Computerization, Integration and On-Line Accessibility of Exceptional Invertebrate Fossil Research Collections: Florida Museum of Natural History

佛罗里达自然历史博物馆（Florida Museum of Natural History）的无脊椎动物化石收藏是美国十大无脊椎动物化石收藏之一，被各个学术水平的科学家和学生大量使用，每月在线访问量超过4500次。在这个为期两年的项目中，大约436,000个标本将被整理和计算机编目到可在互联网上搜索的收集数据库中。这些标本来自两个来源：一个是佛罗里达地质调查局收集的微化石，另一个是朱尔斯·杜巴博士在美国国家科学基金会资助的半个世纪的田野调查后收集的来自佛罗里达州和卡罗来纳州的大化石。研究人员对这两套化石的需求量很大，因为有50多种科学出版物是以它们为基础的，但几十年来它们一直无法用于研究。除了专业科学家和大学生的研究将从网上获取这些重要的标本中受益外，化石爱好者和普通公众使用互联网搜索引擎搜索科学项目、学期论文、照片展示等信息也将受益，因为该项目大大扩展了公众可获得的数据。博物馆展览、公众宣传活动和化石鉴定指南将有助于使越来越渴望化石信息的公众能够获得新编目的数据。

The invertebrate fossil collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History ranks among the ten largest in the nation and is heavily used by scientists and students at all academic levels, receiving over 4,500 online visits per month. During this two-year project, approximately 436,000 specimens will be curated and computer-cataloged into the collection database which is searchable on the internet. These specimens come from two sources: A microfossil collection from the Florida Geological Survey and a collection of macrofossils from Florida and the Carolinas assembled by Dr. Jules DuBar following a half-century of NSF-sponsored fieldwork. Both suites of fossils are in high demand by researchers because over 50 scientific publications are based on them, yet they have been unavailable for study for decades.In addition to professional scientists and university students whose research will benefit from online access to these important specimens, fossil enthusiasts and members of the general public, searching for information for science projects, term papers, photo presentations, etc., using internet search engines will also benefit as this project seriously expands the data available to the public. Museum exhibits, public outreach activities and fossil identification guides will help to make the newly cataloged data accessible to a public that is increasingly thirsty for information about fossils.