Data mobilisation workshop report
The Wildlife Information Centre ran five ID and data mobilistaion workshops in January and February 2011 with funding from the NBN Trust's Data Provider Fund (funded by Defra).
The workshops ran across Scotland in partnership with four other Local Environmental Records Centres and Centres for Biological Recording throughout Scotland: Dumfries and Galloway Environmental Records Centres (DGERC), North East Scotland Biological Records Centre (NESBReC), Glasgow Museums Biological Records Centre (GMBRC) and the Highland Biological Recording Group (HBRG).
The aim of these workshops was to train recorders in taxonomic groups that were unfamiliar to them and target regions where there was a lack of expert recorders in a particular taxon, thereby encouraging more recording of these groups. The subjects covered were bryophytes, dragonflies, lichens, molluscs and harvestmen and were taught by recognised experts in these groups.
The training was very successful with a total of 49 people attending the training courses, which were fully booked just days after each records centre sent out the advert. The quality of teaching was extremely high, and feedback on the day and sent in afterwards was very good.
Some examples of feedback:
“Excellent course; far more learned in 1 day than expected” (Bryophyte workshop)
“The workshop leader was excellent at communicating the information in an understandable and enjoyable way” (Dragonfly workshop)
“A fantastic course, well run by Imogen and Katie. The venue was perfect, the mix of people on the course was great with some real experts and some beginners. An enjoyable day all round – thank you for the opportunity to attend.” (Lichen workshop)
“Very enjoyable course with clear examples of all common groups” (Mollusc workshop)
“This was a most worthwhile and helpful course and probably the best one I have ever been on.” (Harvestman course)
Impact on data provision
In terms of the impact on data provision to the LERC and broader NBN partnership, at all five workshops, recorders learnt new skills that will enable them to identify the target group with a greater degree of confidence. They were encouraged to continue to learn about the group and were informed of other training days or events planned by the particular recording group or records centre where they could participate in recording activities. They were told about the importance of recording that particular group, and in many cases were shown on maps the records that the NBN Gateway had for that group in that area, to illustrate how under-recorded even the common species from that group were in that area. It is anticipated that at least a few attendees to the course will take their learning of that group further, and go on to become competent in recording that group, or that they will go on to record that group alongside groups that they are currently involved in recording.
Examples of feedback:
“Mosses will now be recorded during plant surveys, where previously they were recorded simply as moss spp.” (Bryophyte workshop)
“I now have the knowledge to start surveying for the larvae of dragonflies and damselflies which will help extend the season and opportunities for surveys” (Dragonfly workshop)
“Definitely have a good entry into it and feel more confident about taking Lichens further” (Lichen workshop)
“I already record species that I can safely identify, I should now be able to add Harvestmen” (Harvestman workshop)
Knowledge
The people attending the courses were existing recorders for the participating records centres, so already had experience of recording wildlife and entering data. They were informed of the recording scheme relating to that particular group and the information that was required when making records for that group. The data flows between the recording scheme, Local Environmental Records Centre and the NBN were also explained and it was clear that this was a common cause of confusion for recorders.
Additional benefits
Recorders had the chance to meet other recorders in the local area and in one case in particular even organised a recording outing with one another in the summer months. In some cases the expert who taught the course went on to arrange a follow up course or excursion with the records centre in that area.
“The other thing that made the workshop extremely useful was to meet like-minded souls. This “networking opportunity” has already resulted in me being in contact with two other attendees to meet up and hunt for dragonflies together later this year.” (Dragonfly workshop)
Further training
The training courses were very effective because they gave recorders a chance to learn about a taxon group that was under-recorded in their recording area. If funding for training was available in the future, it would be useful to hold workshops at times of year that each group is able to be seen in the field. Further funding would definitely be welcome and used effectively.
Adapted from an evaluation report by Imogen German (Records Ecologist and course organiser)