The Rhino Resource Center has a new look
The Rhino Resource Center – the informational website that acts as an archive for as much scholarly information on rhinos as its editors can upload – has a new look.
The website recently relaunched after undergoing a complete redesign aimed at modernizing the decades-old site.
The new version retains all the features rhino researchers have come to expect from the resource center in a more user-friendly format. The more than 29,000 references to rhino articles from magazines and journals, along with some book excerpts, are intact.
The redesigned site also retains the extensive image library with nearly 7,000 depictions of rhinos, including illustrations from the late 18th century through recent photographs.
An important new feature of the website is a history of Clara, the most famous rhinoceros in history. Clara traveled throughout Europe in the mid-18th century with her Dutch owner. She had a major influence on the understanding of rhinos during this period.
Another significant change to using the site is in the search engine. Now, users will perform searches under Documents, Images or Authors. After a search, users can filter the results according to year, journal, locality or species.
The Rhino Resource Center, or RRC, was created in 2003. The center’s first chairperson was Dr. Nico van Strien, who was well known for his expertise on Sumatran rhinos. In 1994, Nico joined Dr. Tom Foose, IRF’s first program director, to help set up IRF’s new Southeast Asia program focused on protecting Sumatran and Javan rhinos.
IRF commends the small but dedicated team behind the RRC. The site offers an almost dizzying wealth of information on rhinos for both researchers and casual observers.
The RRC team uploads approximately 1,000 new articles annually, averaging about three per day, said Dr. Kees Rookmaaker, director and chief editor for the site. They only post content which is already published.
“We’re grateful for the support of rhino enthusiasts and are glad to be a trusted source of information on these important animals,” Rookmaaker said. “We’re very pleased with how the site redesign turned out and are confident our users will find it easier to use.”
About half of all the resource center’s users are from the U.S. Roughly 15 percent are from Africa, another 15 percent are from Asia, and the rest are from Australia and a smattering of other countries.