Tapestry of Times Past: A paleontological portal for North America

Tapestry of Times Past是美国古脊椎动物学会（Society of Vertebrate Paleontology）、古生物学会（Paleontology Society）和美国地质调查局（US Geological Survey）的一个联合项目，旨在共同为北美建立一个“古生物学门户”。该项目由加州大学古生物学博物馆推动。它的目标是为众多受众创建一个互联网上古生物学资源的中心，互动入口：研究界，K-12教育，政府和行业，公众和媒体。门户的核心是覆盖在阴影浮雕数字高程模型上的美国地质勘探局彩色地质图。这张地图和相关的地层柱将成为交互式的，允许用户访问有关特定地理区域、地质时期、沉积环境和代表性分类群的信息。通过将当地个别博物馆和机构的网络连接在一起，用户还将找到与特定地理区域的探索有关的信息，包括当前的研究项目和出版物、网站、在线展览和教育材料、在该州收集化石的信息以及其他资源的可用性。此外，该网站将提供“做古生物学”部分，其中包含古生物学会议、职业、学术课程和其他资源的实际链接，以及“演示和参观”部分，该部分将提供现场参观和特别互动展览，以增强古生物学门户。该项目将使用一种非常简单的初始方法开发，利用HTML、Javascript、Perl和PerlDBI。使用这种方法，任何使用启用了Javascript的Web浏览器的人都可以使用简单、熟悉的操作（如单击地图或键，或使用按钮和下拉菜单）从数据库请求信息。响应作为标准HTML页面交付，不需要插件或专有软件。后来的增强将包括一个替代的多媒体富界面，一个用于更直接、高级查询的替代查询表单，以及一个用于处理集合和研究数据的GIS可视化工具。传播策略将包括协会出版物和网站、面向教育和地球科学领域目标受众的会议和研讨会演讲，以及与DLESE和其他数字资源库合作。

Tapestry of Times Past is a joint project of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, the Paleontological Society, and the US Geological Survey, working together to build a "paleontology portal" for North America. The project is facilitated by the UC Museum of Paleontology. Its goals are to create a central, interactive entry point to paleontology resources on the Internet for multiple audiences: the research community, K-12 education, government and industry, the general public, and the media. The centerpiece of the portal is the USGS color-coded geologic map of the contiguous United States draped over a shaded-relief digital elevation model. This map and associated stratigraphic column will become interactive, allowing the user to access information about particular geographic regions, geologic time periods, depositional environments and representative taxa. By linking together a network of local individual museums and institutions, the user will also find information specific to the particular geographic region of exploration, including current research projects and publications, websites, on-line exhibits and educational materials, information on collecting fossils in that state, and availability of other resources. In addition, the site will provide a "Doing Paleontology" section that will contain practical links to paleontology meetings, careers, academic programs, and other resources as well as a "Demonstrations and Tours" section that will house site tours and special interactive exhibits developed to enhance the Paleontology Portal. The project will be developed using a very simple initial approach utilizing HTML, Javascript, Perl and PerlDBI. With this approach, anyone with a Web browser with Javascript enabled can request information from the database using simple, familiar actions such as clicking on the map or key, or using buttons and pull-down menus. Responses are delivered as standard HTML pages, requiring no plug-ins or proprietary software. Later enhancements will include an alternate multimedia-rich interface, an alternate query form for more directed, advanced queries, and a GIS visualization tool for working with collections and research data. Dissemination strategies will include society publications and websites, conference and workshop presentations to target audiences in education and geosciences, and working with DLESE and other digital resource libraries.