On 5/4/07, Bryan Derksen <bryan.derksen(a)shaw.ca> wrote:
I think what we've done is make up our own system that happens to be
based closely on existing taxonomy, with modifications that make it more
convenient for its function of grouping encyclopedia articles. Why can't
we do this? It's already widely implemented.
Then we ought to immediately stop misleading users of Wikipedia in all of
our text on organisms.
"The family *Asteraceae* or, alternatively, *Compositae*, known as the *
aster*, *daisy* or *sunflower family*, is a taxon of
dicotyledonous<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicot> flowering
plants <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowering_plant>. "
This means something very specific in taxonomy, what is being discussed in
this leading sentence. If it doesn't, then we ought not to be using the
language of taxonomy, or we ought to remove the taxa names from the
categories. In essence, you're saying, we can use words that mean one thing
as our category titles to mean something completely different. Why not make
up completely different words, just as we've made up completely different
categories, if that's what you're saying we do? I don't think that is what
is happenning at Wikipedia in categories, though.
And we also ought to consider what we're writing articles about if we're not
grouping organisms according to taxonomies.
Right now, on Wikipedia, these categories are used to mean the names as
defined by that particular classification. When a name applies to multiple
classifications these are listed in the article. The category names don't
mean something entirely new and different from how they are used in their
classification schemes. If this was the intention for categorization, then
it should have been clarified all along, and each category should be
strictly defined to tell editors precisely what it means on Wikipedia,
indicating clearly that it does not mean anything one can get from a
dictionary.
The category "Asteraceae" includes members of the Asteraceae, lists of
Asteraceae, probably tribes of Asteraceae. What exactly did Wikipedia make
up about Category Asteraceae? Or any of the organism categories? They're
all from established taxonomies.
KP