96-16088 Lipps This proposal for a small SGER is within the guidelines for these awards because it is a novel idea that will serve the collections community and ventures into the application of new technology to a long-standing problem in that community. The product of this award, a Web interactive, community-data-entry database that also can be queried interactively on the Web, will push the collections community toward more interaction among museums and researchers. If a sufficient portion of the community does take advantage of the product of this award, it will contribute to a more scientific approach to the adoption of orphan collections and the location of scientific specimens that are available for study and curation. The product itself will appear quickly, as many lines of computer code can be adapted from other collections-based database applications and tailored specifically to the problem at hand. The new application, developed initially for invertebrate paleontology collections, will be made available for adaptation and adoption by other sites, in addition to the service that will be provided to the community by the PI's institution.
