Re:
- Subject: Re:
- From: R* P* <r*@embarqmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 15:51:19 -0500 (EST)
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I have pointed out before the unique properties of the Iris Registrer and do not feel that charging for those is at all unfair. But I also agree with Dennis and Jamie in that AIS has some responsibility to make this information readily available to the world. Somehow it seems that everyone is ignoring that that is exactly what the Iris Encyclopedia does and The Encyclopedia is an AIS project. So I do not want to hear anyone saying that AIS is not providing this information freely. The Daffodil Society and the Daylily Society also have simialar projects, and provide them freely. But I like ours the best, because it allows for multiple photos and participation from many users. In essence the data is all peer reviewed much as the information in the world of science is peer reviewed. And everyone in the world can contribute. There are many other plant societies performing similar services and some charge and some do not. The Encyclopedia is attempting to build an encyclopedic work on Irises with much more than simple checklist information. But the core of its foundation is that information. So far the Encyclopedia has had minimal cost but it will eventually be spending money to get photos and slides digitalized to create a more complete record. If anyone knows of older Iris members who have slides let them know that they can be copied and returned with the digital copies filed into the AIS library and low resolution copies put on the I.E. Where will all the funds come from? At present a small grant was made from the AIS foundation and those of you who wish to donate can send money to the AIS foundation to help with this task. Another way of perpetuating the Encyclopedia and the Register is to join the e-membership when it becomes available. The financial structure of the AIS continues to change and will do so as long as we keep having to adjust for loss of members. Some people have said that for the price of membership all they get is the bulletin. But in reality in the past the membership fees often did not cover even the costs of the bulletin. So they were getting a bargain. We are trying to add services at reasonably fees so more is available to the Iris world instead of just raising dues. Many people still do not understand the new business model. But simply put it is to provide more services at fair prices, while fullfilling mission to the world with registration and free access to its information. ----- Original Message -----
On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 2:12 PM, John I Jones <j*@usjoneses.com> wrote: Just for comparison, the Aril Society hosts something similar on their website. It's free to the public at large, not just ASI members.
http://www.arilsociety.org/index.pl?Checklist Monthly web hosting fees are small nowadays, so I don't even charge back that cost to the ASI. Nor do I charge back any costs for hardware, software, ink, or my personal time for developing & debugging. I find that the other rewards of doing this job (I'm the webmaster that developed the ASI website & checklist search engine) more than make up for any financial inconvenience. The true stars of this program are the volunteers that compile the ASI annual checklist. My contribution is small by comparison. I have no personal need of using Irisregister or registering irises with AIS or anything, so I don't have a strong opinion on the issue of charging. But still I tend to agree with Jamie's comments. In my own words: It seems that even though AIS is in the 21st century, they are still behind the times. This information should be free. Regards, Dennis |
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