FIGURE 1. Participants engaging in the museum curation process during the PaleoBlitz: (1) participants working together to identify and catalog specimens from the Belgrade Quarry; (2) collaborative collecting in Possum Creek, Gainesville, Florida; (3) PaleoBlitz participant and FLMNH staff discussing fossil identifications; (4) field sorting specimens; and (5) experiencing curation and exhibiting practices in the Gordon Hubbell collection. Photographs by Jeff Gage.
FIGURE 2. Flow chart indicating the alignment of data collection methods to the program goals. Desired outcomes are aligned to each goal: adoption of best practices throughout the museum curation process (Improved Practice); support the practice of paleontology by increasing confidence and expanding participants’ personal paleontology network (Sustained Practice); and improve the structure of the PaleoBlitz through participant feedback (Refined Design).
FIGURE 3. Sample question from the immediate post-event questionnaire.
FIGURE 4. Self-perceived knowledge regarding the museum curation process, from the point a fossil enters the museum until it is recorded in a collection, prior to the PaleoBlitz. (1) responses from all applicants (N=23) and (2) responses from applicants selected to participate in the PaleoBlitz (N=13).
FIGURE 5. Self-perceived confidence in specific aspects of the museum curation process after participation in the PaleoBlitz.
FIGURE 6. Changes made by participants to their existing collections two months after the PaleoBlitz.
FIGURE 7. Participants’ deliverables two months after the PaleoBlitz.
FIGURE 8. Social network graphs of myFOSSIL. (1) friendships on myFOSSIL.org with the FOSSIL Project staff (blue triangles), PaleoBlitz participants (orange circles), and myFOSSIL members (purple squares). (2) Friendships on myFOSSIL.org between PaleoBlitz participants and myFOSSIL members, without the FOSSIL Project staff. Created on NodeXL Pro (http://nodexl.codeplex.com) from the Social Media Research Foundation (http://www.smrfoundation.org).
