geographical coordinates and accuracy

[Dr. Gerald Stinger Guala]

After evaluating several elegant and very informative methods of recording
accuracy, we remembered that we have volunteers entering the data and had to
go with simplicity (a 1-5 ranking system). We have a tutorial up at
http://www.virtualherbarium.org/volunteer/lltutorial.htm





-----Original Message-----
From: Taxacom Discussion List [mailto:TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG]On Behalf Of
Aysha Prather
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2001 10:04 AM
To: TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG
Subject: geographical coordinates and accuracy


Like many of you, we are recording historical data from specimens in our
collection. We are using Biota (and are very happy with it) to database the
Trichoptera collection at the University of Minnesota. As does everyone
else with historical data, we encounter a wide range of precision on
locality labels, from country to crossroad. Biota, like many other database
packages, provides fields for recording geographical coordinate accuracy.
We haven't yet come up with a good system for exploiting this feature. Some
of you out there must have already addressed this problem; does anyone have
suggestions about using accuracy fields and codes for reflecting different
levels of precision?

Thanks.


Aysha Prather
Insect Museum
University of Minnesota
prath003 at tc.umn.edu

Gerald "Stinger" Guala, Ph.D.
Keeper of the Herbarium
Coordinator of the Program in Tropical Plant Systematics
Fairchild Tropical Garden Research Center
11935 Old Cutler Rd.
Coral Gables, FL 33156-4299

www.virtualherbarium.org