V. S. Smith. Science publishing for the MySpace generation: MySpecies and the Encyclopedia of Life

1. Science Publishing for
the MySpace Generation
MySpecies the Encyclopedia of Life
Vincent S. Smith

2. Biodiversity Science
The foundation for all biological disciplines
Mission…
• Inventory the Earth’s species
• Understand their relationships
• Create predictive information
systems from these data
Data set…
• 1.8M described species (10M names)
• 300M pages (over last 250 years)
• 1.5-3B specimens
Staff…
• 4-6,000 scientists
• 30-40,000 amateurs
• Many more citizen scientists?

3. Biodiversity Science
The foundation for all biological disciplines
250 yr progress report…
• Up to 87% of life on Earth is
still undescribed
• 6% of biodiversity scientists cover
80% of the worlds biodiversity
• At present rates most species will be
extinct long before we describe them