Tutorial - Enter a casual record

Since we’ve already used the Enter a casual record form when we added a simple record earlier, we’ll take this opportunity to take a look in more detail at the standard attributes we capture for each record in iRecord.

Date

Put simply, when the record was recorded. This field does not allow future dates to be input.

Recorder Name

This will default to your own name. When entering data on behalf of someone else, or a group of people, use this field to specify who.

Species

The species name, as looked up from the UK Species Index. This supports data input using latin names and common names. Note that internally, whether you use the latin name, common name or even a synonym for data input, iRecord understands the species concept you are referring to. So you can’t cheat - a record of Wren plus a record of Troglodytes troglodytes does not make 2 species on your bioblitz checklist!

When you pick a species name, iRecord shows you the species group you are picking from in the drop down list of options. This helps prevent mistakes where common names are used to mean different things in different species groups, such as magpie (moth, fungus or bird?), redshank (flowering plant, moss or bird?).

Picking from duplicate species names

Certainty

Although most records are put on iRecord with a relatively high degree of confidence in the identifications, there are many reasons why iRecord should accept less than certain records.

  • Uncertain records can still act as a pointer to others who may want to confirm the record themselves.
  • An uncertain record as determined by the recorder might be accompanied by enough information for the record to be verified by an expert.
  • Most recorder’s like to keep all their records for the sake of completeness, not to have to discard the ones that they cannot be 100% certain of. This is especially important to the newcomer recorder who might one day be the expert verifying my records.

Therefore, always set the certainty of your record’s identification as it ensures that the record is not misinterpreted or misused.

Quantity

As this is a general purpose record form, the Quantity field is a free text input box. You can give a count here if appropriate, or some other indication of abundance.

Sex

Again, this is a general purpose form and this field may not be appropriate to all records, but where possible set the sex of the organism if you can.

Stage

Again, this is a general purpose form and this field may not be appropriate to all records, but where possible set the stage of the organism if you can. Note that iRecord does support more specialist recording forms, e.g. the UK Ladybird Survey’s recording form, where the list of options for the stage is more specific.

The ladybird recording form on iRecord

Identified By

Knowledge of who identified a record is a really important piece of information when verifying the records. Therefore, if the record was identified by someone other than yourself, please ensure you specify their name in the Identified By box.

Location

The site name you recorded at, or other brief description of the location.

If you enter a site name and pick a grid reference for a site that you are likely to record at again in the future, then click the Remember Site button which appears. This will add the site to your Tutorial - My Sites page where you can edit the site boundary and explore the records from that site.

The Remember Site button

Spatial Reference

Provide a British National Grid Reference. You can also input a latitude and longitude value, e.g. from a GPS.

See Tutorial - Data Entry Tips for lots of tips on how to set the map reference of your records.

Habitat

If you are able to provide information on the habitat the record was found in, then it can be a very useful part of the record. The habitat input is a hierarchical list - you first pick the broadest category of habitat, then the next level. If you are only confident in picking the first level, then it is better to do that than to set an incorrect second level.

For those that are interested, the habitats available for selection on the iRecord general purpose forms are based on the EUNIS habitat types classification, a standard widely used across Europe.

Tip

If you use one of the sites on your My Sites list, then the last input habitat for that site will be automatically selected for you.

Comment

Use this box to provide any additional information you think might be relevant to the record.

Exercise

To make sure you’ve got to grips with all this, ensure you are in training mode and then enter the following records:

  1. A record of a queen Bombus terrestris (buff tailed bumblebee), seen looking for nesting sites on 4th April 2013. The grid reference was ST99550006. As you are not a bumblebee expert, you are trusting that Mr Smith (a passing walker) was correct in the identification, so you can’t be certain.
  2. A record given to you by Mrs Sally Green of a hobby, from 20th August 2012. Site name was Badbury Rings, grid reference ST966029. She is a known bird recorder so this is pretty certain. The habitat was a dry grassland.

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