[tdwg-content] proposed term: dwc:verbatimScientificName

[David Remsen (GBIF)]

Markus and I wanted to try to consolidate the issues related to the  
current use and definition of scientificName that have been the focus  
of last weeks discussion in as simple a way as we can and leave it  
with a simple proposal which we will add to the issue tracking on the  
project site.

1. We propose that a new term, dwc:verbatimScientificName carry the  
existing definition for dwc:scientificName and
2. dwc:scientificName follow the more accepted convention that is  
better represented by the earlier proposed definition for Canonical Name

The intention is to enable data publishers to distinguish unparsed,  
complex scientific names from more cleanly separated scientific name  
data.   This will relieve consumers of these data from testing each  
instance of a name for one of these two conditions.

Here are the definitions for the two existing terms that have been  
part of the discussion:

dwc:scientificName  - The full scientific name, with authorship and  
date information if known. When forming part of an Identification,  
this should be the name in lowest level taxonomic rank that can be  
determined. This term should not contain identification  
qualifications, which should instead be supplied in the  
IdentificationQualifier term.

dwc:scientificNameAuthorship - The authorship information for the  
scientificName formatted according to the conventions of the  
applicable nomenclaturalCode.

Here are terms and definitions used in the following 5 source data  
configurations we came up with.   They don't have to be exact for this  
purpose.

canonical name - The nomenclatural components of a scentific name  
without authorship information.
authorship - the authorship information that follows a scientific name
verbatim name  - the verbatim text stored in a source database when it  
differs from or combines the two definitions above.  This is a bit  
more broad than the def for scientificName.

We identified the following configurations in a source database and  
how they would be mapped to the existing terms.  In cases 4 and 5 we  
also propose how we would map these were there a 3rd available term  
(called 'mapping b:')

When a source database contains:

1.  canonical names only

Mapping:  canonical name -> dwc:scientificName

2. canonical name and authorship in two fields

Mapping: canonical name -> dwc:scientificName / authorship- 
 >dwc:scientificNameAuthorship

3. verbatim name only

Mapping:  verbatim name -> dwc:scientificName

4. all three: canonical name, authorship, and verbatim name in 3 diff.  
columns

Mapping a:  verbatim name -> dwc:scientificName  / authorship- 
 >dwc:scientificNameAuthorship

Mapping b:  canonical name -> dwc:scientificName  / authorship- 
 >dwc:scientificNameAuthorship / verbatim name ->  
dwc:verbatimScientificName

5. a mix of canonical and verbatim names in a single column

Mapping a:  verbatim name + canonical names -> dwc:scientificName

Mapping b:  verbatim name + canonical names ->  
dwc:verbatimScientificName

Summary - with the current two terms are left with no choice but to  
support both canonical and verbatim names in a single term, which  
makes consuming these data difficult.

We propose that a new term, dwc:verbatimScientificName carry the  
existing definition for dwc:scientificName and that dwc:scientificName  
follow the more accepted convention that is better represented by the  
definition for Canonical Name

Best,
David Remsen / Markus Döring



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