How to you record/archive your finds ? Is there any software for this ?

[yorkshireTrev]

Hello all im currently searching for a good way of logging my finds. I search my local wood which is 5 mins walking distance on quite a regular basis and i would like to log the basic information such as type of fungi, when it was found, where it was found with a map reference and images.

I've found nothing suitable for my needs so far so if you have a certain method of recording your finds please could you share it with me

Thanks
Trev

[loripo]

If you have a spreadsheet program on your PC such as Excel you could use that. Set up your columns with titles and whatever other data you want to record. YOu can also put photos into each line. I found it best to insert a text box so that the pasted photo within that was the same size each time. We did this for an inventory of equipment at work. You can print then - just remember to male a copy somewhere
This way you can sort or search for things if it gets huge too.

[cybershot]

Both the BMS and the ABFG have recording packages which allow you to record your finds and at the same time contribute to a national database. The long establish FRDBI contains 1.5 million records compared to CATE, recently established by the ABFG which holds only 300,000 but which is a modern, sophisticated, versatile system including high quality 1km mapping of fungus records. From my own experience recovery of personal records and analysis is simplicity personified with the latter system but check out both to see which, if any, best suits your needs:

Fungal Records Database of the British Isles

Association of British Fungus Groups

David

[ron1863]

I concur with David. Having recently joined the ABFG, I find the database a joy to use, both to upload records and peruse them.
As Loripro says, if you have excel you can create your own personalised database and there are lots of internet tutorial sites to help you.

[Hobjob]

Originally Posted by yorkshireTrev

Hello all im currently searching for a good way of logging my finds. I search my local wood which is 5 mins walking distance on quite a regular basis and i would like to log the basic information such as type of fungi, when it was found, where it was found with a map reference and images.

What do you want to do with the results?

If you are going to send them in as records then the answers above are excellent. Also consider MapMate which is becoming the de facto mapping system .

If you simply want to be able to find a given photo / record again, then that info
can be added to the Exif information on the photo - there are even special fields in the Exif data to record GPS info.

Editing the Exif data can be done in CS3 etc.

I am not using a programme called "Exif Pilot Pro", which allows bulk editing of this info. So if you want to record where, when etc. you can do 1-1000 photos in bulk.

Any good file search progrqamme will then find them for you - I use Copernic, but Picassa is very popular. My computer won't, but I think my techie son told me that Windows 7 will allow this - he's been Beta testing it for nearly a year.

I can type in Minmere Jun 09 and up will pop all matching records.

[cybershot]

Because uploading to CATE produces an Excel sheet at an interim stage, in the early days I used to keep and modify these for my own personal records, including images. But on discovering the scope and analytical versatility of the system and the ease of isolating my own records I no longer bother with this duplication of effort and my image archives are cross referenced to their CATE ref no. where applicable, which has the further advantage of indicating if a voucher specimen exists.

David

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by cybershot

Both the BMS and the ABFG have recording packages which allow you to record your finds and at the same time contribute to a national database. . . .
David

David is to be commended for pointing out both the systems

there is a simple recording package called Mycorec which is worth a look:
British Fungi - MycoRec
The database includes a British Isles Checklist of fungus names and synonyms, covering all the records in the Fungal Records Database of Britain and Ireland and many more names used to record fungi in the British Isles.

The National Biodiversity Network National Biodiversity Network Gateway should ultimately be the point of integration for all records of British wildlife. That is where all the UK records come together. If one of the data providers to the NBN wanted to also have a record of the stuff that comes from another data provider then it is a simple job to setup a link to the NBN to harvest those data. The BMSFRD is a data provider to the NBN so we're halfway there. As I understand it CATE is not a data provider to the NBN - I'm not sure why; I would personally be wary of passing on information to a body which effectively sits on that information and only passes it out to the select few . . . .

I am always happy to receive records of Yorkshire fungi (if YorkshireTrev is collecting in God's Own County ) - as county recorder I have a computer database of Yorkshire records going back to the 17th century (I suspect CATE has, understandably, a Year Zero approach) and am always happy to send out information on particular species, sites, etc. An Excel file would be fine, I could suggest a preferred format if required

cheers

Chris

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

there is a simple recording package called Mycorec which is worth a look:
British Fungi - MycoRec
The database includes a British Isles Checklist of fungus names and synonyms, covering all the records in the Fungal Records Database of Britain and Ireland and many more names used to record fungi in the British Isles.

cheers

Chris

That is what I use, though I've modified it (well added to it, as I wanted to record extra info for my own purposes, which is quite easy if you have Access on your computer). I've yet to get the Yorkshire info to Chris though . I've also not pressed the submit records button either, so not sure what happens then .... but I will, one day .....

Melanie

[Bill S]

Not sure if this helps but here's something that may be of use.

If you are taking photos and carry a GPS there is a programme called Geosetter to add the location information to the EXIF tag on your images. It relies on your camera internal time setting being synchronised with your GPS time. Before you start photographing things, you put the GPS into track mode so that it records time/loc info into a file. When you get home you download the file and fire up Geosetter. Geosetter looks like an image browser but in it you can point the software to the location track file. It then automatically compares the image time to the location for that time from the track file and adds the location to your image's EXIF tag. I suspect not fully what is needed but it may be a useful supplement to some of the other suggestions.

Bill

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by Bill S

Not sure if this helps but here's something that may be of use.

If you are taking photos and carry a GPS there is a programme called Geosetter to add the location information to the EXIF tag on your images. It relies on your camera internal time setting being synchronised with your GPS time. Before you start photographing things, you put the GPS into track mode so that it records time/loc info into a file. When you get home you download the file and fire up Geosetter. Geosetter looks like an image browser but in it you can point the software to the location track file. It then automatically compares the image time to the location for that time from the track file and adds the location to your image's EXIF tag. I suspect not fully what is needed but it may be a useful supplement to some of the other suggestions.

Bill

it won't be long before these things will go on the walk for you

LOL

C