and misclassification issues.

Adam: with all due respect, I would urge you to bring my comments to the attention of the other co-signatories of this document, with consideration as to editing the proposal to account for the explicit need to employ taxonomic expertise to assist the endeavor. Images that are not what they claim to be are a form of misinformation, and making them available without quality control does not advance the community's aims.

Sincerely,

--

Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum

Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega

phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)

             https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html<https://url11.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1kKWGn-0005kV-4y&i=57e1b682&c=SGFT-9_7DzV6TjVYG1IQFm-Bo5sIwFCIcfYWrdv4Fof21kjOfvmlnio8zPPSLT2EMPBDZhpCKMvEvUb3rNz7rx3LkcMVp122HVAGM3pdFilI_MSu6on6rf3T7h6yW1yQpnbBpbUMjrUTi_y5p4g2varmolirg2V63b2rDruIjwTMKfqPG-S53lNeFtq4o4XyQkI0emEWd7QS8E4DwYGsUopjIHrdkTZy3VpsTCwnxYYcXaW_hAMX7U3AXeTgWsJg>

  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness

        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
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