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William L. Brown, Jr.
Digital Library
An Online Database of Ant Taxonomic Literature
Currently containing 8606 references and approximately 4000 pdfs
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Unlike most scientific literature, the literature of taxonomy never goes out of date. Ant biologists, especially those conducting systematic research, must regularly refer to papers written a century or more ago, including records of species descriptions and redescriptions, taxonomic revisions, distributional records, and morphological studies with phylogenetic implications. As a result, each researcher must independently assemble a (usually photocopied) collection of thousands of primary taxonomic publications. This time-consuming task is complicated by the fact that this literature is published in a large number of frequently obscure journals. Because the very few libraries that contain the majority of these journals are located in the U.S. and Europe, this creates a special problem for the growing number of ant researchers elsewhere in the world. This problem of access to the primary taxonomic literature has attained a new level of urgency because, as habitats are increasingly threatened and extinction rates accelerate, ant systematic and ecological research needs to be encouraged now more than ever. |
About William L. Brown, Jr.
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William L. Brown, Jr. (June 1, 1922 to March 30, 1997), was one of the great ant biologists of the 20th century. His first scientific paper, published in 1943, described a new ant species, Monomorium viride, which he discovered in one of his many boyhood treks through the New Jersey Pine Barrens. In the years that followed, Bill produced 273 scientific publications, 223 of which were about ants. A premier naturalist, Bill Brown was arguably the most well-traveled field biologist of the twentieth century. During his career he assembled extraordinarily important collections from North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, the South Pacific, the Malay archipelago, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and the Caribbean. Bill's research transformed the fields of ant systematics and taxonomy, and significantly influenced evolutionary and systematic theory.
Bill strongly believed in the efficient dissemination of scientific information, and he was quick to adopt any technological innovation that promised to advance this goal. In 1961, for example, he proposed an "International Taxonomic Register" that would streamline the publication of species descriptions, and in 1964 he began editing and publishing the Pilot Register of Zoology, which published descriptions of new species on index cards that could be variously sorted by running metal rods through different punched holes. When computerized databasing supplanted punch-card technology, Bill quickly embraced it. During his long career, Bill assembled an exceptionally comprehensive collection of ant taxonomic literature. He clearly valued this collection for its information content rather than for its "collectible" value, encouraging photocopying and sharing duplicates with students and colleagues. In 1997, Doris and Creighton Brown, Bill's wife and son, donated Bill's reprint collection to the Smithsonian and it became the core resource for the William L. Brown, Jr., Digital Library, which is intended to make the primary literature of ant taxonomy available to anyone with access to the internet. This online Library will continue to grow. We encourage users to check back frequently for newly added publications, and we encourage scientists to contribute pdf files of their papers to the Library. Our goal is nothing less than to make all of the ant taxonomic literature available online, constrained only by copyright law and the desires of individual authors and publishers. In memory of W.L. Brown, Jr., his wife Doris Brown has established an endowment for training Latin American students in tropical ecology. Contact: O.T.S. William L. Brown Fellowship, P.O. Box 90630, Durham, NC 27708-0630. |
Acknowledgements:
The William L. Brown, Jr., Digital Library was produced by Ted Schultz, Donat Agosti, Norman Johnson, Dan Kjar, and Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo.
The William L. Brown, Jr., Digital Library was made possible by generous grants from the Smithsonian Institution Atherton Seidell Fund (to T. Schultz, D. Agosti, and N. Johnson) and the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee (to T. Schultz). We thank these organizations for their essential support. We gratefully acknowledge Doris Brown and Creighton Brown, who donated the source materials for this project.
The William L. Brown, Jr., Digital Library could never have been realized without the hard work of Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo. Others who contributed their efforts include: Faridah Dahlan, Dennis Hasch, Maureen Mello, Beth Norden, Eugenia Okonski, Ted Suman, and Rebecca Wilson. In addition to the collection of W.L. Brown, Jr., documents from many other libraries were also digitized, notably that of P.S. Ward. Most of the documents were scanned and digitized by Progressive Technology Federal Systems in Bethesda, Maryland.
We have taken great care to ensure that all publications served here are in the public domain or, for those that are not, that we have obtained permissions from the authors and/or publishers to make them available here. If you believe that any publication served here does not comform to these criteria, please contact Ted Schultz <schultzt@si.edu>
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