[Nhcoll-l] collector & determiner identities

[Shorthouse, David]

> http://kiki.huh.harvard.edu/databases/botanist_search.php?mode=details&id=92
>
> You will also note that GUIDs are assigned to each agent. The AppleCore group are recommending this Index as a controlled vocabulary for authors and collectors associated with specimen records (note that this group is actively working on the AppleCore best practice again; new home to be announced soon).

Thanks for this.

I'd dearly love an identifier system for individuals that is not so
domain (=Kingdom)-specific. Plenty of collectors and determiners cross
the divide of Codes of Nomenclature so at the highest level, this is
not a problem specific to a particular group or persuasion. However,
who better than botanists to sort out issues of identity for dead
botanists? Likewise for entomologists. There's a critical heritage
component to all this that needs community involvement before more of
it is lost forever. ORCID seems like the most logical, prospective
solution for the living, especially because it is being actively tied
to other academic outputs like papers published, grants received,
current institutional affiliation, etc. If there was a commitment to
also include one's ORCID in the Index of Botanists, that would be an
excellent, forward-thinking enhancement and would greatly facilitate
its maintenance of eg contact information.

David P. Shorthouse