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| GeoCommunity Mailing List |
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| Mailing List Archives |
| Subject: | RE: GISList: Automatic data recording |
| Date: |
06/17/2003 01:35:00 PM |
| From: |
Dimitri Rotow |
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>
> I would like to reduce the amount of re-keying and would like to see a
> system for semi-/completely automated data entry direct to the database.
> So, I envisage the following 4 scenarios:
>
> 1. records sent by post, data entry could be speeded up with a
> small flatbed
> scanner, optical-character recognition software and appropriate cut and
> paste techniques.
> 2. data collectors could send their data by telephone using touch-tone
> dialling and appropriate species lists.
> 3. Wireless transmission of data is possible from laptops and handheld
> devices running cheap, dedicated software.
> 4. Internet-based forms could deliver data direct to the database.
>
> I have used GIS for a while now and I think that all of this is achievable
> without massive financial investment.
>
My advice is to keep it simple. Use 4) above in conjunction with an
Internet map server. Your total capital outlay for software need not be any
greater than $250, assuming you have the talent to configure the software
and to write custom .asp pages and otherwise do the necessary legwork for
setting up a web site.
See the Manifold IMS example at
http://exchange.manifold.net/locations/default.asp - This is a tutorial
example for web programming IMS that shows how users can add points to a
map. It lets the number of points grow to 200 and then trims off the last
100 points. The full sources for the example (the "Locations" example) are
available on the Free Stuff page at
http://www.manifold.net/products/freestuff.html.
You could quite easily alter that example so that in addition to creating a
point it would also pop open a web form that allowed entry of various data
attributes (i.e., the observational data) associated with that point.
Although the tutorial example uses an Access .mdb file, I think I'd use SQL
Server 2000 desktop edition, which is bundled free with Manifold, for
greater robustness in a web application.
You will also want to tinker with the web pages to require a login via a
user name and password so that not just any idiot anywhere in hyperspace
could file bogus observations. If you have reasonably detailed base maps
the observers can easily click at the right spot for their observation to
create an observational point (record).
If you want a more precise reporting of position, you could equip the
observer with a cheap, handheld GPS device and have them mark a waypoint at
each observation. You could then have them enter lat/long for each
observation manually or create a more elaborate data entry system that could
fetch a list of waypoints, prompt the user to provide his/her observations
for each and then upload them en masse to the database driving the map
display.
There are lots of people using Manifold IMS in this way for all sorts of
observations. For example, there are fishing clubs that have private web
sites where members report their latest catches, where the fish are biting,
observations on sea conditions, etc., and there are private hunting
preserves where people report their kills, other observations, etc. Of
course, there are also ecological and farm management applications where
observers can log species counts, etc. For obvious reasons (given the
sociopathic nature of some Internet denizens), most such sites are very
careful to exclude visitors they don't want to participate.
Cheers,
Dimitri
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