I’ve averaged 12 IDs per day over the last 1,811 days. I try to provide feedback, associate observations with Projects, and add Annotations as much as possible. My ratio is 43:1. I feel like education is an important part of the identification process.
I try not to ID above genus level (unless it’s to enable annotations), just agree with coarse IDs, and dogpile on RG observations.
Thanks egordon88 for the nod to identifiers.
After 3 months, I’m done with Chamaesaracha (plant) in Arizona and New Mexico and less than 20 pages remain (mostly Texas and northern Mexico). I’m slow, but making progress.
I haven’t done this, but I should: Create a journal post, however short it might be, on distinguishing commonly confused species (or other taxa) and paste a link to it in each incorrect ID.
What’s “commonly confused”? Well, if I find myself spending more time repeating the same explanation than reviewing IDs, that’s common enough for me to copy one or two of those explanations, paste the content into a new journal post, and copy the URL into my computer’s notepad so I can paste it into future reviews. I could add a short explanation, too. For example, paste this (with the correct link code) into my notepad: “These two species are commonly confused, but it’s easier to tell them apart when they’re fruiting. For the full info, see my post on [link:]Telling A from B by Their Fruit[end link].”
Then I can skim the grid view of observations of A for misidentifications of B that show fruit, open each in a new tab, and make the same ID with the same note in a whole slew of them at once. Next, I’ll skim a grid view of observations of B for misidentifications of A that show fruit and do the same to those.
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to have a Zoom session now and then to share tips and tricks for reviewing IDs? I’ll bet there are a dozen things I do that I’ve never thought about sharing, and a million things I could learn from others that would make my work even easier!
For inspiration, check out @nathantaylor 's profile. He has helpful links and guides https://www.inaturalist.org/people/nathantaylor
where do you store the standard copy-paste notes? I use Windows based software, and have tried using Word, but find that the links don’t always come through.That’s where knowing a little HTML can be handy. I store the content as unformatted text in Notepad on the Mac OS/iOS, and there are similar applications where you could do this in Windows. It has been two years since I worked in that environment, so I would have to poke around in it again to figure out good suggestions.
This is also where doing a Zoom session could be handy. If I write out the HTML for a link here, you won’t see it because it will produce the link—the baked good, not the recipe you can follow to bake one yourself.
And I could show you what I do on a Mac, then let you show us your screen and talk you through ways to do it in Windows.
I corrected a misidentification and added explanation of the differences between the two species. The user thanked me and kept their erroneous ID.That’s perfectly understandable, @jurga_li. When I see that happen, I’ll add a comment that mentioning a few other folks I can rely on to make the correct ID. When two or three of them respond with an ID, the recalcitrant user will become the Maverick on a correctly identified RG observation.
I think Jurga is talking more about how it’s repeating anyway, there’re some reasons for that, users can miss or not being able to read messages, not care about what people write and/or rely on cv anyway, or just make honest mistakes.
Thank you very much for your advice! A Zoom meeting would be great, although I don’t have the program installed.
It’s also one of the worst videocall ways privacy-wise, even written in its Wiki page, you can look up articles about what alternatives you can use because when covid started we had to use Zoom all the time.
To tell the truth - I stopped bothering. It is their problem. I only do that now when someone misidentifies my observation :-)
Your annotations are always a pleasure to read. Sometimes I see them on other people’s observations and almost always learn something new. If you can have a standard copy-paste note for the most frequent ones I think that it would be beneficial for all (even if they don’t change the erroneous ID, other identifiers can learn something by coming on the observation in need of ID).
Isn’t it strange how some misconceptions seem to propagate like viruses through a population? The way multiple people will make the exact same misidentification? Discussing how that happens could be a thread in itself.
Finally got to 100 ids per day for the whole time and 282 for this year! And less than 5k winged insects obs to check, so I’m looking forward to seing more observations moved from unknown and Insecta! Things already got much slower from June.
Do you look at a country or worldwide?
Worldwide, it probably sounded confusing, I’m looking at subclass level only, so mostly something reided or just unknown to observer/previous ider, at start there were around 30k to check, and about 70k ids later it’s 5k more to do! But those are 2y old now, so it’s much faster.
Not everything is easy though. And some things just flat aren’t IDiable to species from most photos (looking at you Plestidon) . And even when they are decent photos you’re trying to count those damn labial scales and deciding if that’s 4 or 5 you see between the nostril and eye…
I need to get back to going through “need id’s” for lizards in TX/NM/CO because I can usually get down to genus from decent photos but man, there’s a lot of photos you just flat can’t ID from, and a lot things I’m not confident in anything below genus.
There’re tons of easy stuff that is left unseen by anyone, but if every observer ided at least something and not blindly, but e.g. common species they know, we would have much less problems with numbers of unidentified observations, we would have experts spending their time efficiently on harder stuff. Check top observers, there’re people with 57k+ of Needs id obs! Clearly majority of those can be ided, just not enough people to do that. And well, adding ids =/= adding species id, many things stay at order or family, nothing bad in that.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.