Field data entry forms
Summary
- There are 2 posts — by 2 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by richardsk at 2010 Jul 16 13:38 NZST
We have a number of community based environmental monitoring projects in hand. I've been considering the issue of data collection and transcribing the data into online systems. My initial tempation has been to look at more and more effective online form design and mobile data entry but I am wondering whether that is the wrong direction. Perhaps we should be looking at scanning and OCR reading the forms into the database. The ideal system would be: * field researcher fills in a bunch of forms * back at the office they are placed in the printer/scanner and all loaded into an image folder * a tool then scans and reads the forms extracting the filled in content. * some form of preview/correction would probably be required * the data is loaded into the database. A good system would couple the generation of the original paper forms with the OCR tools so that the reader knows what to expect on each type of form, and field reading is made easier if you know the likely range of values. We would still need to spend time on specifying the form content, the layout and mapping to the database. We would probably still want to provide an online data entry and editing tool for correction purposes. So does anyone here have experience with doing this? Any pointers to good (open source? ) tools? Is the technology up to the job? All comments welcome Andrew NIWA is the trading name of the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd.
Andrew OCR scanning of paper records taken in the field is always an option (and not always an inferior one). There are obvious issues with mobile devices such as screen size, speed of recording and battery life. But then of course there are issues with paper based recording such as non-standard data entry, scanning errors, durability of the paper. I think the best solution for the architecture to support such processes is one that can handle both. I.e. you can upload data either via OCR'd paper records or digitally via mobile data devices. This can easily be achieved with standard formats and interfaces. In some cases a mobile device will be better, eg serendipitous, simple data record, and in other cases paper based record will be better. As there becomes more and more devices, and ways to upload data into a system, we really need to keep systems flexible to accept data from various routes (taking in mind things like images recorded on devices, GPS recordings, and use of twitter and other applications for data delivery, eg google fusion tables and the like. As for experience with the workflow you mention, I'm pretty sure we do some of that at Landcare here - I will ask about. Or wait for someone else here to reply :-) Kevin Richards
-----Original Message----- From: <email obscured> <email obscured>] On Behalf Of Andrew Watkins Sent: Friday, 16 July 2010 1:16 p.m. To: <email obscured> Subject: [dataversity public discussion] Field data entry forms We have a number of community based environmental monitoring projects in hand. I've been considering the issue of data collection and transcribing the data into online systems. My initial tempation has been to look at more and more effective online form design and mobile data entry but I am wondering whether that is the wrong direction. Perhaps we should be looking at scanning and OCR reading the forms into the database. The ideal system would be: * field researcher fills in a bunch of forms * back at the office they are placed in the printer/scanner and all loaded into an image folder * a tool then scans and reads the forms extracting the filled in content. * some form of preview/correction would probably be required * the data is loaded into the database. A good system would couple the generation of the original paper forms with the OCR tools so that the reader knows what to expect on each type of form, and field reading is made easier if you know the likely range of values. We would still need to spend time on specifying the form content, the layout and mapping to the database. We would probably still want to provide an online data entry and editing tool for correction purposes. So does anyone here have experience with doing this? Any pointers to good (open source? ) tools? Is the technology up to the job? All comments welcome Andrew NIWA is the trading name of the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd. ----------------------------------------- Full text of this topic in Dataversity Public Discussion: http://dataversity.org.nz/r/topic/7KwTCz6ET1BgjmQW9kWjpM To leave Dataversity Public Discussion, email <email obscured>?Subject=unsubscribe Start your own free groups and site with OnlineGroups.Net http://onlinegroups.net Host your own online groups site with GroupServer http://groupserver.org Please consider the environment before printing this email Warning: This electronic message together with any attachments is confidential. If you receive it in error: (i) you must not read, use, disclose, copy or retain it; (ii) please contact the sender immediately by reply email and then delete the emails. The views expressed in this email may not be those of Landcare Research New Zealand Limited. http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz
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