Hi David,

If you don't mind depending on 'un-supported' software we have developed a program that will take your spreadsheet (assuming it has a Grid reference column) and allow you to map the information to Google Earth, the program will produce squares based on the resolution of the grid reference, you would simply need to do a kml export for positive records and an export for negative records.

The program can be found here: http://merseysidebiobank.org.uk/index.a … EarthTools

Obviously this is quite a simplistic way to map the records and if you wanted to map stretches of a water course for example, your best bet would probably be the use of open source software suggested above.

Or if you have no experience of GIS yourself (and are unable to commit the learning time) you could always try approaching your friendly LRC to see if they might be able to help?

Are you a Recorder 6 user? If so, you can store and map negative records in that. To enter them you add measurement data to the records and set the data column to 0 (zero). When entering data via Data Entry - Enter a species record, enter 0 in the Count box. The import wizard in Recorder 6 will import records from Excel (.xls files in v6.17 and earlier, also .xlsx files in v6.18 when it is released) provided they are in a suitable format. Once the records are entered, you can then map them by doing a report that includes the zero abundance records and send them to the map, then go back through the wizard and select the non-zero abundance records and send those to the map. Obviously, one set of dots will be superimposed on the other but each set can be turned on and off. Provided the elementary nature of the Recorder 6 mapping meets your needs, this should prove satisfactory. If your local record centre uses Recorder 6 they may be willing to give you a demonstration. I supply Recorder 6 for £30, other resellers sell it at a similar price.