Rod Page, Professor of Taxonomy at Glasgow University will be giving two talks in London about taxonomy on March 17th:

"Going digital: what's in it for taxonomy and taxonomists?" Flett Theatre, NHM 11-12.30, refreshments from 10.30.

"What's in a name: Taxonomy in Crisis" British Library, 18-20.30.

The first will be at the Natural History Museum, London and focused on issues directly relevant to the NHM's collections and scientists. In particular, Rod will be focusing on how the web can help taxonomy and recent developments in the emerging field of biodiversity informatics. Entry is restricted to NHM researchers, but space permitting, we may have room to squeeze in a few more. Contact me (vince@vsmith.info) if you are interested.

Rod's British Library talk is part of their TalkScience series, a quarterly café scientifique exploring varied topical issues in science. His provocative title is intended to stimulate discussion on issues such as why does taxonomy matters, why are taxonomists unhappy, cybertaxonomy, how we deal with copyright, and who would want to be a 21st century taxonomist. Access to the British library event is free but you need to book tickets through the BL Box Office. Scroll through to the appropriate date on their site and you will find the relevant link.

Sarah Kemmitt who is organizing the British Library event, has set up a forum on Nature Network's exploring some of the issues. This provides an opportunity for discussion before and after the meetings, and allows those who can’t attend to voice their opinion. Take a look, as there is already a sizable discussion on a number of different threads.

Also feel free to circulate these flyers: