1 Topic by Darwyn Sumner

  • Darwyn Sumner
  • Darwyn Sumner
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  • From: Dipterists Forum
  • Registered: 10-05-2006
  • Posts: 250

Topic: NBN Website: Find a survey or scheme

I'm looking for details of Recording Schemes.
If you happen across the Find a survey or scheme section (under "Useful websites") of the NBN Website at https://nbn.org.uk/tools-and-resources/ … g-schemes/ rather than the more likely route of being directed to the BRC site (under Tools and Resources - Useful Information), you are told

This database allows you to search for surveys you already know about or to search by species name to see if a recording scheme or survey exists.

That seems straightforward enough.
Try to see if the "Hoverfly Recording Scheme" exists: no. With luck and the right choice of phrase you might end up finding Dipterists Forum.
So contrary to the opening statement on the page it's not telling us whether or not a recording scheme exists.
We must conclude that this is just a page for a variety of initiatives to "advertise". Actual Recording Schemes are unlikely to do so unless they are informed about this database or can be bothered to complete it. It suffers from the same problems of the similar "inventory" of Natural History Societies by the NHM. Partially completed inventories like this do a disservice to such societies and schemes.

The BRC list is much better but might I point out that the Soldierflies scheme run by Martin Harvey has had its own website developed by BRC at http://www.brc.ac.uk/soldierflies-and-allies/home but look at the entry at http://www.brc.ac.uk/scheme/soldierflie … ing-scheme and that link isn't mentioned. So BRC don't maintain this list fully either.

NBNt must be maintaining a list of Recording Schemes somewhere - so where is it?

2 Reply by NBN Support

  • NBN Support
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  • Registered: 12-07-2016
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Re: NBN Website: Find a survey or scheme

Hi Darwyn

Thank you for your message about the 'Find a Survey or Scheme' page on the NBN website. The content for this page has been built on information supplied to us by any recording scheme or survey that wishes to be included in the page.

We do recognise however that the list is not a comprehensive list of Recording Schemes. The need for such a list is something that may emerge from the Review of the Biological Recording Infrastructure in Scotland being carried out by the Scottish Biodiversity Information Forum.  The Forum will shortly be publishing a Questionnaire and we would greatly appreciate your input to it.  It is hoped the Questionnaire will enable a collective view of the issues currently affecting the recording community to be drawn up and for the steps that would need to be taken to improve them to be identified. 

The link to the Questionnaire will be published in Network News and please do consider completing it.  Views from outside Scotland will be very welcome!  The findings of the Review will be published later this year.

Christine Johnston
NBN Scottish Liaison Officer