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. 2016 Jan 7:(550):13-32.
doi: 10.3897/zookeys.550.9697. eCollection 2016.

Charles Davies Sherborn and the "Indexer's Club"

Neal L Evenhuis  1
Affiliations

Charles Davies Sherborn and the "Indexer's Club"

Neal L Evenhuis. Zookeys. .

Abstract

The first few words of the title of this symposium are "Anchoring Biodiversity Information". In order to properly anchor anything for a long-lasting future, a solid foundation needs to have been laid. For the zoological portion of biodiversity information, that firm foundation is best exemplified in the works of Charles Davies Sherborn. This man, like others of his ilk, was intimately focused on indexing names. This incredible focus was a life-long passion for him and culminated in his 9500-page Index Animalium of over 400,000 names of animals. This Index represents not only one of the most prodigious efforts in publication by a single man and the single most important reference to names in zoology, but a permanent legacy to the efforts of an indexer that proved to be an inspiration to many.

Keywords: Indexing; biography; bioinformatics; zoology.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Charles Davies Sherborn. Self caricature after he had finished the last entry to the Index Animalium (from Norman, 1944). The handwritten quip “I dunno wahriar” is a stunned and worn-out Sherborn saying “I dunno where I are”.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Peter Mark Roget (from Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Louis Agassiz (from Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Elliott Coues (from Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Samuel Hubbard Scudder (from Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Benjamin Daydon Jackson (courtesy of the Zoological Society of London).
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Screenshot of Nomenclator Zoologicus online.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Screenshot of Index Animalium online.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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