[Taxacom] "Why would you waste your time editing Wikipedia?"

[Curtis Clark]

On 2008-09-21 13:38, Una Smith wrote:
> Jim Croft wrote:
>> Coming back to your Wikipedia example, conceptually there should be
>> nothing wrong with citing a specimen as a reference, for example,
>> "Found forming large understorey populations in open Eucalypt forest
>> (Brown 3452 in herb. CNS)".  It could be argued that specimens are
>> quite a bit less evanescent than a databse record or a website.
> 
> I agree.  But most Wikipedia editors, like people in general, have
> no idea that "Brown 3452 in herb. CNS" refers to a physical specimen 
> in a herbarium, akin to a book or manuscript in a library.

In addition, although the label could be used as a reference, the 
specimen could not, since all but the most trivial conclusions require 
interpretation, which in Wikipedia constitutes original research, which 
is not allowed.

-- 
Curtis Clark                  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/
Director, I&IT Web Development                   +1 909 979 6371
University Web Coordinator, Cal Poly Pomona