- ARKive
ARKive is a global initiative to locate and gather
films ,photographs andaudio recordings of the world'sspecies into one centraliseddigital library for the benefit of present and futuregenerations . As such, it is sometimes described as the newNoah’s Ark , or the Noah’s Ark of the online era.The project was launched in May
2003 by its patron, theUK -based natural history presenter,Sir David Attenborough , [cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,969572,00.html|publisher="The Guardian"|title=Arkive sets sail on the web|accessdate=2007-07-02] a long-standing colleague and friend of its chief instigator, the late Christopher Parsons, a former Head of theBBC Natural History Unit .Parsons identified a need to provide a centralised safe haven for wildlife films and photographs after discovering that many such records are held in scattered, non-indexed, collections, often with little or no public access, and sometimes in conditions that could lead to loss or damage. [cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,839405,00.html|publisher="The Guardian"|title=Christopher Parsons|accessdate=2007-07-02] He believed the records could be a powerful force in building environmental awareness by bringing
scientific names to life. He also saw their preservation as an important educational resource and conservation tool, not least because extinction rates and habitat destruction could mean that images and sounds might be the only legacy of some species’ existence.His vision of a permanent, accessible, refuge for audio-visual wildlife material won almost immediate support from many of the world’s major broadcasters; leading film and photographic libraries, international conservation organisations and academic institutes.
Work on building ARKive began as part of the UK’s
Millennium 2000 celebrations, using advanced computerised storage and retrieval technology devised for the project byHewlett Packard Laboratories Europe. By the launch date, the project team had researched, catalogued, copied, described and authenticated image, sound and fact files of 1,000animals ,plants andfungi , many of them criticallyendangered . More multi-media profiles are added every month, starting with Britishflora andfauna and with species included on theRed List – that is, species that are believed to be closest toextinction , according to research by theWorld Conservation Union . By January2006 , the database had grown to 2,000 species, 15,000 still images and more than 50 hours of video. [cite web|url=http://www.arkive.org/pressReleases/suntimes010106.html|publisher="ARKive"|title=ARKive named as Sunday Times website of the year|accessdate=2007-07-02]The ARKive project is an initiative of
Wildscreen , a UK-registered educational charity, based inBristol , and working globally to increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of biodiversity, through the power of wildlife imagery.References
ee also
*
Catalogue of Life
*Encyclopedia of Life
*CultureSheet Project
*List of online encyclopedias
*Nature documentary External links
* [http://www.arkive.org Official ARKive site.]
* [http://www.wildscreen.org Official Wildscreen site.]
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