XVI International Botanical Congess

This paper will briefly review existing models for setting priorities for preserving the published record, focusing on efforts to develop a disciplinary approach to selection for preservation. Examples in other scientific disciplines, notably medicine and agriculture, will be presented. Essential elements of a plan for preserving the literature of a discipline will be explicated. Steps in devising and implementing a disciplinary plan and the requisite conditions for success will be discussed, as will techniques for implementation, including: methods for involving scientists and scholars in the effort, techniques for compiling a taxonomy of the literature, methods of setting priorities within component parts of the literature, and techniques for structuring cooperative preservation projects. Recommendations for proceeding with such work in the botanical sciences will be proffered for discussion.