[Zoobank-list] Re: Zoogle versus ZooBank, ECat, Species2000, ITIS, uBio, etc.

[Richard Pyle]

Hi Yde,

> More in general I find it confusing within this ZooBank context to
> see ECAT, the Catalogue of Life (CoL), Species2000 and ITIS often
> distinctively mentioned, because ECAT is coupled to the Catalogue of
> Life (CoL) and the CoL is Species2000 plus ITIS. Listing them
> separately suggests exclusive initiatives.

While they may share common or overlapping datasets, I believe these
entities *are* separate (if not exclusive) initiatives.  They differ
primarily in the services they provide, and the scope and nature of their
user base.  For example, ITIS has a very specific focus, whereas ECAT has a
somewhat different (broader) service focus.  In a perfect world, all of
their services could be based on a common, automatically synchronized (or at
least cross-linked) underlying dataset.  It "feels" like we're moving
(accelerating?) in that direction; but whether or not we can get there, and
when, is still not clear to me.

Aloha,
Rich