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Re: Recorder 6 or Marine Recorder?

We have a lot of intertidal species records on paper which we would like to get into digital format. The great majority would probably be classed as 'ad hoc'. Is Recorder 6 a better option for this process rather than Marine Recorder?

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Re: Recorder 6 or Marine Recorder?

The Conchological Society of GB and ireland uses Recorder 6 and not Marine Recorder for its data and  there is no reason why Recorder can not be used for marine records. Many local record centres also have some marine records in Recorder. The Dictionary is bit out of date for Marine, but I understand there is a  new marine dictionary on its way, however, for ad hoc interdial records, most taxa will be in the Ulster Museum and Marine Conservation Society Marine list. So I would say that Recorder 6 is a  better bet for the sort of records you are talking about  and certainly so if you are already using Recorder 6 for non-marine records.

Mike Weideli

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Re: Recorder 6 or Marine Recorder?

Hi

At CCW we use and recommend the use of Marine Recorder for all our marine records.  We store terrestrial records in R6.  However you probably need to think about your data in terms of it wider and long-term use.

MR allow you to store important additional physical data with your biological records, such as Particle Size Analysis, granulometry and habitat data,  so if you were likely to be holding more dedicated marine surveys in future, it would be worth investing time in building up skills in MR.  This is particularly true if you wished to share and acquire records from/with other MR users (such as Countryside Agencies and JNCC).  From the point of view of the Marine Sector having access to data in the same format makes life easier and helps standardise things.  Essentially MR is more versatile when it comes to managing and using benthic marine data.

However MR is a different beast to Recorder 6 and even though the model is the same, the interface is different, consisting of an input database (MR) and a separate reporting and mapping module (Marine Wizard and Snapshot)  and tools to manage there.  Therefore it takes some time to get used to using and to learn how to manage the data.  If you only ever wish to enter basic observations (i.e. what, where, when, who) then R6 will probably be sufficient.  Also we don’t use MR for storing Marine Mammal data.

Both MR and R6 will allow you to supply data in NBN format, if you wish to make data available on the NBN Gateway, however I am not sure that you could easily transfer data from one system to the other.

I am sure you will get other opinions, best of luck
Monica

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Re: Recorder 6 or Marine Recorder?

We have a number of records which we need to get into digital format, some of these records are ‘ad hoc’ which Recorder 6 would be suitable for, but the majority of our records are from our regular surveys where we record sea state, direction of travel of species spotted, behaviour etc. Which would be best suited for our needs, Recorder 6 of Marine Recorder. Also can Marine Recorder be networked?

Vicki James
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

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Re: Recorder 6 or Marine Recorder?

Marine Recorder can be networked although I am informed that there are not many instances where this has been implemented. Marine Recorder is specifically designed for benthic records rather than mobile species so it would be a little difficult to record behaviour and direction of travel except in free text fields which are not easily accessible via searching. I would suggest that it would also be tricky to record this information in Recorder 6 so it may be best, if you are using one or the other already, to stick with that one. I note Monica's point that MR is not used for recording marine mammal data but it is useful to have all marine data in the same format.

Best Wishes,
Lynn