An Introduction to Biological Recording in the UK

My name is Keiron Derek Brown and I am a biological recorder. Until 3 years ago I had submitted the odd record here and there, often related to natural history courses I’d attended or volunteer work I’d been involved with. I understood, to a certain extent, the importance of recording wildlife but I was yet to be hooked on this Victorian pastime that has become so integral to science and policy in Britain today.

I was thrown in the deep end quickly through my involvement with the Earthworm Society of Britain (the newest member of the NBN!), and found myself making decisions regarding a national recording scheme and then becoming the recording scheme organiser. I’ve had a great deal of support from organisations such as the BRC, FSC and NBN but I can’t deny that I found several aspects of the biological recording community confusing. The guidance is out there, but it’s fragmented and a lot of it is aimed at those managing records rather than those collecting them. Subjects like data flow baffled me and I couldn’t help but think that there could be more guidance out there that simplified biological recording for those of us who don’t have a lifetime of experience within the biological recording community.

In January 2016 I started a blog about Biological Recording. My blog is designed to simplify the more complicated aspects of biological recording and become a resource for those seeking to learn about biological recording, as well as a reference that scheme organisers etc can use to direct those new to the community to. My first post covered the basic components of every biological record (who, what, where, when) and my second post acted as a guide to some of the organisations involved in the web of societies and trusts that make up Britain’s huge biological recording community.  Future posts will cover data flow, location data and verification. I hope the biological recording community finds my blog useful and I welcome feedback from other recorders, experienced and new.

My blog can be found at www.keironderekbrown.wordpress.com Here, you can also read my “Who's who of biological recording”

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