Moderator note: This message from Yves Tessier includes several items interspersed with his comments.-----------Johnnie ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- THE INTERNET AS AN EXTENSION OF OUR REFERENCE CAPACITY A few weeks ago, I received from a highly specialised researcher the rather difficult question for which I posted a request for help on Carta and Maps-L: "I try to locate a place called CUBILQUITZENSIS (or without ending sis) somewhere in Mexico, Central America or The Carribean. A rare tree species is assumed to be named after this place. Could somebody help? " I received a few replies locating the place exactly, among which was this very comprehensive one: From: [log in to unmask] (J.D.Weintraub) Subject: Re: Cubilquitzensis, where? Date: Friday, September 8, 1995 at 12:00:48 pm Attach: Headers.822 Certify: N ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yves: In response to your query concerning the whereabouts of "Cubilquitzensis", when plants or animals are named after their place of origin, the latinized form adds "ensis", so the place you are looking for is "Cubilquitz". The problem is best approached from a biological rather than cartographic point of view: Any experienced botanist will know that the key to locating this place is the original description of the tree species in question. The problem with going straight to the local map library is that biologists are notoriously unreliable when it comes to spelling/transcribing place names (they are often spelled the way they sound, or things other than place names that the early plant/animal collectors heard from the locals are mistaken for place names!!). So, you have to check the original description of the plant in question - I assume it is a species of _Dalbergia_, as the on-line database of Western Hemisphere plant names at the Gray Herbarium (Harvard) produced the following two references when I searched it using "cubilquitzensis": Dalbergia cubilquitzensis Pittier Journ. Wash. Acad. Sci. 12: 56. 1922. Dalbergia variabilis var. cubilquitzensis Donn. Sm Bot. Gaz. 57: 417. 1914. - Guatemala The complete reference for the paper in which the first of the above two plant species was described is: Pittier, H. 1922. On the species of Dalbergia of Mexico and Central America. J. Wash. Acad. Sci. Vol. 12, No. 3: pp. 54-64. Note that one of the records narrowed the *type locality* (place where the species was originally collected) down to Guatemala. Checking either of the above references would reveal that the type locality of both plants was as follows: "Cubilquitz, Dept. Alta Verapaz, Guatemala" This was the spelling used by the plant collector H. von Tuerckheim when the first specimens were collected and documented in Feb.1913 (as you are well aware, place names and their preferred spellings also change through time - another reason it is important to consult the botanical literature first so you know the "antiquity" of the name you are dealing with). Only after seeking this info. did I bother to check the DMA Gazetteer of Guatemala which reveals the current place name applicable to this collecting site: Finca Cubilhuitz (a farm) [15 40'N 90 25'W] Hope the above is what your client is looking for. If they need any further help or information, feel free to pass my e-mail address on to them. Cheers, Jason ************************************** * J.D. Weintraub * * Department of Entomology * * Academy of Natural Sciences * * 1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. * * Philadelphia, PA 19103-1195 * * tel(215)2991189;fax(215)2991028 * * e-mail: [log in to unmask] * ************************************** As you can see , I received a very thoroughly documented reply I could ever dream of, and was very proud to deliver it to my researcher. I expressed my most sincere thanks to Dr Weintraub and ask him permission to share it with you, for a case I wanted to make of Internet as an extension of a map librarian's reference capacity. I was wondering how a biologist had come upon my request. Here is his reply: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yves, You are welcome to use my reply to your query as an example of "Internet resources" for map librarians. I came upon your request regarding the location of "Cubilquitz" because I too subscribe to the "MAPS-L" (Maps and Air Photo Systems Forum) discussion group. Maps, atlases, and gazetteers are important resources for biologists, especially those specializing in the systematics and biogeography of plants and animals. I have often directed questions about unknown localities from biological specimen data to various members of the "map library community" on MAPS-L (and have often received surprisingly helpful responses). I therefore try to reciprocate when the occasional question requiring biological expertise pops up! Cheers, Jason ************************************** For those of you (like me) who sometimes consider participating to discussion lists as a time-consuming activity, remember Dr Weintraub's testimony on the usefulness of sharing expertise over Internet and the power of this tool to extend our own capacity of accessing relevant information for our users, whereever the location. Good words of appreciation to list postmasters too! And thanks again to Dr Weintraub for his amenity and his sense of reciprocity! THE INTERNET AS AN EXTENSION OF OUR REFERENCE CAPACITY! **************************************************************** Yves Tessier Cartotheque Tel.: 418.656.2002 Bibliotheque de l'Universite Laval Fax: 418.656.7793 Quebec, Canada G1K 7P4 [log in to unmask] *****************************************************************