Computerization of Invertebrate Paleontology Collection Records

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The collection of the Invertebrate Paleontology Section of the National History Museum of Los Angeles County, ranked sixth in North America in size and importance by the paleontological Society, contains about 3.5 million specimens from 26,000 catalogued localities, and more than 8,000 type and figured specimens cited in about 570 published papers. The collection forms an important national paleontological resource, but one from which taxonomic data cannot be quickly retrieved. To alleviate this situation, the institution investigated a program to computerize its collection records using relational database software (Paradox 3.5) running inhouse on a DOS platform. The planning phase of computerization was completed in late 1991 and implementation of data entry and report forms, testing of database designs with preliminary data sets, and fine tuning of table and field definitions, data dictionaries, and procedural manuals will soon be completed. This project will provide one-time assistance for purchase of hardware (computers, printers, mass storage and communication devices) to assist in these acquisitions and funding for a full-time curatorial assistant for two years for data entry and validation of the locality, type specimen, and bibliographic databases that constitute the sectional collection records. %%% Collections of this type some as important national resources not only for fundamental research but also for general public exhibition, educational programs aimed at all sectors of the population, and as source materials for the testing are validation of models designed to emulate past biological/climatological histories and make projections for the future.