museum metaphor

[Marc LeBrun]

We call it an "encyclopedia" and perhaps think of it as a kind of 
publication, but another metaphor that I sometimes think might be apt is 
"Museum Of Integer Sequences".

Neil's of course the Curator and chief of acquisitions.  We drag sequences 
in from the field like unearthed fossils, from diverse sources, in a wide 
variety of conditions.  Some of these are very incomplete skeletons 
("more"), others are fully preserved.  Some are common fauna 
("recreational") others are important type specimens ("core").

Some of the more significant or sensational of these are highlighted for 
public display ("classic", "hot") but most are simply filed away in the 
back room drawers and cabinets of the main collection, awaiting a 
researcher's interest in the future, not matter how distant.

Of course each new acquisition must undergo at least a minimum of 
preparation and labeling ("The Form").  But they vastly appreciate in value 
whenever they are examined, explained, linked into their native "ecology", 
joined to the taxonomic edifice, connected to the literature, and the like.

And because all this material is concentrated in the museum, it facilitates 
those exciting "hits", where apparently unrelated species are discovered to 
be members of some previously unsuspected clade--which is much less likely 
to occur out in the field.

Perhaps this is just a silly metaphor, but it helps me understand why 
Neil's very open (though disciplined) policy about adding new sequences is 
a good thing.  A museum isn't quite the same as a canonical reference tome, 
whose contents must be purged of miscellany to preserve some austere 
purity.  Every shard of truth, no matter how tiny, adds value.