Scott Edmunds

[  
![press](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Pressing-16th_century.jpg/240px-Pressing-16th_century.jpg){decoding="async"
style="width: 247px; height: 187px;" align="left" border="0" hspace="4"
vspace="4"}We at
*[GigaScience](http://www.gigasciencejournal.com/ "GigaScience homepage"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"}* always appreciate good press, and on top of the welcome
coverage on blogs (e.g.
[this](http://aobblog.com/2011/09/big-and-i-mean-ginormous-new-journal/ "AoB blog"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} in Annals of Botany) and
[twitter](http://twitter.com/gigascience "@GigaScience"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"}, we are pleased with the
[profile](http://www.bio-itworld.com/2011/09/23/big-data-bgi-gigascience.html "Bio-IT world article"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} of the journal in this months [*Bio-IT
world*](http://www.bio-itworld.com "Bio-IT world homepage"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} (especially coming on top of the
[coverage](http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=other&pnum=8&refresh=7j0PxE411yT2&EID=0002727a-c8a6-4537-b6ac-cf0744458ebb&skip=&p=8 "Big News from BGI - Bio-IT world"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} of our database in the previous issue). The article is a
nice introduction to the editors, [editorial
policies](http://www.gigasciencejournal.com/about#editorialpolicies "Editorial Policies"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"}, and hopes for the journal, and is useful reading for
those who'd like to know a bit more on top of what is already featured
in
[GigaBlog](http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/gigablog// "GigaBlog"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} and our [authors
instructions](http://www.gigasciencejournal.com/authors/instructions/ "I4A"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"}. We are very pleased with the detailed coverage,
although we are not sure this can top our recent
[mention](http://improbable.com/2011/09/04/math-exercise-predict-the-next-big-science-journal/ "Math exercise: Predict the next big science journal"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} in the prestigious *Annals of Improbable Research*.
]{style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"}

[After our busy summer attending
[conferences](http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/gigablog/2011/10/further_adventures_on_the_road "gigascience on the road"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} and chasing down
[papers](http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/gigablog/2011/10/papers_papers_papers "papers, papers, papers"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"}, *GigaScience* is not slowing down and is still on the
road. Today we are currently at the [NGS
Asia](http://www.ngsasia-congress.com/ "NGS Asia"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} congress in Singapore (follow
[\#ngsasia](http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23ngsasia "#ngsasia"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} on twitter for updates) and next week we will be
gathering with the human genetics community at their annual
[ASHG/ICHG](http://www.ichg2011.org/ "ASHG"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} congress in Montreal (we'll be tweeting using
[\#ICHG2011](http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23ichg2011 "#ICHG2011"){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"}). Those attending can get hold of us via the BMC and BGI
booths (1122 and 1322), so please come and say
hello.]{style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"}

The post [GigaScience in the press (and still on the
road)...](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/gigascience-in-the-press-and-still-on-the-road/){rel="nofollow"}
appeared first on
[GigaBlog](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog){rel="nofollow"}.


We at
<em>
 GigaScience
</em>
always appreciate good press, and on top of the welcome coverage on blogs (e.g. this in Annals of Botany) and twitter, we are pleased with the profile of the journal in this months
<em>
 Bio-IT world
</em>
(especially coming on top of the coverage of our database in the previous issue). The article is a nice introduction to the editors, editorial policies, and hopes for the journal, and is useful reading for those who’d

GigaScience in the press (and still on the road)…

University of Glasgow

Roderic Page

The [Encylopedia of Life](http://www.eol.org) (EOL) has been relaunched,
with a new look and much social media funkiness. I\'ve been something of
an EOL sceptic, but looking at the new site I think I can see what EOL
is for. Ironically, it\'s not really about E. O. Wilson\'s original
vision
([doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(02)00040-X](http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(02)00040-X):  

> Imagine an electronic page for each species of organism on Earth,
> available everywhere by single access on command. The page contains
> the scientific name of the species, a pictorial or genomic
> presentation of the primary type specimen on which its name is based,
> and a summary of its diagnostic traits. The page opens out directly or
> by linking to other data bases, such as ARKive, Ecoport, GenBank and
> MORPHOBANK. It comprises a summary of everything known about the
> species' genome, proteome, geographical distribution, phylogenetic
> position, habitat, ecological relationships and, not least, its
> practical importance for humanity.

We still lack a decent database that does this. EOL tries, but in my
opinion still falls short, partly because it isn\'t nearly aggressive
enough in harvesting and linking data (links to the primary literature
anyone?), and has absolutely no notion of phylogenetics.  
  
In terms of doing science I don\'t see much that I\'d want to do with
EOL, as opposed, say, to Wikipedia or existing taxonomic databases. But
thinking about other applications, EOL has a lot of potential. One nice
feature is the ability to make \"collections\". For example, Cyndy Parr
has created a collection called [Fascinating
textures](http://www.eol.org/collections/740), which is simply a
collection of images in EOL (I\'ve included some below):  
  
![Textures](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-gPLdmFpIVaM/TnBynykLi0I/AAAAAAAAA_I/4GVVZGVYjA0/textures.png?imgmax=800 "textures.png"){style="display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"
border="0" width="312" height="314"}  
What is nice about this is that it cuts across any existing
classification and assembles a set of taxa that share nothing other than
having \"fascinating textures\". This ability to tag taxa means we could
create all sorts of interest sets of taxa based on criteria that are
meaningful in a particular context. For example, egotist that I am, I
created a collection called [Taxa described by Roderic
Page](http://www.eol.org/collections/5706), which includes the one crab
and 6 bopyrid isopods that I described in the 80\'s.  
  
Putting on my teaching hat, I\'m involved in teaching a course on animal
diversity and could imagine assembling collections of taxa relevant to a
particular lecture (either taxonomically, or based on some other
criteria, such as all parasites of a particular taxon, or all organisms
found associated with deep sea vents. Other collections could be built
by people or organisations with content. For example, lists of [top ten
new
species](http://iphylo.blogspot.com/2011/05/top-ten-new-species-described-in-2010.html),
lists of species for which the [BBC has
content](http://iphylo.blogspot.com/2011/03/linking-ncbi-taxonomy-to-bbc-wildlife.html),
etc.  
  
In this sense, EOL becomes a tagging service for life, a bit like
[delicious](http://delicious.com). The social network side of things is
still a little clunky ---there doesn\'t seem to be a notion of
\"contacts\" or \"friends\", and it needs integration with existing
social networks --- but I think I now \"get\" what EOL is for.  
  


The Encylopedia of Life (EOL) has been relaunched, with a new look and much social media funkiness. I've been something of an EOL sceptic, but looking at the new site I think I can see what EOL is for. Ironically, it's not really about E. O. Wilson's original vision (doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(02)00040-X:  We still lack a decent database that does this.

I think I now "get" the Encylopedia of Life

[Flipboard](http://www.flipboard.com) is a new application for the iPad
that is pitching itself as a personalised social magazine. It\'s launch
created a lot of buzz, so much so that many users were unable to add
their Facebook and Twitter accounts to it, much to their chagrin. I was
one of these annoyed users, but now that I\'ve been able to login I\'ve
been having a play and it\'s a lot of fun.  
  

::: {style="text-align:center"}
:::

  
  
Nice typography and a clever layout is part of the attraction, and there
has been some discussion about whether the Biodiversity Heritage Library
(BHL) could be integrated.  
  

::: {.bbpBox19856126251}
@[chrisfreeland](http://twitter.com/chrisfreeland){.tweet-url .username
rel="nofollow"} @[rdmpage](http://twitter.com/rdmpage){.tweet-url
.username rel="nofollow"}
[\#bhlib](http://twitter.com/search?q=%23bhlib "#bhlib"){.tweet-url
.hashtag rel="nofollow"} integration on
@[flipboard](http://twitter.com/flipboard){.tweet-url .username
rel="nofollow"}? The fb interface is very polished, familiar and
comfortable[[less than a minute
ago](http://twitter.com/Jim_Croft/status/19856126251 "Thu Jul 29 21:25:46 +0000 2010")
via [Twitter for
iPhone](http://twitter.com/){rel="nofollow"}]{.timestamp}[[[![](http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/576859134/twitterProfilePhoto_normal.jpg)](http://twitter.com/Jim_Croft)**[Jim
Croft](http://twitter.com/Jim_Croft)**  
Jim_Croft]{.author}]{.metadata}
:::

  
  
Personally I\'m sceptical. For me the key to Flipboard is not so much
the nice interface, but the fact that the content is timely and
relevant: timely because it\'s taken from live streams, and relevant
because it comes from sources you select, including those form your
social network. BHL doesn\'t have any of these characteristics. It\'s a
huge digital archive with very little structure, and what structure it
does have is largely bibliographic. For this content to work in a
Flipboard-like environment I think BHL would need to develop \"streams\"
based on, say taxa, geography, or readership, and these would have to be
personalised. In a sense, Flipboard is displaying streams of content
assembled by a combination of editors and your social network, and BHL
has neither.


Flipboard is a new application for the iPad that is pitching itself as a personalised social magazine. It's launch created a lot of buzz, so much so that many users were unable to add their Facebook and Twitter accounts to it, much to their chagrin. I was one of these annoyed users, but now that I've been able to login I've been having a play and it's a lot of fun.

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

GigaScience in the press (and still on the road)…

I think I now "get" the Encylopedia of Life

Flipboard and BHL