This morning scientists from around the world announced the creation of the Encyclopedia of Life, a freely available site that will document 1.8 million species over the next ten years.
The Encyclopedia of Life
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Gathering up all the info from your favorite search engine, and making a nice page summary is nice. Wonder why they didn’t elect to participate in the Wikipedia project.
postgeographic.wordpress.com
Wikispecies came to mind for me to. But it appears they are a little more expert-based:
“2. Who will do the writing?
Unlike conventional encyclopedias, where an editorial team sits down and writes the entries, the Encyclopedia will be developed by bringing together (“mashing up”) content from a wide variety of sources. This material will then be authenticated by scientists, so that users will have authoritative information. As we move forward, Encyclopedia of Life and its board will work with scientists across the globe, securing the involvement of those individuals and institutions that are established experts on each species”
“6. What about Wikipedia?
Wikipedia inspired us. Wikipedia accumulated about 1.5 million entries in English in its first four years. That gave us confidence that our tasks are manageable with current technology and social behaviour, although the expert community in a lot of the subjects for pages in Encyclopedia of Life may be only a handful of people. Wikipedia has also created some species pages, as have other groups. Encyclopedia of Life will, we hope, unite all such efforts and increase their value. The Wikimedia Foundation is a member of the Encyclopedia’s Institutional Council. ”
Depending on the license used, you could see material passing back and forth between the projects.
Depending on the license,