myFOSSIL Winds Down

[DPS Ammonite]

The funding for myFOSSIL is ending at the end of September. The National Science Foundation gave several millions of dollars (EDIT: almost 2 million) to create a website that encouraged exchange of ideas and education between the amateur and professionals in the paleontology community. myFOSSIL:  link

 

I look forward to educator and researcher Bruce MacFadden’s papers that describe what was accomplished at myFOSSIL during the last few years. Can you create a worthwhile and thriving community with several million dollars?

 

I wonder if some of the many new TFF members of recent are members of myFOSSIL. We seem to be getting lots of new members recently. Welcome! I, along with many other TFF members, are also myFOSSIL members. 

 

I would love to hear from our members about what they liked about myFOSSIL. What did they do well that might help us make TFF better?

 

My experiences at myFOSSIL were positive. Almost every time I posted a fossil or a question in the forums I was answered by a profession paleontologist. The downside of myFOSSIL was that there was very little activity in their forums. Weeks and months could pass before new posts were made.

 

MyFOSSIL showed us that the involvement of professional paleontologist with the amateurs is important. I encourage all the paleontologists at myFOSSIL to check out The Fossil Forum and become members.

 

 

 

 

[grandpa]

OMG, have I been hiding under a rock (fossil)?  I was totally unaware of this project.  I just signed up.

[FranzBernhard]

I have never heard of myFOSSIL (But I have not heard much )

22 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said:

The National Science Foundation gave several millions of dollars to create a website

This is an incredible amount!

23 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said:

Almost every time I posted a fossil or a question in the forums I was answered by a profession paleontologist.

I would understand the figure given above, if paleontologists were paid from this money. Is this assumption correct?

Thanks!
Franz Bernhard

[DPS Ammonite]

2 minutes ago, FranzBernhard said:

I have never heard of myFOSSIL (But I have not heard much )

This is an incredible amount!

I would understand the figure given above, if paleontologists were paid from this money. Is this assumption correct?

Thanks!
Franz Bernhard

At least some of the staff at myFOSSIL was paid. Some of the money went to publish papers about the project. I see that they received about 2 million dollars: https://www.idigbio.org/content/uf-receives-197-million-nsf-grant-develop-paleontology-network

[FossilDAWG]

I also am a member of myFOSSIL, though I admit that I almost never really participated because the pace seemed very slow compared to TFF.  Of course that is a bit hypocritical as I did nothing to make the place more dynamic.  I think we could pick up the baton here quite a bit though, perhaps by creating forums around taxonomic groups (e.g. "bodacious brachiopods" or "exquisite echinoderms") which is how myFOSSIL is/was organized.  We have forums for each state/province (within North America at least) but no "bins" built around taxonomy.  Of course we'd have to discuss that, there may be down sides to splitting things up too finely.

 

Don

[Miocene_Mason]

I just joined it a few days ago, only to learn the funding is coming to a close. It is pretty good for cataloging, but I struggle to see any advantage to, say, TFF. Perhaps I just haven’t looked at it long enough.

[FranzBernhard]

From the website given by @DPS Ammonite:  https://www.idigbio.org/content/uf-receives-197-million-nsf-grant-develop-paleontology-network

"“To understand how design influences practice in a learner driven environment,

our strategy will be to model the evolution of the community by looking at user characteristics.”

This is so technical, but, hey, it was funded by the NSF! 
Franz Bernhard

[DPS Ammonite]

10 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

From the website given by @DPS Ammonite:  https://www.idigbio.org/content/uf-receives-197-million-nsf-grant-develop-paleontology-network

"“To understand how design influences practice in a learner driven environment,

our strategy will be to model the evolution of the community by looking at user characteristics.”

This is so technical, but he, it was funded by the NSF! 
Franz Bernhard

That is a mouthful. Maybe they can translate it into plain English. I do not think that most natives could figure out what that means let alone someone who speaks another language as their first language.

 

EDIT: If you read the press release, the goals of the project are in plainer English. 

[grandpa]

I think they are saying that they are going to study how the design of the website influences how the site is used.  Maybe?

[JohnJ]

Kudos to the project for its contributions to paleontology!

 

We welcome any new members from that site.  For many years, we have been building bridges between the professional and amateur fossil communities.  Our members range at all levels of 'paleo' experience.  Education occurs more 'organically' here, with professionals, researchers, or specialists sharing their knowledge in our busy, dynamic environment.   

[FossilDAWG]

The concept is sound.  However, TFF was already here, it is the largest paleo community on the web,  and it is still growing.  I hope the myFOSSIL community will come to the party and make TFF even better.

 

Don

[sharkdoctor]

The myFOSSIL approach was an interesting idea. A colleague and I were a part of the myFOSSIL panel at the North American Paleontological Convention. I intended to stay connected, but didn't find the approach to be all that engaging over time. Like a lot of federal funding intended to create communities, it seemed that it didn't have the vim and vigor of more organic efforts like TFF. However, it did create a lot of ties among folks that would not have been connected otherwise. I still get emails from, and run across sites by, folks that I met at the myFOSSIL presentations.

 

25 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

The concept is sound.  However, TFF was already here, it is the largest paleo community on the web,  and it is still growing.  I hope the myFOSSIL community will come to the party and make TFF even better.

 

DITTO!

[DPS Ammonite]

Here is a good paper that Bruce MacFadden authored that describes what he is trying to do: link  

 

Palaeontologia Electronica
palaeo-electronica.org
Amateur paleontological societies and fossil clubs, interactions with professional paleontologists, and social paleontology in the United States
Bruce J. MacFadden, Lisa Lundgren, Kent Crippen, Betty A. Dunckel, and Shari Ellis
 

[Auspex]

1 hour ago, FossilDAWG said:

there may be down sides to splitting things up too finely.

Paleontology has more facets than all the diamonds in the Smithsonian. You can very quickly create an impenetrable forest if you're not careful.

 

[Nimravis]

I have never heard of this and I will have to check it out.

[Ludwigia]

This is new to me as well, but it sounds like it served its purpose to some extent. The word about it could have gotten around a bit more than it did, methinks.

[Randyw]

I’ve never heard anything about it either!

[FossilNerd]

4 hours ago, DPS Ammonite said:

The downside of myFOSSIL was that there was very little activity in their forums. Weeks and months could pass before new posts were made.

This was the reason I chose to join TFF instead of myFOSSIL. I was actually looking into both of them and trying to decide which community to join when I settled on TFF. I wanted to focus my efforts and attention on one community versus splitting my time among two. The activity on TFF is what drew me in.  

[Plax]

17 hours ago, JohnJ said:

Kudos to the project for its contributions to paleontology!

 

We welcome any new members from that site.  For many years, we have been building bridges between the professional and amateur fossil communities.  Our members range at all levels of 'paleo' experience.  Education occurs more 'organically' here, with professionals, researchers, or specialists sharing their knowledge in our busy, dynamic environment.   

I agree 100%! There are experts professional and amateur here that make this forum exceptional.