Charles Darwin Foundation www.darwinfoundation.org/en/ This site is written and maintained by the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands. The webpage is copyrighted 2006. I am unsure how often the site is updated, but at least the news releases have been updated as recently as November 2008. The Charles Darwin Foundation is an international non-profit research organization for conservation of the Galápagos ecosystem. The Charles Darwin Foundation operates the Charles Darwin Research Station to conduct scientific research and environmental education for conservation. In addition to information about the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Research Station, this site provides ample information about the islands, including the plants, animals, and introduced species. Their on-line library contains species fact sheets and a large selection of journal and research articles written by Foundation staff, volunteers, and other scientists. The homepage has a number of tabs along the top and left sides which you can click on to navigate through the site. There is also a search box to type in a query. While the site is well maintained, there is so much information available that it is easy to miss something good. The best way to see all of the options is to click on the site map tab on the left and then scroll through the link list. This site can answer many questions, including, which species of finch are unique to the Galapagos? Which introduced species threaten land iguanas, and what has been done about it? What do marine iguanas eat?

Galapagos Archipelago from Pacific Islands [Geographical Handbook Series]. Great Britain. Admiralty. Naval Intelligence Division, 1943-1945. Map image taken from UT Austin, www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/pacific_islands_ 1943_1945/galapagos_archipelago.jpg

Galapagos
www.galapagostour.org/index.php?lang=ENG
This site is from Capturgal, the Galapagos Chamber of Tourism, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable tourism. It can be viewed in both English and Spanish. I am unsure how often this site is updated, but it is copyrighted 2008.

In addition to information about tourist services such as hotels and restaurants, this site has an interactive map with the names of the islands and diving sites. Hovering your mouse over an island provides a general description of the island. This site also has city maps of the populated islands.

Galapagos Conservancy
www.galapagos.org/2008/
This site is published by the Galapagos Conservancy. The Galapagos Conservancy is an organization dedicated to protection of the Galapagos Islands; collectively its members provide the largest amount of private funding for conservation. The new stories, at least, are updated as needed, sometimes daily.

Clicking the Conservation tab on the top navigation bar leads to articles about ecosystem restoration, captive breeding and repatriation, invasive species, and other conservation-related subjects. The Travel tab leads to a reading list and flora and fauna information. This site can answer questions such as, how old are the Galapagos Islands? What is being done to control invasive wildlife? What are biosecurity measures?

Galapagos Conservation Trust
www.gct.org/map.html
This website is published by the Galapagos Conservation Trust, a UK registered charity that raises funds for the Galapagos Islands. I am unsure how often this site is updated. Some pages appear recently updated, others may be one or two years old. Overall it appears well-maintained.

This site offers an interactive map; by clicking on a particular island you are sent to an article with some basic information about that island, such as the size, what wildlife is likely to be seen there, whether or not tourists are allowed there, etc. The site has many other tabs that have floral and faunal information, tourist information, and history. Position papers on various related topics are also posted. The site is good source for answering questions such as, what species of tortoise is Lonesome George? When did Charles Darwin arrive at the islands? What is the best time of year to visit the Galapagos? What is the Trust’s position on mass tourism?

Las Encantadas
www.galapagos.to
This site is written and maintained by John Woram, and it is copyrighted 2008. John Woram is a prolific writer, mostly of computer manuals and sound recording guides. He also writes about the human and cartographic history of the Galapagos Islands and is the author of Charles Darwin Slept Here.

This site does not contain much ecological information, but it has an extensive bibliographic citation lists of maps, journals, charts, and manuscripts. It has numerous tables, including one with all the names of all the islands, including who named them and what the names mean.

Parque Nacional Galapagos Ecuador
www.galapagospark.org/png/index.php
This is the website for the Galapagos National Park. I am unsure how often it is updated. On this site one can find information about the geography, human history, and ecology of the Galapagos (click on the About Galapagos tab). It also has one of the most unique interactive maps of the Galapagos. It shows the Marine Reserve zones, zones of the National Park, and has detailed information about landing sites of each island and marine sites. This includes what type of landing (wet or dry), which bird nests where, and which finches are found on each island and why. This is a great site for answering questions like, what does a storm petrel look for in a nesting site? What do frigate birds feed on? What kind of landing will I have on Isla Isabela, and what will I see when I follow the trail at Punta Moreno?

WWF - The Galapagos: The world’s most treasured islands
www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/galapagos/index.html
This is the website of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a multinational nature conservation organization. I am unsure when this site was last updated.

The Galapagos information on this site is very general, however, it features an interactive map that illustrates what WWF conservation projects are taking place in what location. This site essentially answers the question, what conservation projects is the WWF performing in the Galapagos?

Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia
www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia is a wiki operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization. Wikipedia is updated continuously by volunteers around the world.

Wikipedia is a user-contributed encyclopedia containing more than 9.1 million entries (over 2 million in English), searchable with its own search engine. The premise of Wikipedia is that the community knows more than a single individual. Anyone can create or edit an article. Articles usually contain numerous links to other articles and often contain lists of external links to additional online content and lists of sources for further reading. Content for each article varies greatly, especially depending on whether a subject is popular. Because of the open nature of this site, content of articles should be verified for accuracy using other sources.

It is best to use this source to get an introduction subjects you know very little about, because the articles will give an overview and provide links to other sources. Wikipedia contains a substantial amount of information about the Galapagos, but like other Wikipedia articles, information found on this site should be verified with other sources.

World Atlas - msn Encarta
encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/mapcenter/map.aspx This site is one part of msn Encarta, an interactive website published and maintained by Microsoft. I am unsure how often this site is updated.

The default setting on this site is a “comprehensive” map of the world. To zoom in to your destination, type in the “Find” box. Encarta offers a variety of map styles, but unfortunately a paid subscription is required to see most of them. The free maps, however, the comprehensive map, ecology map, and time zone map offer a lot of information. Strangely, to see the legend you have to click on the “legend” link at the bottom left of the page. Also, you must zoom in close by clicking on the map or adjusting the zoom toolbar to see all the information available.

This site is good for answering questions like, what is the highest elevation of the Galapagos? What is the northernmost island of the Galapagos? What’s the name of the volcano on Isla Fernandina? Is there a time difference between mainland Ecuador and the Galapagos?

UW-Madison Zoological Museum: Galapagos Collection
University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Zoology.Galapagos
This site is maintained by the University of Wisconsin at Madison Zoological Museum. The site was last updated in 2006.

The University of Wisconsin has a variety of resource collections online. Their digital collections include books, journals, manuscripts photographs, slides, maps, and audio and video. The UW-Madison Zoological Museum is one of only three museums that has been given permission by the Ecuadorian government to “collect, preserve, transport, and maintain anatomical specimens from the Galapagos Islands” (only those animals that were killed illegally or died naturally). The collection, therefore, has an incredible amount of images and papers that no other collection has. This is an excellent site for primary sources about the Galapagos.

There are two links at the top of the page that can be used for searching the collection; one to search the entire collection, and the other to search only the full text.

galapagos @ rit
people.rit.edu/rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/NewGalapagos.html
This site is published by Dr. Robert H. Rothman The site was last updated September 1, 2002.

Dr. Rothman is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His site contains natural history of the islands (geology, wildlife, plants) and reading lists. Many of the links, unfortunately, are still under construction, but the ones that work have pictures, context, scientific names and distribution of species.

There are a number of Galapagos websites published by tour companies. These are the sites that tend rise to the top of the result lists of popular search engine queries. These sites offer information about the islands in an effort to entice people to book tours and excursions. All of the following sites contain information about tour itineraries; most of them contain travel tips, flight information, and/or suggested guidebooks. An interactive map with descriptions of each island is a popular feature on these sites. Some of them contain interesting information about plants and wildlife as well as pictures. It’s difficult to know, however, how accurate these pages are, who wrote them, or how often they are updated. The ones listed below are among the better ones I’ve found, but I wouldn’t use the information without verifying it first.

The Best of Ecuador.com
www.thebestofecuador.com/galapagos.htm
This site is from BOE Network Enterprises. It has brief descriptions of the islands, wildlife, geology, and climate.

Galapagos & Ecuador Guide
www.galapagos-islands-tourguide.com/index.html
I’m not sure who the publisher is. This site contains information about history, geography and wildlife.

Galapagos Islands Tours & Cruises
www.galapagoscruise.com.ec
This site is published by Latin Trails, a tour operator in South America. As well as descriptions of all of the islands and the flora and fauna on them, this site also describes history, natural history, geology, and conservation. This is one of few sites that contain vegetation zone descriptions.

galapagos map.com Galapagos Islands map and travel guide
www.galapagosmap.com
I’m not sure who the publisher is; its sponsor is Adventure Life. The site contains limited information about most of the islands.

Galapagos Online
www.galapagosonline.com/eng.html
This site is published by Galapagos Online Tours. This site contains general descriptions of each island.

Galapagos-Travel.com
www.galapagos-travel.com
I’m not sure who the publisher is. The site contains limited information about most of the islands.

Galapaguide - Nautidiving Galapagos
www.galapaguide.com
This is the website of Nautidiving Galapagos. It has one of the better interactive maps. Click on an island, and get lists of flora, fauna and visitor sites as well as geological features and basic geographic information such as maximum altitude.

Visit other LIBR220 student works at www.geospectra.net/libr220/projects.htm and the Galapagos Islands.

Copyright 2008. Jeanette Duffels. All rights reserved.