WWW.PRICOLLECTIONSDATABASE.ORG – THE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION GOES ONLINE

The Paleontological Research Institution has recently completed the final phase of the computerization of its Type and Figured Specimen Collection. This project has served to create an online database of one of the largest and most important invertebrate paleontology type collections in the country. This portion of PRI's collections contains approximately 13,600 specimens, placing it amongst the ten largest in the United States. Most specimens included in the database were originally published in the PRI's journals, Bulletins of American Paleontology and Palaeontologica Americana, of which the former is the oldest paleontological periodical in the United States. The type and figured specimen data are available at www.pricollectionsdatabase.org, and include: taxonomy, locality, stratigraphy, and publication information as well as the status in the collection of each individual type. Additionally, a specimen photograph containing the original specimen label is available on the record page of all primary types. PRI will also be linking its online database to the Paleontology Portal (www.paleoportal.org), at which researchers can search for specimens and associated taxonomic information across the databases of a large number of major collections. Publishing the database online makes this important part of the PRI collections available to scientists around the world in an efficient and cost-effective way, and lays the groundwork for subsequent phases of computerization.