I am in the process of specifying a formula (a microformat) for marking-up, in HTML, the names of species (and sub-species, varieties, hybrids, etc.), so that such names can be recognised by software and searched, indexed, extracted or aggregated. The microformat will be an open standard, freely available for anyone to use. For instance, if I mark up a list of birds using that microformat, you might have browser tool which lists all the species on the page, and creates links to, say their entries in Wikipedia, or the BTO website, or some academic database of your choosing. Early thoughts are on an editable wiki and need both messages of support (not just "me too"s, but particularly from people who have websites on which they might use them) and, especially, comments and constructive criticisms. If you know a webmaster who might be interested, or a taxonomist who might be able to contribute to the debate (are there any "edge cases" not covered by the proposal as it currently stands, for instance?), please pass this message on to them. Also, please let me know of any mailing lists or other web-fora where taxonomical matters are debated. Thank you. -- Andy Mabbett
The place I immediately think of to propose this would be on the TAXACOM listserv. You might also like to check out uBio or the work of Roderic Page (if you post on TAXACOM, he'll likely reply) I'd be interested to know the results of your queries - I lurk on TAXACOM, so I'll see the discussion there if you post.
Thank you, I'll try that. We've already had some interest, from other organisations involved in taxonomy standards - I didn't realise that there were so many! -- Andy Mabbett
I see you've found the TDWG mailing list (sorry, just catching up on my emails from the past 4 days now)
