Improving Observation Quality: Suggestions for Extra Descriptive Elements

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I’m looking to improve the quality of my observations by incorporating extra descriptive elements that go beyond just a basic photo and location. What are your favorite additional details to include and how do you think they elevate an observation from good to great?

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if it’s for random data users, make sure the dates and times are good, add annotations, add observation fields, add to appropriate projects, make sure observation license is cc by nc, cc by, or cc0.

if it’s for yourself or your personal friends, add detailed notes about the observation.

beyond text, just make sure you capture as much detail in your images or sounds as possible. don’t crop out your entire background, or if you do, include another image with more context. license your photos appropriately if you want people to be able to use them without having to explicitly seek your permission.

when identifying, add detailed notes about how you came to your identifications or comments about things that might not be obvious to others.

all of this takes time and effort of course. so all of these actions will always need to be balanced with the potential benefit of taking these actions.

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I second Annotations and Projects.

Notes about what is obvious in life. Sandpaper leaves. Citrus / mint / buchu if I crush the leaves. In a seep. The info (not in the photo as such) which you used for your own ID.

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For fungi, smell and taste. To taste take a small (fingernail pinch) piece, chew on the tip of your tongue and spit it out. Some, like the acrid Russula are latent, can take a minute or so to present.

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Habitat. Maybe elevation.

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I wish more people added information about the habitat. Knowing whether something was found in a marsh, on a rocky ridge, or in a mature forest can make a huge difference in ID.

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If it is a plant-eating invertebrate, it is useful to know what plant it was on. That goes for most Hemiptera, weevils and chrysomelid beetles, anything that looks like a caterpillar and leaf-mines.

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