Introduction:
New techniques for information distribution make possible
widespread dissemination of marine science ebucation materials.
Specifically, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) used for World Wide
Web (WWW) servers and clients enables the production of high quality
interactive information resources. WWW servers on the Internet
provide a very wide distribution of their information resources. Some
organizations which have already established such information
resources include NOAA, the US Navy, the SACLANT Undersea Research
Center, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Earth Resources Laboratory at
MIT, and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at
the University of Miami.
World Wide Web is a term used to refer to the set of information resources available via the Internet which use Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and the associated protocol, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). A hypertext document mabe conforming to the HTML standard, which may incorporate references to images and other HTML documents, is called a "home page" for the person or organization so described. The term "home page" does not imply a limitation of the number of pages which the hypertext document may actually contain. A home page allows interactive browsing and searching of information using hypertext. WWW client soffware can be used to access remote information resources, as would be the case for computers hooked up to the Internet; or it can be used to view a local home page, which would not require an Internet hookup.
We propose the establishment of a World Wide Web server at Texas A&M University to provide information on studies of protected marine species, especially sea turtles and marine mammal research with an emphasis on opportunities for field experiences. The World Wide Web audience is diverse. Most university researchers and students have access to WWW resources. Many, if not most, public schools today have personal computer resources. Many of these have Internet access. Establishment of a WWW home page for information on protected marine species will allow users at these schools, as well as other academic and commercial users of the Internet, to have direct interactive access to marine conservation and marine mammal science information. For schools and users without Internet access, a subset home page can be made available via distribution on floppy disk.
A WWW home page will serve several functions contributing to actions designated as priorities for Sea Grant programs. It will serve as another channel of communication of marine science (in this case, studies on and conservation of protected species and marine mammal research) information to interested parties. It can provide contact information for conservation and marine mammal research activities. It can disseminate field guides and educational materials directly to educators. It can also be used for two-way communication, as links to forms or email functions are possible. Such links could be used in efforts for cooperative development of resources, such as educational curricula involving protected marine species and associated topics. Information concerning conservation and regulation of protected species will be incorporated so that the WWW home page provides another means for the interested public to obtain such information.
While the possibilities of the medium are limited primarily by imagination, the actual implementation will seek to achieve reasonable goals, while identifying interesting potential additions or functions. The goals will be to provide the home page and site it at Texas A&M Universlty, to establish information resources relevant to the Marine Education Program Area of Sea Grant as available at TAMU Galveston, to identify and incorporate links to information resources already existing on the Internet, and to develop a subset of the WWW home page suitable for distribution via floppy disk and local interactive use.
This project will require the cooperation of Texas A&M researchers and students to collate machine readable information to be incorporated into the WWW home page. Also, the information resource should be seen as something requiring incremental, continuous management to maintain references as current as possible. A resource management guide will be developed as well, so that TAMU staff will be able to maintain the WWW home page as a high quality information resource, and so that management information learned through this project can be utilized by Sea Grant staff in developing and maintaining a Sea Grant WWW home page. Information from otber interested parties, organizations, and agencies will be added, if the information is topical and as time permits.
Obiectives:
Methods
The World Wide Web home page will be constructed using freely available software tools (GNU Emacs, HTML Assistant for Windows). The home page will conform to HTML standards for maximum compatibility with WWW client software. Separate research areas in protected marine species research and administration (sea turtle distribution, habits, advisories; marine mammal advisories) , marine mammal science (physiology, behavior, bioacoustics, anatomy, etc.) and conservation (Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, other marine mammal stranding networks, etc.) will be accessible through hypertext links in the home page document.
Information will be gathered from TAMU researchers and students concerning field guides, schedules of marine field experiences, contacts for field experiences, reports from field experiences, current research project descriptions and contact information, reports of past research projects, collected bibliographic information, and conservation information.
Information will be tagged for hypertext links. Additions to information provided by identified sources will be incorporated, such as references to current research and a glossary. An index with hypertext links will be developed.
Researcher qualifications:
William Seitz is a Professor in the Oceanography Department in Texas A&M University at Galveston, with over 18 years of teaching and research experience. His background in theoretical chemical-physics and complex systems theory is well suited to support this project. He is the author of over 60 peer reviewed publlcations in international journals, serves on editorial advisory boards, and has had continuous external research funding for more than Eifteen years. He holds an adjunct professorship at Rice University as well.
Wesley R. Elsberry has an established history of collating and disseminating resource information in the field of artificial neural networks. He has a background in the sciences, with a B.S. in Zoology, M.S.C.S. in Computer Science, and coursework toward a Wfldlife and Fisheries Sciences Ph.D. He has operated an online information service, the Central Neural System Bulletin Board System, continuously since 1989. He has assisted in the creation of a WWW site for the TAMU Student Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology.