Roderic Page of iPhylo mentioned the book Small Pieces Loosely Joined. It could be an interesting, I think I'll add it to my reading list. In his review he mirrors some of my thoughts regarding the differences in the web world of information where quantity seems to outweigh quality concerns with regard to data:
The more I read it the more it confirms my fear that most people talking about biological taxonomy and biodiversity on the Web simply don't "get" the Web. Adopting the Web successfully will require a willingness to accept error, ambiguity, and downplaying "expertise" and "authority".
We often have similar concerns in the library field where traditionally cataloguers pride themselves on the unyielding accuracy of their library catalogues, whereas in the web world data accuracy isn't usually the most important issue. The most important thing is having just enough information to be able to successfully search and connect the information. Hence, much to the chagrin of most cataloguing professionals, Dublin core and other simplified bibliographic metadata standards have become exceedingly common on the web.
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