RE: paleonet Palaeontology versus Geography versus Cultural Respect Versus Politics

["David Kopaska-Merkel" <davidkm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Latitude and longitude should of course be given, for GIS purposes if no
other. However, I do not know where on the globe a certain lat.-long. is,
just off the top of my head. I would like a familiar term that gives me a
hint about location in relation to other geographic features, whether it be
North America or Alabama, U.S.A., or Colbert County (Alabama, U.S.A.). The
purpose should be communication, not politics. I realize that some parts of
the world have violent histories that have left many people quite sensitive
about the names applied to those regions. One should try to use the names
that are generally known, and if authors want to add other names that refer
to states or other political entities, I have no objection.

David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Geological Survey of Alabama
P.O. Box 869999
Tuscaloosa AL 35486-6999
(205) 247-3695 (direct line/voice mail)
(205) 349-2852 (switchboard)
fax 349-2861
www.gsa.state.al.us

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk [mailto:paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk]On
> Behalf Of D.Mclean
> Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 7:02 AM
> To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: paleonet Palaeontology versus Geography versus Cultural
> Respect Versus Politics
>
>
> Latitude and longitude provide an objective, non-cultural/political
> means of locating points upon the Earth's surface.
>
> Duncan McLean
>