Sometimes I dread checking e-mail. I frequently have to make a choice between responding to mail or getting work done, and which ever decision I make, I usually disappoint someone (invariably me). However, last week I got a message that might make me rethink my e-mail checking policy – I got an invitation to Science Foo Camp.

Cost-effective methods for creating durable labels are critical for the long-term preservation of biological specimens. Deterioration of specimen labels can render specimens scientifically valueless, and while the practice of writing labels with India Ink or pencil on cotton rag paper has stood the test of time, it is time-consuming and subject to human error.

It turns out I am not alone in keeping tabs on Drupal modules for biodiversity informatics projects. At a recent EDIT meeting I spoke with Kehan Harman from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Kehan has been keeping a blog devoted to this topic for some time, and has a list that is much more extensive than mine.

EDIT is an EU funded Network of Excellence program with the goal of reducing the fragmentation of biological taxonomic research and coordinating an effort to facilitate taxonomic research using the World Wide Web. Within EDIT there has been much discussion about this can be achieved and I want to explain what my NHM colleagues and I have been doing as part of this project.

Some time ago I blogged about the concept of mySpecies - a space for biological taxonomists to work on the web. The idea was inspired by Rod Page's work on iSpecies and even led me to purchase several mySpecies domain names back in August 2006.

Barcodes in their various guises are simple technologies that have had a profound impact on inventory management in many industries. However, they have seen little use by biological taxonomists outside a few niche areas. What has been lacking is a simple way to generate and read these codes without costly barcode printers and scanning technology. Today I stumbled across a system that could solve all this - and a few other problems.

As part of my work with the Natural History Museum team working on EDIT we have been developing template websites for biological taxonomists to get the products of their work on the web.

A few days ago I was asked by Elizabeth Pennisi of Science to comment on a new paper by David Reed and collaegues at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Last week I received the news that the distinguished marine biologist Mel Carriker died of a massive stroke at the age of 92. Mel's father (Meb A. Carriker, 1879–1965), was one of the most prolific collectors of Neotropical birds in the history of ornithology. Meb was also the worlds leading authority on my favourite group of chewing lice - the Heptapsogasteridae, which parasitize Tinamiform birds (Tinamou) of South America.

Many of the messages I sent out on the evening of Friday 9th and most on Monday 12th of Feb were not received. More importantly, much of the incoming mail to v.smith@nhm.ac.uk from 9-13 (especially on Sunday 11th Feb) never arrived. In all instances the sender will not be aware of this (i.e. the messages didn't bounce). If you tried to contact me over this period and I haven't replied, please try again!