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Re: Simple online/offline recording system

You may be interested in a simple online/offline recording system currently under development.

Demo at www.biokey.co.uk

User can trial the system online, but continue to use the system in offline mode.

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Re: Simple online/offline recording system

I had a quick look and decided I didn't want to download something else to make it work.  Was a bit surprised to see only Lat & Long offered as a grid / placement option, I have never yet met a recorder who uses this (apologies to any Cetacean recorders out-there).

Matt

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Re: Simple online/offline recording system

The thing that you need to download is Google Gears and is something that was briefly touched on in the meeting in Peterborough. It allows you to use a web-based application while not connected to the internet. In terms of providing a service that recorders will actually want to use, it seems that some sort of tool that can be used offline, particularly on a hand held device, would be a distinct advantage.

A couple of observations of the biokey demo:

- Drop-down lists for selecting species really aren't the best tool for the job. A Google Suggest style system (ajax) would be better with the addition of a facility to pick from a list.
- Built in geocoding would seem to be essential, especially if trying to encourage casual recording.
- It would be useful to include a facility for linking to pictures, sounds and video from 3rd party sharing sites such as Flickr, YouTube, DivShare, etc.

Charles Roper
Digital Development Manager | Field Studies Council
http://www.field-studies-council.org | https://twitter.com/charlesroper | https://twitter.com/fsc_digital

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Re: Simple online/offline recording system

Matt/Charles

Thanks for the feedback.

Matt,

I entirely understand your reluctance to download and install 'extra' software, but I think Google Gears is a pretty safe option, and if it continues to be developed by Google, may well become a common component on our desktop PCs.

The Lat, Long choice for position was mainly to enable easy integration with Google Earth/Microsoft Live Earth - though it is becoming more common amongst recorders in the uk (due to using GPS or PDA with GPS), and of course works for the rest of the world (even though the species lists may not).

Charles,

[In terms of providing a service that recorders will actually want to use, it seems that some sort of tool that can be used offline, particularly on a hand held device, would be a distinct advantage]

As I am sure you know, we have been developing programs that run on Pocket PCs for a number of years, and have very successful products in WildKey http://wildkey.co.uk and AditTrec http://www.aditsite.co.uk (see products). We have also been developing 'AditForm' AditForm enables you to first design your own recording form on your PC and then transfer it to your handheld computer for gathering data in the field. Data from several different users can be brought together on your desktop for reporting, graphing, mapping etc.

In terms of broadening the hardware that can be supported, we are looking closely at 'Android' which more or less brings Google Gears to mobile devices. The traditional 'Hello World' program is up and running, but we will have to see how ubiquitous it becomes before we invest too much in development effort.

[Drop-down lists for selecting species really aren't the best tool for the job. A Google Suggest style system (ajax) would be better with the addition of a facility to pick from a list.]

I agree, particularly with longer species lists, but this is a client-side application, so options are a bit limited.

[Built in geocoding would seem to be essential, especially if trying to encourage casual recording.]

Absolutely - and probably via the Google API - but 'Nearby' is quite a fun short term measure (Lat, Long can be copied/pasted from there).

[It would be useful to include a facility for linking to pictures, sounds and video from 3rd party sharing sites such as Flickr, YouTube, DivShare, etc.]

Indeed.

Cheers

Paul

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Re: Simple online/offline recording system

The next installment of a simple online/offline recording system currently under development.

Demo at www.biokey.co.uk

1. New species search box - just start typing species name
2. New geocoding - enter place name or post code and click [Find Lat, Long from place]

All feedback welcome.

Cheers

Paul

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Re: Simple online/offline recording system

The latest installment of our simple online/offline recording system (currently under development).

Demo at http://www.biokey.co.uk

Geocoding Via Virtual Earth with place name and postcode search

All feedback welcome.

Cheers

Paul

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Re: Simple online/offline recording system

Hello to all!

I've been developing a webgis based entirely on recorder database.

There’s already a public version with some minor bugs and is currently living at ---------> http://internal.bio3.pt/recorderlive

This version is a bit slow when running some queries, because all this data is being processed on the fly, with will end up delaying the application a bit.

By this approach which is powered by the recorder database without any middle DBMS or any tools besides of course the GIS platform behind it intended to understand some problems related to the delivery of the recorder data base online using a webgis.

The next step is working the integration and strategy of delivering this data over the internet, in a faster and better way.

Regards.

[img]http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/1174/assinaturazx9.png[/img]