THE ICHNOLOGY DATABASE. FACILITATING RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL ACCESS WITH AN INTEGRATED DATABASE

The authors have taken on the task of creating an integrated database to disseminate information, increase access, and facilitate research utilizing the specimens of the ichnology collection of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. Photographs of the specimens in the collection are being integrated with information about each specimen in English and French, to form the kernel of the websites, hosted in the United States and France. A searchable database will allow specimens to be examined for their possible inclusion in research, or for use as educational examples. Search parameters will include: ichnogenera, ichnospecies, age, environment, formation, locality, location, collector, author, and revisions. The use of a flexible database will allow these parameters to be expanded to fit any needs defined in the future. The value of the database as a research tool will be enhanced by providing access to original documents and descriptions. Hot links within and between sites will provide detailed information about each specimen from the museum and access to electronic copies of original descriptions and revisions of works in the public record. Precise references will be provided for those works under copyright protection. Translations of relevant chapters will be provided for some of these works. Additional hot links will provide access to existing information and photographic collections of trace fossils such as the ichnology website created by Dr. Anthony Martin at Emory University.