Wikipedia:WikiProject Missing encyclopedic articles/Global Names Index

The Global Names Index is a massive collection of scientific names (18,633,200 names total as of 11/March/2010). Names given are for both the genus and all of its subsequent species and sub species. This list will provide an index of all such names to be added to Wikipedia (either creating an article or redirecting to a synonym. Names have been obtained from a number of different but credible sources [1]. Furthermore, each name will have references to external websites which would usually contain references to scientific publications which are acceptable for sourcing many scientific names.

Note: Under no circumstances are these names/articles to be created with the assistance of a bot/computer/program. This is because not every single name deserves an article and this would need to be individually verified. However, articles already created on Wikipedia are more than welcome to be updated with the help of a bot/program/computer as deemed appropriate.

Step by step instructions: Creating an article

1. Pick a letter (e.g. A)
2. Pick a three letter link from that list (e.g. [2])
3. Pick a name out of that list (in this case, there are 48 names to choose from; we will pick Aaaba
4. Search on Wikipedia to make sure it is not already created Aaaba
5. Assuming it is not, create the article based on WP:TOL by adding a taxobox according to the instructions given.
6. Add multiple references (which should be provided from that name on the bottom right hand corner). Example: When clicking on Aaaba in the Global Names Index listing the following websites were provided to use as a reference: GBIF 2 records, uBio NameBank 1 record and CU*STAR 1 record
7. If you are able to access the scientific journals/subscription pages that provide further information about the animal/species feel free to add additional info on the page.
8. If the name is a genus, add all the species and a reference to them under a species sub heading.
9. Once complete add an edit summary: Created as part of the WikiProject Missing articles
10. Redirect any synonym of that name to the article created.
11. Add article to a specific WikiProject (Aaaaba in this case was added to WikiProject Insects
12. That's it for the article!

Step by step instructions: Creating a redirect

1. As above, follow steps 1-4
2. If article is not yet created and it is the more common name than the name you found, consider creating the article first.
3. Once article is created, redirect synonym to it. (e.g.Aabacharis
4. Ensure that synonym is added either in the taxobox or somewhere within the article

Step by step instructions: Updating an article

• In many cases, there very well might be an article on the current genus/species. If that be the case, feel free to add all the references/species names to the article if they have not already been added (in some cases, this would be a valuable addition if the page on Wikipedia is only one sentence and has only one reference)(e.g. [3]

Tips

• If there happens to be no information/little info given from the references provided (e.g. Aaabat), then try and locate what family/class/order (the more specific the better) of that particular genus/species and write a comment on the Wikipedia talk page for help/info about said name. If no one responds and nothing else can be obtained from Google then make a note on the subpage within this wikiproject that no info could be found and move on. Feel free to notify members of this list on this talk page. I wrote a query over at Talk:Vesper_bat.
• If there is little information on the individual species, consider creating the genus page instead and just wikilinking all the species in the genus article for future potential creation (once information becomes more accessible, or new discoveries are made)
• In many cases, there will be multiple names given for the one genus or one species. An example will be provided in the following table:

Aaaba

Similar names following the first name	Reason/Explanation for additional name
Aaaba Bellamy 2002	Bellamy is the individual who described/discovered either genus or said species, the year indicates when he did this
Aaaba de Laubenfels 1936	Same as above. Note an earlier year indicates he discovered either the genus or a particular species prior to Bellamy's discovery.
Aaaba fossicollis	Species of genus
Aaaba fossicollis (Kerremans 1903)	Individual most likely credited for this particular species
Aaaba nodosus	Species of genus
Aaaba nodosus (Deyrolle 1865)	Same as Aaaba fossicollis (Kerremans 1903) reasoning above

• Hence from above table, it can be seen that there is one genus, two species to that genus, and multiple individuals credited/contributing to the naming/description of the genus/species or a combination of the above (the answer to all of this can be seen in the references that each name provides/leads too).
• When undertaking this project, it would be best to claim an entire 3 letter link so as to prevent duplication (since it can not be seen in real time when someone has created an article unless it is typed in due to not having every single name wikilinked). Once finish with the entire 3 letter link (by either creating a genus/redirect and (if possible) species article) strike it to prevent others from going through it a second time. Make a claim by signing your name next to the 3 letter link.
• Instead of having to post every detail that you accomplished, a more feasible scenario would be to only note down the problem names under the completed 3 letter link. This was others can try and see if they can find more info about them.
• Different 3 letter links would have a different amounts of names. E.g. [4] 48 c.f. [5] 4,625. Do 3 letter links that you believe you can handle.
• If you feel like you can't be bothered doing any more articles/redirects/links from a particular section then just uncross your name and state which things are done/what is remaining.
• In addition to the references provided by the name from the listings on the Global Names Index, also consider doing a Google search on a species/genus if you are struggling to obtain references.
• If anyone else has any other ideas to place here please feel free to do so.
• Please direct all questions to the talk page.

Taxonomy

• While in some cases, there is a lot of info on a particular species (obvious e.g. Homo sapiens), that is not always the case for others. Hence in the absence of creating countless species articles, a genus page can instead be created which would lead to more info being provided (in general) and more content in the one page. In these cases, it is best to list all the species from that genus on the one page. A wiki link may be given for the species in question but there is no need to make a redirect of the species to the genus page in case info is found about the species and this allows the greatest chance that someone will write the article.
• I have not yet seen higher level ordering of names on this database but if that is the case, regulations/suggestions will be made to those particular sets as required.

The Global Names Index

• Due to the incredibly large number of names, the links provided will be of the three letter section links and every single name itself (example page: [6]).

Letter	Initial	Remaining	% Completed
A [7]	493	491	0.4%
B [8]	676	676	0%
C [9]	676	676	0%
D [10]	676	676	0%
E [11]	676	676	0%
F [12]	676	676	0%
G [13]	676	676	0%
H [14]	676	676	0%
I [15]	676	676	0%
J [16]	676	676	0%
K [17]	676	676	0%
L [18]	676	676	0%
M [19]	676	676	0%
N [20]	676	676	0%
O [21]	676	676	0%
P [22]	676	676	0%
Q [23]	676	676	0%
R [24]	676	676	0%
S [25]	676	676	0%
T [26]	676	676	0%
U [27]	676	676	0%
V [28]	676	676	0%
W [29]	676	676	0%
X [30]	676	676	0%
Y [31]	676	676	0%
Z [32]	676	676	0%
TOTAL [33]	17,393	17,391	0.01%
TOTAL NAMES removed***	18,633,200	18,633,145	0.00002%

***Total names calculated by 3 letter index strikes

• Note, there is in fact, less than 17,576 3 letter codes (e.g. there is no 3 letter link or names that begin with the letters Afb so I will update the real total once that is counted/correctly assigned.