SNEAK PREVIEW OF A NEW PUBLICATION	contact: Publications(publications@mgs.md.gov)

Bulletin 20: Miocene Fossils of Maryland has always been one of our most popular publications with both professional and amateur paleontologists. The revised first edition by Harold E. Vokes has been out of print since 1991. We chose to release the second edition, revised by John D. Glaser, on CD for several reasons. The interactive HTML version contains many enhancements that make identification of fossils easier than can be done with the paper version. Thumbnail illustrations of each species accompany the descriptive text in the interactive document, unlike the paper copy. The illustrations are available in medium and high resolutions in the interactive document. Miocene Fossils contains many cross-references between the text and the illustrations. These cross-references are hyper-linked in the HTML version for easier use. You can use any Internet web browser to view the HTML documents.

Printing the HTML text does not produce a book-like document. Therefore a copy of the original text is included on the CD in portable document format (PDF). While not as easy to view on a computer screen, the PDF version can be printed to produce a paper document identical to the printed edition. In fact, it is the only way to obtain a paper copy of Bulletin 20: Miocene Fossils of Maryland, because the second edition is unavailable in book form. The software needed to view and print the PDF document, Adobe Acrobat Reader, is included on this disc.

Bonus Contents Included on the CD

• Netscape 4.7
  Because the HTML documents on this CD work best in a Javascript 1.2 enabled browser we have included a copy of Netscape 4.7 on this disk. If you do not currently have a browser that supports Javascript 1.2 (Netscape 4.x or Internet Explorer 4.x) you may use the installation file on this CD to upgrade your browser.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0
  Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 is also included for reading and printing the PDF copy of Miocene Fossils. These programs can be found in the /bonus directory of this CD. Both Windows and Macintosh versions are available.
• MGS FactSheets
  Two MGS FactSheets relevant to Miocene Fossils are included in HTML format:
  • FactSheet No. 6: Maryland's Official State Fossil Shell
  • FactSheet No. 10: Fossil Collecting Sites at Calvert Cliffs
  While not part of Bulletin 20, these FactSheets contain information pertinent to this topic. Other FactSheets are available at MGS's web site.
• MGS List of Publications
  The MGS List of Publications in HTML and PDF format is also included. For updates, please visit the on-line version of the List of Publications at http://www.mgs.md.gov.

How the CD Was Produced

One of the most challenging aspects of converting a document from paper to bytes is adapting a page format to a computer monitor format. Your monitor is wider than it is tall, just the opposite of most printed pages. Therefore the ratio of width to height (aspect ratio) of each paper page must be adjusted to fit on a monitor. Because we have come to except computer displays as a graphical medium, we expect to see our screens filled with interesting pictures, not text (like this page). A screen full of text is simply less appealing to read than a printed page.

We are indebted to M. Elizabeth Hudson for her investigations and solutions to the page-to-screen challenge. Liz developed HTML formats and layouts that are appealing and easy to use. The HTML formats enhance the utility of the original publications by introducing hypertext functionality to the Internet browser documents. The PDF documents remain faithful to the original printed material, but allows the reader to use computers tools such as search, query, copy-and-paste and printing options that would be unavailable in a paper document.

The HTML, PDF versions of Bulletin 20, the List of Publications, and the FactSheets were prepared by R. D. Conkwright.