Rationale for GBIF work on the Global Names Architecture

A key focus of the development of GBIF infrastructure has been on the development of a complete catalogue of organism names. There is a clear rationale for GBIF to invest in this.

• All data level records in the GBIF network reference a taxon by name. These names form a primary point of access for keyword search and subsequent data retrieval. Names are neither stable or unique, and because of this we cannot rely on the use of a single name to provide access to all indexed information on a taxon tied to that name. We also cannot ensure that the use of a name to retrieve information on a single taxon won't actually return information on multiple taxa.

• Names & taxa are organised into taxonomic hierarchies that provide an organisational framework for navigating and accessing information about species that are tied to names. These hierarchical species lists may be circumscribed via a combination of taxonomic, regional and thematic contexts. Properly mobilised, they provide contextual points of reference as "taxonomic backbones" for organising and linking information about species within the GBIF network according to a schema that has relevance for multiple taxonomic, regional, and thematically-organised domains of interest.

• Vernacular, or common names, are used in all languages to refer to many species and higher taxonomic groups. Mapping these relationships as part of a larger names cataloging process provides critical bridges to information about species that is tied to a scientific name for many potential users, particularly non-experts. Globally-accessible lists of vernacular names provide the means to support global access to biodiversity resources published anywhere in the world.

In spite of the importance and ubiquity of names in regard to information about species, a complete list of organism names does not exist. As the GBIF network grows, and other networks, such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library, the Encyclopedia of Life, and many others, mobilise and publish increasingly diverse and rich biodiversity information, the full scope of names is being revealed. Mechanisms to evaluate these names and relate them to authoritative nomenclatural and taxonomic authority records is the key to ensuring access and integration. This is hampered by a lack of collective effort and coordination at many levels. Taxonomic and nomenclatural authority information is scattered among an enormous range of resources and initiatives at all levels of organisation from a single publication of a new species to large global taxonomic datasets. Collectively assessing the full range of these data requires the sort of global scope represented by GBIF.

For these reasons, GBIF supports the development of infrastructure that enables information about names to be freely and openly discoverable, accessible, and integrated with other biodiversity data management practices and services. GBIF recognises that such infrastructure overlaps with the ambitions of many other initiatives and the Global Names Architecture provides a mechanism for a collaborative approach to its development.