Fishing for Answers? Try ALearn!
Got a fish-related question? It's a whole lot easier these days to catch an answer thanks to a new Web site sponsored and developed by the CoAg Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures (FAA).
The site, called ALearn (www.alearn.info), was launched last year as an outreach resource for everyone from anglers and pond owners to commercial fish farmers and from citizen groups to teachers and students.
Len Lovshin, a retired professor of FAA, spearheaded the site's development and implementation. "We had the departmental Web site (www.ag.auburn.edu/fish), but we felt we needed a Web site that was an Extension tool, one that could provide information to our constituency in and outside Alabama," says Lovshin.
That idea had been discussed for several years, but it took off when Lovshin volunteered to develop the site after he retired. He began by talking to all FAA Extension faculty to find out what kinds of information needed to be on the site. Armed with that information, he chose four major categories to include on the site: education, aquaculture, recreational fishing and natural resources.
With the help of Troy Hahn, FAA's information technology specialist, Lovshin designed a user-friendly site that can be updated by the Extension specialists to ensure the information is current. The new site officially launched in October 2005, and has already welcomed 32, 631 visitors.
"It offers a very broad range of information," says Lovshin. "Our intent is to provide information first to non-academics and non-scientists and to provide lots of how-to information; however we did include some information at a higher academic level so scientists can use it as well."
Sources of information came first from AU personnel, but the site also taps into resources across the state and region. "We tried to find the best information we could for the state of Alabama, so we gathered it from all over the place. It is as broad-based as possible," notes Lovshin.
The site also contains a useful search engine so visitors can easily get to specific subject areas, and it has many links to other resources, such as the FAA main Web site, a fisheries and aquacultural photo gallery, weather radar and even recipes.
The site is updated by Extension specialists themselves, so it has the latest information. "Our hope is that we keep it up to date, which is the hardest part of maintaining a Web site," says Lovshin.
Who might use it? It's made for everyone, says Lovshin, from citizen groups, such as Alabama Water Watch, to anglers to pond owners to fish farmers, and it has a section just for teachers and students.
"It may take a while for people to learn about it, but once they know it is there I think it will be very popular," adds Lovshin.