Introduction
Introduction
The past several years have seen an explosion of new tools for accessing, using, and even contributing to online sources of information. The internet as a whole became very diverse and complex. No longer are static web pages the standard for online content. Instead, new tools such as web feeds and dynamic websites have opened up automated avenues to the finding and summarizing of information. Collaborative office tools are making it even easier for people to work together over long distances. Social networking tools are allowing us to share our thoughts and experiences both professionally and personally and to extend the ideas of others.
These tools provide many new opportunities, as well as challenges, for bird conservation. Opportunities come in the form of efficiencies in communication, coordination and collaboration, as well as expanding the realm of what can be done with data and information outside of individual workstations. Challenges come in the form of learning and keeping up with rapidly changing tools which may turn out to be less useful than expected or can quickly become obsolete. This publication was started through Southeast Partners in Flight to provide an introduction to some potentially useful and (hopefully) persistent web tools for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of bird conservation. It is a compilation of short documents, written for a broad audience of biologists, researchers, and managers, consisting of one page descriptions of various web tools and their potential uses for bird conservation.
This publication is organized in the following manner. We begin by describing some of the challenges to using web tools and provide suggestions for overcoming those challenges. Each tool is then:
1) Grouped into a class so that it is easier to find and compare alternative options for a given project. Classes of tools also have a short introduction.
2) Summarized in terms of:
a. General overview
b. Strengths and weaknesses
c. Examples of how the tool has been used to advance bird conservation or collaborations
d. Links to tutorials
e. Links for finding additional information about the tool
We have purposefully kept these descriptions short so that they may serve as a quick reference instead of a comprehensive resource. The selection of tools was based on our experiences - we selected tools that have provided or we think have potential to provide long-term benefits to bird conservation as a science and collaborative effort. For example, etherpad.com was used by the authors to collaboratively write and review the first draft. This publication is dynamic in that it will continue to be improved, updated, and expanded over time. Suggestions for improving the content, organization, and scope of this publication are encouraged and can be contributed here (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NP3Y772).