tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post1955424711311946076..comments2024-03-17T21:38:11.530-07:00Comments on The Tree of Life: A worthy cause: Help fund a "Patient Centered Probiotics Reference" Jonathan Eisenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-46772292923081260042015-08-27T17:51:12.632-07:002015-08-27T17:51:12.632-07:00I have nothing really to back up my support of thi...I have nothing really to back up my support of this. A colleague sent me the link. It seemed like a good cause. And they were not trying to raise too much money. I don't know the people. But given that it was 5K and that the product could be useful, it seemed worth some small risk. But now that you have dug into it, I am, well, not overjoyed with their plan, to say the least. Jonathan Eisenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-90644233304832549432015-08-27T17:37:22.636-07:002015-08-27T17:37:22.636-07:00Jonathan, you know I respect you in all three of ...Jonathan, you know I respect you in all three of your roles. Rockstar of microbiomes, champion of open access, and warrior for gender (and other) inequities in science.<br /><br />And this concept is critically important. But I take your recommendations serious because of the Troika of Good Roles. So I looked at this. And the proposal is for 5k to 'kind of, you know, take out subscriptions to journals'. There is no disclosed plan for hosting and updating, ensuring credible and critical oversight, maintaining and nourishing a sustainable activity, nor any other aspect that has any hope of providing the important resource they allude to. I WANT such a resource. I WANT to see snake oil poured out and called out. I WANT thoughtful, tested and reliable microbial interventions to be considered as a new norm in health. And I was ready to put my money into such an activity. Then I looked at it. I couldn't find the strategic plan. Couldn't find the budget (umm....journals, really?)...nor CVs of the promoters.<br /><br />5000 dollars to do what exactly? I won't pay for 1% of it. To make and run this thing with the degree of professionalism it will require to ensure quality is an expensive undertaking. The kind of thing that NLM does through NCBI utterly brilliantly. But then you notice that the 'perk' for investment include:<br /><br />Super Reg's Kamboocha recipe and a 12 months access to the ProBX database.<br /><br />Well that's reassuring that we're funding a paywalled database. Where's the business plan? Where's the public good component? <br /><br />C'mon Jonathan. Don't squander your insanely great brand endorsement without helping us understand why you spruik something. I TRUST you. I LIKE you. I even ADMIRE you. I WANT this resource. But I can't find any evidence that I'd get such a resource through this venture. What did I miss?Richard Jeffersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10318129859195503314noreply@blogger.com