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You are currently here: Home > Resources > The History of Discovering Fossils |
In partnership with JuniorGeo |
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In the beginning
Roy Shepherd and Luci Algar
Discovering Fossils started life in 2002 as 'Roy and Lu's UK Fossils' - a small personal website about our interest in fossil collecting. To read more about Roy (click here), to read more about Lu (click here).
'Roy and Lu's UK Fossils' launched in 2002
The original website 'www.royandlu.ukfossils.co.uk' offered some of the features present in the current website, including location features and advice for starting out in fossil collecting. We worked hard to grow the website, focusing on clear and simple reports that detailed the best places to find fossils. Our first location to be included on the website was Charmouth in Dorset, where we had made several recent visits while Lu was at University in Exmouth. You can view snapshots of the internet, as it was, using the following excellent website www.archive.org. To view Discovering Fossils as it was click here... http://web.archive.org/web/20030205144605/http://www.discoveringfossils.co.uk/
Building awareness
We quickly realised the need for exposure of internet search engines, and so invested many hours researching the best ways to gain listings on the key websites (Google, Yahoo, Lycos Altavista etc). Pretty quickly our efforts were rewarded as the number of visitors to the website gathered pace. To support the growth we needed to extend the number of locations and guides available on the website, which included several locations in Dorset, Somerset and West Sussex.
The first group fossil trip
Within a couple of months of launching the website we had created a small group of contacts who were keen to attend an organised event. The first event to take place was in a small Shropshire town called Much Wenlock. There were two large quarries in the immediate vicinity that contained excellent fossils from the Silurian period.
The first Discovering Fossils event in Shropshire
The event was a great success and everyone came away with a selection of finds, including trilobites, corals and bivalves. The scene was set for where we would take Discovering Fossils in the future.
Discovering Fossils
In February 2003 it became necessary to part company with UKFossils and establish the website under its own domain, and so Discovering Fossils was born. The new domain provided scope to expand the locations featured and build the foundation necessary for a nationwide group of people with an interest in Paleontology. Before embarking on establishing a national club, we focused our efforts on the improving the quality and volume of information available...
Discovering Fossils new layout and features
Developing the layout
The layout of Discovering Fossils has seen many changes, each step designed to improve navigation and reflect the objectives of the website. Among the most significant changes has been the integration of the 'picture buttons', designed to make finding a particular section of the site much easier.
Other changes have included the menu system located at the top of the screen, which we considered an essential requirement for aiding navigation. Note the inclusion of a 'You are here...' title at the top of each screen.
Developing the logo
At the same time as making changes to the layout of the website, we have also incorporated a number of improvements to the logo. The logo acts as a branding tool and demonstrates the increasingly professional focus of the website.
2002
2003
2004
2005
2008
Robert Randell becomes actively involved
Roy Shepherd, Luci Algar and Robert Randell
The inclusion of Robert into Discovering Fossils has been key to developing the scientific content of Discovering Fossils. With an academic and professional background in Palaeontology, Robert has provided extensive expertise preparing and implementing numerous public events.
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