SCAN
Michael A. Ivie
response from the site? Is it just me, or is it a general problem?
Thanks,
Mike
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Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D., F.R.E.S.
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Andrew Johnston
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Douglas Yanega
Hi Mike,
The SCAN portal is down and has been for some time. From my very limited understanding, I think there is no current plan (or funding) to bring it back online. Most (or at least many) SCAN datasets are published to GBIF which is where you probably have to pull data from.
For various reasons, including institutional coverage, I generally don't use GBIF for specimen records, at least not as a first choice. I typically use iDigBio first, GBIF second.
https://portal.idigbio.org/portal/search
The #1 reason: for nearly any taxon of interest, you will find generally (but not always) find more records in iDigBio, from a few more institutions (e.g., specimens from the INHS, TAMU, and UCRC show up in IDB but not GBIF). Where GBIF has an edge is picking up literature records, but these can often be redundant (when the specimens cited are already databased).
The #2 reason: GBIF's "backbone taxonomy" is not well-curated, meaning names are often attributed to the wrong authors, dates, families, even the wrong phylum, or misspelled. The record for the genus Pinarolaema in GBIF says it's in the Coleoptera (https://www.gbif.org/species/4574383), but the record in iDigBio shows that it's actually a bird (https://portal.idigbio.org/portal/records/65f130d1-da6a-4ecf-8f8a-8bb9fd1a5f2c). Note that some of GBIF's bad data spills over into iDigBio (compare the "original" versus "interpreted" fields in the iDigBio record).
That aside, the loss of SCAN is another signal (as if we needed more) that our (inter)national data infrastructure is splintered and fragile. The future of so many resources looks shakier and shakier - look at what's happening to BHL, and imagine the same fate affecting ITIS, iDigBio, CoL, ToL, and so forth. So many of these depend on US government funding at some level, even if not directly or in entirety, and ANY funding originating in the US is jeopardized for the foreseeable future. Federal institutions and agencies like the Smithsonian and USDA are being shut down, and their websites are being used to promote partisan propaganda (e.g., the Bee Lab website at Utah State now says "Due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown, this government website will not be updated during the funding lapse. President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people."). This is a bad time to be trying to do science in the US.
Peace,
-- Doug Yanega Dept. of Entomology Entomology Research Museum Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314 voicemail:951-827-8704 FaceBook: Doug Yanega (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's) https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
Tommy McElrath
Insect Collection Manager
Illinois Natural History Survey
Prairie Research Institute
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
insect.inhs.illinois.edu
Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act any written communication to or from university employees regarding university business is a public record and may be subject to public disclosure.
Michael A. Ivie
In case anyone needs more to be depressed about, ITIS is fully US Government funded, and there is a rumor it is going away soon. GBIF has the US Government as one of its primary member funders through NSF, which is losing its Biology Directorate. The end is near!
Mike
**External Sender**
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