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<p>"We have developed a short online survey that we hope will
capture the information we need to formulate a meaningful
response.<br class="">
<br class="">
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__tiny.cc_biocrisis&d=DwMFAg&c=Cu5g146wZdoqVuKpTNsYHeFX_rg6kWhlkLF8Eft-wwo&r=-lUMCZ4RK28H4qvcd3vmEBuyVJHHG0OpDzFenR9wX-A&m=svMlQwGevn9uqNrpxRJ2yJpVdtCjQ3_9IKGzhmbqTyE&s=_36g9gn3ccJQs7in_wF0OOyeADV7eZCMs9FLKvqkAEI&e=" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">https://tiny.cc/biocrisis"</a></p>
<p>Having just completed this survey, I'll note that among the
agenda items we're asked to prioritize, two of them ask about the
need for funding or leading conservation efforts, but none of them
ask about the need for funding or leading <b>curatorial</b>
efforts, such as training and supporting taxonomists to provide
identifications for natural history collections, or capturing and
mobilizing specimen data.<br>
</p>
<p>I think all of us in the community understand that you can't
promote effective assessment or management of biodiversity if you
don't know what the organisms are, or where they live, and while I
don't doubt for a minute that the people in SPNHC are fully aware
of this fundamental need, I do have to wonder why it does not
appear anywhere in the survey, when it seems to me that it should
be an integral part of the discussion. After all, it's not like
this work has been completed, or is anywhere even close to
complete - there isn't a natural history collection in the world
that has all of its holdings databased, online, AND fully reviewed
for accuracy (both accuracy of data, <b>and</b> accuracy of
identification). Is this not one of the highest priorities we in
the collections community need to address in terms of the
biodiversity crisis? How useful are our millions upon millions of
specimens if we don't know whether we can trust the data, or trust
the IDs?<br>
</p>
<p>I'm not really looking for a public response, but I do want to
encourage people taking the survey to make use of the comments
towards the end to give feedback, and expand upon the very limited
selection of agenda items in the survey, if you agree with me that
there are some fundamental things missing.</p>
<p>Sincerely,<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
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)
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html">https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html</a>
"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82</pre>
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