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，受到各级科学家和学生的大量使用，每月有超过4500次在线访问。在这一为期两年的项目期间，将对大约436,000件标本进行整理，并将其编入可在因特网上检索的收藏数据库。这些标本来自两个来源：来自佛罗里达地质调查局的微化石集合和来自佛罗里达和卡罗莱纳的大型化石集合，这些化石是由朱尔斯·杜巴博士在NSF赞助的半个世纪的野外工作后收集的。这两套化石都是研究人员非常需要的，因为超过50种科学出版物都是基于它们的，但它们几十年来一直无法用于研究。除了专业科学家和大学生的研究将受益于在线访问这些重要的标本，化石爱好者和普通公众的成员，搜索科学项目的信息，学期论文，照片演示等，使用互联网搜索引擎也将受益，因为这个项目严重扩大了公众可用的数据。博物馆展品、公众宣传活动和化石鉴定指南将有助于让越来越渴望了解化石信息的公众获得新编目的数据。

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.