Stuart MacKay writes:
>
> Don Baccus wrote:
>
> > I think it is too bad that no effort has been made to make CBC data
> > electronically available, but the expense involved in data entry
>
> > would be immense. Even for a single year.
> This at least breaks the problem into relatively manageable chunks.

Exactly.

> One downside is that not everybody has access to the technology, but
> there are enough computers kicking around (yes, when things go wrong,
> they make great footballs, but personally I prefer the sledgehammer
> approach.) that it is at least feasible.

But this is changing. And, of course, if the technology is not
available then those folks keep using paper. In the HMANA example,
the NBS money won't cover system purchases, so count organizers will
have to come up with the bucks. Actually, we're probably going to
lose the NBS here in a few weeks...sigh...

> The British Trust for Ornithology has been encouraging banders in the
> UK to submit their records on floppy for some time now. Over 1
> million birds a year are banded in the UK so it is not a trivial
> task. However it is a very slow process. One major holdup was the
> creation of a standardized data entry program - which took 2 years to
> write. Getting everybody to accept it was a problem - if the same
> response applies to the US then the task will be impossible.

The US Banding Lab has accepted banding reports on floppies for some
time. Don't know if they provide a data entry program. Do know they
at least document the format. If you report on floppy and they
can read it you don't have to fill out the paper reports.

-Don Baccus-