We are planning to change the traditional paper sheet and pencil by waterproof or rugged tablets to record survey data onboard during oceanographic surveys, including biological samplings. We would like to know your opinion about brands, models, ease of use and existing apps for introducing data. Thank you!
Hi Rosario,
I'm sorry but I have no experience in this type of tables
Un abrazo
You can use the polyethylene sheets which is available in markets with pencil or water proof marking pen. These sheets are water proof & can be rolled & will use minimum of space,very light weight,can be cut into any size. In India we sourced them from Garware Polyester. Once used with pencil,they can be used again by eraser.
Dear Rosario,
we use pencil in our surveys and we have not any experience in this type of tables. For our samples, we use pencil in a resident paper. I also asked my colleagues for the Oceanography Institute and neither they use these tables. Sorry.
Katerina
Thanks for your comment, but I think I didn't express correctly, I meant tablets computers (iPad and similars). The idea is to incorporate new technologies in surveys data collection. Using directly tablet computers would reduce time of data collection (currently first we wirte in paper and after type in the computer what suppose a lot of time) and the level of error when data are transferred from the paper to the computer. Additionally, it would allow developing applications in the future to analyze samples for exmple by using Computer Vision and Intelligent Systems, to send information and results on real time or even to do real-time data monitoring.
Dear Rosario,
my experience has shown that mistakes in data entry are easy be identified from the paper forms. Many times something that seems to you wrong, when you go back to the paper you can see if there is a mistake in the data entry. Of course it is time saving if it will work well. It should be better to test it in real conditions before you select to change the methodology.
Good luck
Katerina
My organization conducts a wide range of field sampling programs. We have developed data collections applications using Microsoft Access and Microsoft .NET deployed on Windows-based laptops and tablets. We use a variety of techniques to limit data entry errors and promote consistency and compliance with sampling plans: drop-down boxes with controlled values; checks on valid data ranges; restrictions for data types and formats. Data entry is much faster and quality control is much better than with paper forms. We also use off-the-shelf applications such as Esri's ArcGIS and Collector for ArcGIS, and EarthSoft's EDGE.
As for the choice of iOS (iPads), Android, or Windows, pick the platform/applications that will be compatible with your other data acquisition and management systems. We made a decision to avoid iOS because we did not want to program in its development languages and because it was not compatible with our data management systems. We probably would do more with Android if we had more programming talent in that area. Unfortunately, other than the abovementioned commercial applications, we have not found many that are flexible enough to meet our needs, which is why we developed our own.
I heartily endorse your effort to go digital with data collection.
Dear Rosario,
I am a masters student and have been using an IPad covered with a Life Proof case with in the intertidal zone. There are pros and cons to using tablets.
Pros:
1. Access to multiple apps and ability to take images along with written data collection
2. Depending your access (wifi / cell) can link GPS coordinates with data acquisition in real time.
3. Can store vast amount of information.
Cons:
1. Cost, obviously not cheap compared to traditional methods.
2. In my opinion the biggest issue is the screens are not touch reactive when wet. There are ways to (some what) work around this problem but it can be very frustrating.
I personally like using my tablet, however, due to the 'wet screen' issue I have have to adopt a hybrid method of paper and tablet. With that said the hands off capability of apple products have recently made major leaps and I am currently playing around with using the tablet via voice commands.
I hope this helped a little and good luck.
Derrick
Thanks Derrick. It's really useful. If we advance in solving the "wet screen" issue, I'll tell you.
Regards, R.
See: David R. Gloeckner,
IMPROVEMENTS TO DATA COLLECTION IN COMMERCIAL FISHERIES USING ELECTRONIC REPORTING METHODS: COST/EFFICIENCY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR USE IN ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT
He has a profile on ResearchGate and heads the NMFS SEFSC Electronic Logbook program for collecting commercial fisheries data.
- Badges
- Science method
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Ecology