Data standards, sense and stability: Scratchpads, the ICZN and ZooBank

The International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature has used the Scratchpads platform (currently being developed and maintained by ViBRANT) as the foundation for its redesigned website and as a platform for engaging with its users. The existing Scratchpad tools, with extensions to provide additional functions, have allowed for a major transformation in presentation of linked nomenclatural tools. Continued development of the new website will act as a springboard for the ICZN to participate more fully in the wider community of biodiversity informatics.     

Dynamics of Content and Authorship Patterns in The Wildlife Society Journals (1937–2007)

Abstract: A previous analysis of the content of articles published in The Wildlife Society (TWS) journals from 1937 to 1989 concluded that TWS should strive to publish more articles on nongame and endangered species, ecosystems, habitat fragmentation, and human dimensions. We revisited this analysis and included the years 1990–2007 to determine whether, and how, TWS journals have addressed previous concerns. We also analyzed changes in subject content for TWS journals from 1937 to 2007 using selected terms that we considered indicative of emerging trends within the wildlife profession and society by documenting patterns of use of these terms as key words. Additionally, we evaluated authorship patterns for all TWS journals during 1937–2007 to determine trends in both numbers of authors per article and author affiliations. Our analysis demonstrated that the content of TWS journals has changed over time, and the changes reflected emerging themes in TWS, the wildlife profession, and society. We documented increases in published studies of nongame species and multiple species and articles with multiple authorships representing diverse affiliations. We argue that these patterns reflect a TWS response to shifts in public opinion, policy developments, advances in technology, and changes in university curricula. Although the number of studies published on human dimensions and conservation education has increased over time, these disciplines remained underrepresented.