[Taxacom] taxon wikipedia type resources

[Doug Yanega]

>Given the fact that for the most part taxonomists are once
>opinionated, doctrinaire, possessive, elitist, authoritarian and
>conservative control freaks (isn't order and control the very
>definition of taxonomy?), I do not see it taking off[snip]
>yes, it would be a brave new world for taxonomy... to have your work
>under continuous peer (and not so peer) review and under the perpetual
>editorial knife sounds like a taxonomist's vision of Hell on Earth...

What if the only people allowed to actually *edit* were other 
taxonomists (defined, e.g., as anyone who has published at least 5 
new taxa, at least 90% of which are not considered synonyms - so as 
not to exclude the many competent "amateurs"), and non-taxonomists 
were only allowed to *comment*? That would still allow the 
"opinionated, doctrinaire, possessive, elitist, authoritarian and 
conservative control freaks" to rule the roost, but expose their 
internecine disputes to public scrutiny, where bad manners and bad 
science wouldn't be tolerated for long. Might that not be a workable 
compromise?

Sincerely,
-- 

Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314        skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82