[Taxacom] Data entry estimates

[Gary Rosenberg]

When we computerized the handwritten ledgers for our malacology
collection, we were able to average about 400 records per day, but this
was entering data into a very stripped down set of fields. The
identification was entered as a single string, as was the locality.
Since there were large blocks by expedition station, donor, etc, a lot
of data could just be dittoed in. We then had to parse out the data into
more precise fields for Genus, species, author, country, state, etc.,
which took multiple passes through the data, adding another 40% or so to
the time. It might have been just as efficient to enter into a slightly
larger set of fields. A human can judge that W. Virginia, WV, W. Va, W.
Virg, etc, all mean West Virginia, whereas each of those is a separate
query when you're parsing data.
 
Try some time-trials to get estimates for your proposal. Our ledgers
were big and bulky, and the older ones were fragile, so we ended up
scanning and printing out the pages (18,000 of them) for the data-entry
people to work from.
 
Gary Rosenberg
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

>>> José H. Leal<jleal at shellmuseum.org> 10/4/2010 4:29 PM >>>
Sorry for eventual cross-posting. For the purpose of writing a
collections
stewardship grant proposal, I need help with recent sources for data
entry
estimates for natural history collection catalogues. Anyone out there
with a
quick suggestion on this topic?



Thanks,



José

________________________________________________________
José H. Leal, Ph.D., Director and Curator          
The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
Editor, The Nautilus            
<http://www.shellmuseum.org/> www.shellmuseum.org

                                                
3075 Sanibel-Captiva Road
Sanibel, FL 33957 USA
(239)395-2233
fax (239)395-6706

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