A content nightmare?

Looking for information about the prickleleaf, American burying beetle, butterfly fish or peregrine falcon? Check out the Encyclopedia of Life (www.eol.org), just launched and already holding detailed information about tens of thousands species.

EOL has the ambition to grow, but not just a little. Their short term goal is to gather and present information about 1,8 million species. Around 1 million pages have already been made, filling in the authenticated information is in progress. The long-term goal is even more ambitious; to tell us all about the 5 to 20 million species we expect out there and that we haven’t even heard of yet.

Although you’re often linked away to specialized institutions as soon as you start to dig deeper, the current content is well organized and clearly categorized: descriptions, photo’s, video, DNA-profiles, scientific publications and so on. The question is how to maintain a website like this, especially with the collaborative approach. Is this really a wiki where we all can add or edit content? And if so, who is reviewing and keeps an eye on quality and truthfulness?

I’m looking forward to see EOL become its own ecosystem and wonder what digital evolution will do to it.