Tapestry of Times Past: A paleontological portal for North America

时代过去的挂毯是脊椎动物古生物学会、古生物学会和美国地质调查局联合开展的一个项目，旨在为北美建立一个“古生物学门户”。该项目由加州大学古生物博物馆提供便利。它的目标是为多个受众创建一个中心的、互动的互联网古生物学资源切入点：研究社区、K-12教育、政府和行业、普通公众和媒体。门户的中心是美国地质调查局彩色编码的美国地质图，覆盖在阴影浮雕数字高程模型上。这张地图和相关的地层柱将成为交互式的，允许用户访问关于特定地理区域、地质时期、沉积环境和代表性分类群的信息。通过将当地单独的博物馆和机构网络连接在一起，用户还将找到专门针对特定勘探地理区域的信息，包括当前的研究项目和出版物、网站、在线展览和教育材料、关于在该州收集化石的信息以及其他资源的可用性。此外，该网站还将提供“做古生物学”部分，其中将包含到古生物学会议、职业、学术计划和其他资源的实用链接，以及“示范和参观”部分，其中将包括为加强古生物学门户网站而开发的现场参观和特别互动展品。该项目将开发使用一个非常简单的初始方法使用的HTML，Java脚本，Perl和PerlDBI。通过这种方法，任何拥有启用了Java脚本的Web浏览器的人都可以使用简单、熟悉的操作从数据库中请求信息，例如单击地图或键，或使用按钮和下拉菜单。回复以标准的HTML页面形式提供，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丰富的界面，一个用于更直接、更高级的查询的替代查询形式，以及一个用于处理集合和研究数据的地理信息系统可视化工具。传播战略将包括社会出版物和网站、面向教育和地球科学目标受众的会议和讲习班介绍以及与教育、环境和社会事务部及其他数字资源图书馆的合作。

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.