A DECADE OF DIGIMORPH: PROJECTIONS FROM A 10-YEAR-OLD EXPERIMENT IN 3D DATA ACQUISITION, MANAGEMENT, AND DISSEMINATION

Digital Morphology is an NSF-sponsored Digital Library whose Web interface is www.DigiMorph.org. Its aims were (a) to explore the application of High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography to the vertebrate skeleton in all of its forms, from embryos to adults, in Recent specimens and across the fossil record; and (b) to find ways to disseminate these data via the Internet in a useful manner. The project was conceived and funded in 1999 and its website went live on January 16, 2002. Here I will briefly review the history of this project, including the evolution of CT hardware, 3D imaging software, web applications, and user statistics. I will survey some highlights, but will mostly discuss future challenges identified in the course of the project, such as conflicting intellectual property policies, recalcitrance of researchers to release their data, the absence of editorial review standards for digital objects, absence of data archiving standards and procedures, and the absence of a physical data archive for the larger community. Among our more unexpected findings is that CT is a powerful forensic tool, and that it is looming in efficacy in fossil preparation. DigiMorph’s history affords a forecast of what lies ahead for those of us who see value in digitizing fossils in 3D. There are predictable opportunities from the relentless advancements in technology, the least appreciated of which is the commercial potential of our paleontological data. We also face tenacious problems in the realm of intellectual property concerns, and from the inertia of conventions which originated in a print culture and which have become irrelevant in the Digital Age. These are largely problems in attitude, greed, laziness, and lack of vision by researchers, funding agencies, and scientific institutions and societies alike. Recognizing them is the first step, and by overcoming them we can as a community accelerate what remains largely a nascent renaissance in morphology through digital tools, and live to enjoy the fruits of its blossoming.