I've bumped into Open Data Kit (http://opendatakit.org/) before and was intrigued but haven't had a good excuse to try it out. From what I've read, you set up forms, collect data on a mobile device and then sync back to a central server. It seems like it would fit your needs quite well, except that it's Android only. The FAQ (http://opendatakit.org/help/faq/) mentions a few alternative solutions for different platforms.
Does anyone have experience using Open Data Kit (or similar) in ecology? Is it simple to set up and use? Cheers, Jacob Cecile On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 3:41 PM, Richard Boyce <[email protected]> wrote: > Fellow Ecologers, > > The other day, I managed to leave my printed data sheets behind when I > went out to a site to collect plant community data. Fortunately, I had my > iPod, and I was able to use Notes to collect the data. My sites have a > modified Whittaker plot design that consists of one large 20x50 m site, > with one 5x20 m, two 2x5, and 10 0.5x2 m plots nested within. For the small > 0.5x2 plots, I estimate coverage using a sampling frame; in all the other > sizes, I note presence/absence. I've also been recording flower/fruiting. > > So Notes worked OK, but I had to type in names for every plot, which was > tedious and slowed me down. The printed data sheets I usually use have > species names for each plot size that occurred in the last sampling season, > because species turn over slowly, and I simply update presence (and percent > coverage in the smallest plots). What I would love is a form-type app that > allowed me to preload species names for the plots, then enter and update > percent cover/presence as appropriate. And if I had to add a new species, > I'd like the flexibility to do that in the field. And I would need > something that can work in the field without a connection but would update > when I had a new connection. > > I've looked in Apple's App store at form apps, but none of them seem to > have what I need. If you know of such an app--or even better, have used > such an app--please let me and the list know. > > Thanks, Rick > > ================================ > Richard L. Boyce, Ph.D. > Director, Environmental Science Program > Professor > Department of Biological Sciences, SC 150 > Northern Kentucky University > Nunn Drive > Highland Heights, KY 41099 USA > > 859-572-1407 (tel.) > 859-572-5639 (fax) > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> > http://www.nku.edu/~boycer/ > ================================= > > "One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly > making exciting discoveries." - A.A. Milne >
