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Field Notebook Requirement

The main reason for requiring you to assemble an insect collection is to allow you to see the animals in their habitat so you understand their specific habitat requirements.  You are required to keep a field notebook to allow you to recall the basic habitat information for the taxa you collect.  Naturalists have kept field notebooks for centuries. Charles Darwin, on his epic voyage as naturalist on HMS Beagle, kept detailed field notes that stimulated his thinking about evolution and natural selection and formed the basis for much of his subsequent work. Traditionally, field notebooks follow a system developed by Joseph Grinnell and are divided into 3 sections: the Journal, the Species Accounts, and the Catalog. The Species Accounts of the Grinnellian field notebook include information about any species that is of particular interest to you. And if you were working for a museum, collecting specimens in the field, you would keep a personal Catalog, including detailed information about each specimen you collected, in addition to when it was collected, and exactly where it was collected. 

For our purposes, your Field Notebook will include only one section, your Journal. The Journal consists of accurate accounts of your field activities. The information in this notebook should be entered in the field, neatness is not the priority here, accuracy is.  Notes from indoor laboratories and visits to museum collections should be kept in a separate notebook. There should be an entry in your Journal for every trip you make into the field, whether it is a part of this course or not. Trips taken for other field courses, or on your own, can be included, as long as they follow the format discussed below. Number the pages of your journal consecutively in the uppermost, right-hand corner of each page.

Dates will be written in the "continental" format, with day of the month (a number from 1 to 31), followed by month (spelled out or abbreviated as a roman numeral), followed by the year (all 4 digits). The information about the locations you visit should be written so that someone not familiar with the area could return to the exact, same location, using maps and your location description. For location information, reference to the appropriate U.S. Geological Survey map sheet ("quad") is also very useful. Your objective is to record date and location information in the most detailed, least ambiguous way possible so that others can know exactly when, where, and under what conditions your work was done. See the example on the back of this page. 

The recommended procedure is to write your notes directly into your field notebook in the field. However, you may take temporary notes in a second, smaller "field" notebook, then transcribe these notes to your permanent notebook. Transcription should be done as soon as possible after you leave the field, and always the same day as your field trip. Preferably, use a bound notebook, not loose-leaf and use only permanent, black ink or pencil in your notebook. Modern writing instruments have replaced the original quill pen and permanent, black, India ink used for the field journals of early naturalists. "Pigma" pens and Fiber-tip pens made by "Sharpie," with "ultra fine" points seem to work well and are widely available including at the University Coop. Another, suitable pen is the "uni-ball vision micro," made by Sanford, with waterproof/fade-proof ink. To test for waterproof qualities, scribble a few notes on a piece of ornithology paper and hold it under running water for a few minutes (or let it soak in water overnight). If the ink disappears from the paper, or becomes too faint to read, it is not suitable for our purposes. Ball-point pens are not acceptable, since their ink tends to fade with age and they sometimes fail to work when air temperatures are below freezing. In keeping a field journal, your objective is to create a permanent, accurate, written record of your field activities and observations. 

Your entire Field Notebook should be turned in at the end of the semester. Because maintenance of your field notebook is a daily responsibility, late notebooks will not be accepted. We will grade your field notebook and return it to you. 

Reference: Herman, Steven G. 1986. The Naturalist's Field Journal. Buteo Books, Vermillion, SD. 200 pp. 

THE PALEST INK IS BETTER THAN THE BEST MEMORY. (Old Chinese Proverb) 

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