XVI International Botanical Congess

Several national and international associations see botany as a field for which inadequate preservation strategies exist. Librarians and archivists are responsible for preserving the record of botanical science - a large, complex and daunting task. We can't save everything, so how do we choose? Data and records created for one purpose may be useful for other purposes later. Scientists must think about their work, published and unpublished, print and electronic. What documentation should outlive them? Who decides? Who keeps it, and how? The need for preservation transcends boundaries, requiring global thinking and local action. We need many coordinated preservation efforts all over the world, and information on their scope and status. How can the potential for global preservation action in botany be realized?