Explore 200 years
of Australia's natural history - at the click of a mouse
Want to know more about Australia’s fascinating
plants and animals? Now you can thanks to new and updated versions of
Australia’s Virtual Herbarium and the Online Zoological Collections
of Australian Museums.
The two websites let everyone from enthusiastic
amateurs to research scientists and government agencies access information from
7.2 million records of plants, animals and fungi from around Australia.
Launched at the Australian National Botanic
Gardens on 14 November, researchers have updated these two key online tools to
include the latest information available.
Chair of the Council of Heads of Australasian
Herbaria Kevin Thiele said Australia’s museums and herbaria house many millions
of plant and animal specimens, collected over the past 200 years from throughout
Australia and around the world.
“Australia’s Virtual Herbarium and
Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums are interactive
websites that provide access to these permanent, authoritative records of our
country’s plants and animals - past and present,” he said.
“Developed separately, the websites have been
given similar functions, tools and look and feel, making them easier for people
to use.
“Importantly, both are now powered by the
Atlas of Living Australia, a major infrastructure initiative of the
Commonwealth Government which has made it easier to connect information held in
herbaria and museums with the public and researchers.
“The great advantage of these websites is that
people can draw information from different databases in different museums and
herbaria at the same time, effectively joining them all together into a single,
giant, virtual collection. It provides in depth tools such as the ability to
explore by biographical region or location, and gives users the opportunity to
create maps and other datasets for their research.
“Users are also able to respond directly to the
people who look after the data with their queries, corrections or suggestions –
meaning the public can help enhance and maintain quality in our online
collection.”
Australia's Virtual Herbarium and
Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums are collaborative
projects of all major Australian herbaria and museums, co-ordinated by the
Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria and the Council of Heads of Australian
Faunal Collections.
http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/whatson/news/summer12-13_story.html#virtualherbarium
