Hi, Rashida ji, I have only tried to summarise broad aspects so that the task force finds it easy to appreciate the concerns of Indiantreepix community. I am giving below the respective Indiantreepix threads for exact details in this regard for perusal of everybody:
http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix/browse_thread/thread/b6fe125e892713ac/c034bbf80423b71b?lnk=gst&q=I+totally+agree+with+Aparna+ji+with+regards+to+the+serious+reference+work+#c034bbf80423b71b http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix/browse_thread/thread/30b0dbaa02503ebd/46656e3a355961cb?lnk=gst&q=I+totally+agree+with+Aparna+ji+with+regards+to+the+serious+reference+work+#46656e3a355961cb You may give your detailed views on BSI/ZSI TF, if you like. 2009/9/25 rashida atthar <[email protected]> > > > Garg ji You have put my quote as quoted by Dr. Rakesh as my view for the > draft. This was not what I commented on the draft. The is part of the > coversation which started with Aparna ji's suggestion of library work. I > have questioned in the discussion why the volumes of 'Wealth of India' are > not online, this has not been put. I think you need to remove my name and > quote as this was not part of the draft feedback I had given. I might do so > separately, since I have not read it thoroughly yet. > > > > regards, > > Rashida. > > > > > ------------------------------ > Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:19:41 +0530 > Subject: [indiantreepix:19465] Combined suggestions on BSI/ZSI TF from > Indiantreepix community > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > CC: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; > [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; > [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; > [email protected] > > > Hi, Dr. Rawat ji & Dr. Madhav ji, > There has been lot of discussion on your report & also before this. > I am summarising only important aspects/ views for your kind perusal pl. so > these are properly taken care of in your final report. > Burning issue remains the creation of *e-flora of India & use of advance > modern tools like 'Indiantreepix' e-group* *for achieving different goals, > from the Approach suggested in your draft.* > ** > *1. From R. Vijayasankar, Systematic Botanist, National Herbarium of > Medicinal Plants, Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions > (FRLHT) > [Centre of Excellence for Medicinal Plants & Traditional Knowledge], > Bangalore-560 064, Mobile: 9448970441* > > Respected Prof. Madhav Gadgil Ji & Dr. G.S. Rawat, > > I wish to congratulate the Task Force team for preparing comprehensive > recommendations for revitalization of BSI/ZSI. Thanks for circulating the > draft report for public’s opinion. > > The recommendations are clear and complete. However, I (in fact thousands > of botanists/ plant lovers) wish the following tasks to be given more > emphasis as high priority tasks to be executed by BSI, with collaboration > wherever possible: > > 1. An UPDATED ‘Checklist of Flowering Plants of India’ with ADEQUATE > details should be published ONLINE without further delay. > > 2. Floras should also be published electronically (‘e-Flora of India’) and > that should be comprehensive in nature and freely accessible to all. For > this a dedicated task force, as also suggested by your team, should be set > up with expert members from various institutions across the country, under > the co-ordination/direction of BSI. To start with state/ regional e-Floras > to be prepared/supported by BSI. These collectively can contribute for > preparation of e-Flora of India. > > 3. A NATIONAL LEVEL electronic ‘Virtual Herbarium’ should be developed and > REGULARLY updated. All Type specimens, in addition to others, of all Indian > plants should be digitized and made accessible to the public. > > 4. Publication of the reputed ‘Bulletin of Botanical Survey of India’ > should be regular and made ONLINE WITH FULL ACCESS. [Only electronic version > of papers/articles to be accepted and hard prints (often several hard copies > required by different journals) should NOT be accepted, as an effort towards > conservation of trees and the environment (will other journals consider this > too?)]. > > 5. There are many Ph.D. theses/ reports on district floras and revisionary > works remain unpublished. These should be carefully updated and published. > > 6. Lastly, but importantly, the threat status of native plant species that > are facing serious threat of extinction (1000-1500 spp.?) should be QUICKLY > assessed in order to identify the PRIORITY species that require IMMEDIATE > conservation action. > > *2. Rajesh Sachdev, Moderator, Indiantreepix * > > I fully support Vijayshankarji, specially on first two points which are > much critical and have larger importance as well. > > > 3. *From Dr. E S SANTHOSH KUMAR, Tropical Botanic Garden and Research > Institute, Palode, Thiruvananthapuram-695562, Kerala, India* > > Kindly add my suggestion to the draft copy under the heading > *Capacity building: district level scientific community and barefoot > taxonomists > * > Establishment of a few Systematic Gardens associated with major research > institutes/botanic gardens will be beneficial to the students of botany and > these will cater their need as a ‘living text book’ for systematic study. > Students/amateur botanist can be trained in these gardens. > Many thanks > > 4. *From J.M.Garg, Co-ordinator 'Indiantreepix' e-group* > > "Flora and Fauna of India > > The primary mandate of the BSI/ZSI is to document the plant/ animal > resources of the country. Hence an important focus of their activity would > be to complete the Flora/ Fauna of India. India has produced a large number > of fine taxonomists, many of whom work outside BSI/ZSI, e.g., universities, > research organizations and as emeritus scientists. Therefore, it is > important that BSI/ZSI now take on the role of coordinating and pooling the > expertise of all the taxonomists including those working outside this > organization to consolidate the Flora and Fauna of India volumes. This is > particularly important because the local field biologists and experts who > have spent a considerable amount of time in a particular geographical area > can add tremendous information on habitat, associations, biogeography and > population status. Floras/ Faunas written by the individuals having limited > field knowledge, merely based on the museum/ herbarium specimens lack in > such information. Coordinated work on Flora/ Fauna of India should also > include all the works on various taxonomic groups done through AICOPTAX > Project of MoEF. Such coordination would of course require a strong > editorial board and a few full time dedicated executive secretaries. This > should be achievable in 10 years and should figure out as Priority I in > BSI/ZSI’s Vision 2020 document. This could be achieved in the following > phases: > i. Establish a panel of experienced and active taxonomists for each > state and take their consent on participation in Flora / Fauna Project, > ii. Prepare an annotated checklist of vascular plants and other taxa > under consideration for each state / UTs based on all published documents > and herbaria, giving local names, if any, locality and habitat, > iii. Circulate the electronic version of checklists among the panel of > botanists/ zoologists who would, in turn, check for omissions, ambiguities, > localities and habitat through active consultation with other local > botanists/ zoologists, > iv. To begin with, state floras/ faunas should be published > electronically giving correct names, basionyms, localities, habitat, > sketches and photographs of important species preferably on an interactive > ‘Flora/ Fauna of India Blog’. On this page all naturalists, photographers > and biological artists should be encouraged to contribute information on > taxonomy, distribution, natural history, biology, ethnobiology, etc. This > will also act as an outreach programme for all the biologists. The > ethnobiological surveys should be done mainly by the local biologists, > college and university teachers, working with local Biodiversity Management > Committees under technical guidance by BSI/ZSI. > v. An editorial board may be constituted at the national level to > decide the format of the flora/ fauna and also assign plant/ animal families > for compilation which should include nomenclature, description, ecology, > natural history, distribution, sketches and photographs." > > I am not clear what it means by ‘Flora/ Fauna of India Blog’ & seek Madhav > ji's guidance in the matter particularly w.r.t the word Blog. Also it is not > clear whether it will be accessible to all or not. I think any restriction > on its access as far as its contents are concerned, should go away in view > of the 'Approach' followed in the paper (as subsequently highlighted). > While it is encouraging to see " To begin with, state floras/ faunas > should be published electronically giving correct names, basionyms, > localities, habitat, sketches and photographs of important species > preferably on an interactive ‘Flora/ Fauna of India Blog’. " in the draft, > there is hardly anything which talks of creating e-flora of India on the > lines of e-flora of China & other neighbouring countries. I feel 'AICOPTAX > Project' of MoEF should be sufficiently strengthened with a mandate for > simultaneously creating of e-Flora/ e-Fauna of India on lines of e-Floras of > different countries of the world. How to go about creating e-floras is > evident at link: > http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/PDF/misc/eFloras_Taxon_55_188-192_2006.pdf > > This becomes all the more important as the report in its 'Approach' rightly > talks of "......Finally, the culmination of evolution of artifacts to the > present day Information and Communication Technology has brought us to the > threshold of a tenth major transition: x] Language based human societies > –to- Human societies with global access to the entire stock of human > knowledge, and engaged in an endeavour of collaborative knowledge > generation." This approach will remain an illusion until & unless we are > able to create e-Flora/ e-Fauna of India which is accessible to all human > community & appear in top 10 while searching as far as 'Indian species' are > concerned. The need of the hour is to move fast in this regard, if India is > to be visible on the world map. It is said that we have to refer to 'e-Flora > of China', 'e-Flora of Pakistan' etc. when we search on net for information > about any Indian plant species.We hardly find any inf. on search in our > "......national networks like DBT’s India Biodiversity Information Network > (IBIN) and NBA’s India Biodiversity Information System (IBIS)." as talked > about in the report. > > Further if the dreams of its 'Approach' "......Finally, the culmination > of evolution of artifacts to the present day Information and Communication > Technology has brought us to the threshold of a tenth major transition: x] > Language based human societies –to- Human societies with global access to > the entire stock of human knowledge, and engaged in an endeavour of > collaborative knowledge generation." are to be fulfilled in this e-age, it > has to speak loudly about increasing participation & expertise in on-line > community activities like those of 'Indiantreepix' google e-group, regarding > which it is totally silent. Here information is shared on real time basis > for the benefit of all stakeholders, minimising delays & fastening > processes, following multi-disciplinary approach with membership from > diverse background. This should also help in the process of constant > learning in ones' career & creating passionate scientists/ taxonomists > aided/ guided by other willing scientists/ taxonomists. This should also > help in *"Capacity building: scientists"* & *"Capacity building: district > level scientific community and barefoot taxonomists under "7)Human > Resources"* > > *5. From Dr. Gurcharan Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Botany, > SGTB Khalsa College > University of Delhi, Delhi-110007:* > > I strongly feel that the vast information lying in hard covers of BSI/ZSI > journals, publications, Fascicles of Flora of India, Flora of India volumes, > has to come out on the internet so that we may not fend for information and > identification, the Efloras of Pakistan, China, North America, etc. There is > need for compilation of this information, and I feel there are numerous > experts even outside BSI and ZSI who can collaborate. Our Eflora could be > much more meaningful with links to authentic identified photographs of > plants from India. We have huge databases of photographs on Indiantreepix, > Flowers of India and several similar privately managed sites, which can be > requested to collaborate and share their data. > For ongoing research on Indian plants it is imperative have have our > herbarium specimens (at least representative ones) and type specimens are > scanned/photographed and uploaded as virtual herbarium in lines of > Fairchild virtual herbarium, Kew virtual herbarium, Australian Virtual > herbarium and Virtual herbarium of New York Botanical Garden. > We have to open up if Indian research has to progress > > *6. From Sh. Prashant Awale, Moderator 'Indiantreepix':* > > I agree with the Dr Singh ji's view. Also, their has to be some mechanism > to get in touch with experts from BSI so that we can share our experiences > on flora of a particular region with them and it might turned out to be > totally new finding. Many of us are frequently visiting various remote > locations and information gathered on flora from these areas might turned > out to be of some use to BSI. Some mechanism where by individuals / group > can interact with BSI should be available. > Already database like those of "Flowers of India" , "IndianTreePix" has > come long way (Thanks to initiave by Mr Tabish Ji, Mr Garg Ji) as more and > more enthusiastics from various field (Botanists, Nature lovers, Trekkers > etc..) has contributed in some way or other. > > *7. Dr. Aparna Watve:* > ** > Dear All, > Considering all the serious discussions going on so far on various > identities, use of family names, I am so happy to realize how thisgroup is > slowly maturing. People are discussing technical terms, use of correct > family names, below species ranks and nomenclature- things which only the > trained plant taxonomists bothered with. Owing to this I feel the need to > talk about more use of standard floras and monographs which i had talked of > in the past. Relying only on handbooks, which are generally region specific > and can have only a limited number of species and descriptions as compared > to our vast diversity of flora, is good for beginners. But at this stage, > the serious ones on this group - and there are many- should devote time to > library and referencing work- not from a single book (as it is not possible) > but from various standard references and then form their > opinion on identity of a species. In many cases the taxonomic literature is > also influenced by varied opinions of the taxonomists and it is actually fun > to read how some plant species have baffled generations of plantwatchers. > > *8. Dr. Gurcharan Singh:* > > Aparna ji, > You have initiated a very valuable topic for the sake of our group and the > National Flora. While there is need for nomenclatural and identity > uniformity at India level and regional level, unfortunately very little has > recently been done at national level, some very good regional publications > have come up for us to bank upon, discuss and arrive at a meaningful > conclusion. Science today is dynamic process, and it does not take a minute > for new information to reach www, for all of us to benefit from. It needs a > lot of time for a national compilation to come up. > > But then there is a catch. There is also lot of wrong information > flying around on the internet, but with so many able minded and sincere > people around, we can (and have been) sieve the right information. > > *9. Janaki Turaga, member 'Indiantreepix'* > ** > Dear Aparna, > For a majority of people: it is the question of access. From where does one > have access to all these monographs, of which many of us are not even aware > of? > Unless someone lists all the monographs and other related works and puts > them up for access on the internet which is accessible to all the people in > the group. > In absence of accessible knowledge, the key source of information are the > fieldguides which are accessible in the lay public domain. > And some internet sites which are maintained by people who are deeply > interested in the areas. > Interest groups like this group rely mainly on fieldguides, some good > internet sites and very importantly-peers who have built their interest to a > very high level and some professionals/subject specialists who sustain the > group. I have learnt a lot from the peers in all the groups that I am a > member of. > We all would like to take things ahead, but we should have the awareness of > and access to these resource. > The issue is that of access and knowledge of the monographs etc. > If some of the subject specialists in this group who do have access to > these resources, can make them available to the rest of the group, then I > feel a majority of people will benefit. > Janaki Turaga > > *10. Dr. Rakesh Biswas:* > ** > *Quoting Rashida: > > serious reference work one should do in a library. I feel no amount of > links and material available on the internet can really at this stage, > substitute the research work one needs to carry out from acknowledged > authors, volumes of flora of a state or region, wealth of India volumes, and > related articals in magazines and scientifc journals.* > I wonder if the problem could be simply solved by transferring all the > libraries into a web space as most web based user driven learning activists > are engaged in doing? > > Quoting from the first chapter in this book (which also contains a > subsequent chapter contributed by members of Indiantreepix): > http://www.igi-global.com/requests/details.asp?ID=657 > > Traditionally libraries have been considered as temples of learning and an > important requirement for a library user is ‘silence’ which in effect means > that the individual user needs to imbibe whatever learning available on > his/her own from books or whatever other media available. > > However in such an isolated learning environment, the single individual > has no access to a second opinion from another person, no access to a > complementary perspective, or external critique, neither does the single > individual have any chance to get complementary literature from anyone which > might have a different reference library. Given this, there is not much > social interaction in this kind of traditional learning environment. (Wiberg > 2007) > > However in modern libraries it is able to break past this ‘silence’ barrier > where the library user predominantly browses an electronic information > network rather than a paper based disconnected media. > > Unfortunately, this advantage of the modern library is under utilized as > even systems for online universities, or distance education may not have > adequate support or encouragement for social interaction. Most of these > systems assume a centralized communication model in which the learning peers > (i.e. the students) mostly communicate with one central peer (i.e. a mentor > or advisor). This leads in many cases to communication related to the > structure rather than the content of an online education and does not > support spontaneous, creative social learning processes. (Wiberg 2007) > > What it is to be knowledgeable can be defined either in terms of how much > one person has read and learned in isolation, or how knowledgeable a > particular person is about different threads to grasp in order to gain > access to other peers in different social networks. The latter concept > pinpoints the social dimension of learning processes, the social interaction > setting, and goes back to a Socratic understanding of knowledge gaining > through conversations and argumentations with others. > > Learning schools are redirecting the focus from what has been labeled > “traditional computer-based learning environments” towards user-driven > learning networks supported by social internet based applications. The > assumption that computer-mediated learning will occur in the classroom, > managed by a teacher, is now being challenged, not by schools and > educational software developers, but by the consumer growth of personal > technologies. (Sharples 2002) > > *11. Dr. Gurcharan Singh:* > > The main topic of discussion here is whether the huge wealth of research > information lying in libraries of major Universities, BSI/ZSI is available > to the average plant lover are not. Agreed serious researchers need > libraries to work, but we are talking of taking knowledge to the general > public and what is the best means of making information available to them. I > have several volumes of Flora of Pakistan, a few of Flora of India, but > please search through your libraries and let me know how many have all > volumes of Flora of India published by BSI, how many have volumes Pakistan > Flora, and more importantly Flora of China, which has so many plants common > with our flora. Contrary to this I can sitting in Delhi, California or > anywhere else have access to Efloras, and can identify my plants. > We are aiming to take information to the common man, and www is the best > medium for that. > But as I wrote earlier, there is some misinformation on the internet, but > there are then also meanins of sieving it. This group has proved that many a > times. > There are many important researchers active in BSI/ZSI and different > Universities. But the important question is have we all benefitted from > that?. WWW is there to pupularise that. Today if I have to find any new > research and development in Taxonomy I browse APWeb and always find > something new. > -- > With regards, > J.M.Garg ([email protected]) > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 > 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' > Image Resource of thousands of my images of Birds, Butterflies, Flora etc. > (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg > For learning about Indian Flora, visit/ join Google e-group- Indiantreepix: > http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en > > > > > -- With regards, J.M.Garg ([email protected]) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' Image Resource of thousands of my images of Birds, Butterflies, Flora etc. (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg For learning about Indian Flora, visit/ join Google e-group- Indiantreepix: http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "indiantreepix" group. 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