Encyclopedia Of Life Is Born

The Encyclopedia of Life, which intends “to document all 1.8 million named species of animals, plants, and other forms of life on Earth,” was launched today.  And as fascinating as this story is from any standpoint, it may also lend some perspective on issues raised by sites like Wikipedia.

The Encyclopedia of Life won’t exactly be peer-edited, but neither will users be solely responsible for its content; instead, “the Encyclopedia will be developed by bringing together (‘mashing up’) content from a wide variety of sources,” reports the site’s