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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/21/20 8:55 AM, Adam Harangozó
wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:CA+rrDjH1sbsKevE8FFwNk-ifPp6i0ygcZmPrXxjTO4yezH3Pdg@mail.gmail.com">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dear All,</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I would like to share news about a
publication that just came out and is very relevant to
natural history and heritage:</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">"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."</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The Manifesto: <a
href="https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fppmanifesto.hcommons.org%2F&data=02%7C01%7Ccarleton%40ohio.edu%7C25cd983a817843a6e2c208d859b778c7%7Cf3308007477c4a70888934611817c55a%7C0%7C0%7C637357991832326799&sdata=XPFF3fWLPAX3qLrsEDP24hGTY1G6%2BxsxkCPdBgvuy0s%3D&reserved=0"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">
http://ppmanifesto.hcommons.org</a> It was published by
multiple platforms online and will appear in print
publications too.
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<p class="MsoNormal">Please do share it with others and
consider acting on the call. Twitter posts for sharing are
available here:
<a
href="https://twitter.com/adamhrngzo/status/1305522265803505665"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">
https://twitter.com/adamhrngzo/status/1305522265803505665</a>,
<a
href="https://twitter.com/Europeanaeu/status/1305872588103725056"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">
https://twitter.com/Europeanaeu/status/1305872588103725056</a></p>
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</blockquote>
<p>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:</p>
<p>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) <b>many</b> 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)
<b>many</b> are misidentified, using scientific names that do not
apply at all to the species in the image. On top of which, (3) <b>many</b>
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.<br>
</p>
<p>Adding more images from more sources will only increase the
number of contributed images falling into these undesirable
categories, <b>unless</b> 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.</p>
<p>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 <b>are not what they claim to be</b> are a
form of misinformation, and making them available <b>without
quality control</b> does not advance the community's aims.</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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