A Naturalist's Notebook, or,
The Most Cost-Effective Science Project You'll Ever Do

By Sheldon Greaves, Ph.D.

One of the biggest hurdles facing the amateur is the problem of expensive scientific equipment. Considering how much good equipment can cost these days, it is refreshing to know that one of the scientist's most important tools costs next to nothing. That tool is the naturalist's notebook. This column will describe how to set up and maintain high-quality field notes.

Why bother keeping a notebook? There are a number of reasons, but an important one is that writing is both a way to learn and a way to think. Regularly keeping and reviewing a notebook teaches you how to observe. It will improve your ability to spot and interpret important details. A common experience with people who record their observations on paper is an increasing ability to see more, and to pack more of what they see into their notes. Besides, all your experience will be of little use to anyone else if it's locked inside your brain.

Figure 1: Whenever possible, use people (or parts thereof) to provide scale. Not only can you achieve scale but also add interest to a photograph. Here the author uses himself to provide scale for a lava tube at Craters of the Moon State Park, ID., circa 1988. Photo by Denise D. Greaves.

The notebook, day book, journal, sketchbook—properly kept and organized—is vital to doing good science. American philosopher Henry David Thoreau was encouraged to keep a journal by his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thoreau's private journals include extraordinarily detailed and careful observations of nature. Emerson, who had several occasions to go on nature walks with Thoreau, recollected the following about his companion's prowess with a notebook: "He drew out of his breast-pocket his diary, and read the names of all the plants that should bloom on this day, whereof he kept account as a banker when his notes fall due.... He thought that, if waked up from a trance, in this swamp, he could tell by the plants what time of year it was within two days."

Materials

Develop your system of notetaking based on your preferences. You can use index cards, loose-leaf notebooks, sketchbooks, ledgers, albums; in short, whatever works. Browse your local office supply or artists supply store. Consider your needs. Is size and weight a factor? Will your work take you into areas where water will be a problem? Waterproof paper is available, although it is more expensive. One brand, "Rite-in-the-Rain", is available through Forestry Suppliers of Jackson, MS (517-787-9750).

My personal preference is a 6"x9.5" loose-leaf binder. I keep it stocked with lined paper for written notes and unlined for quick sketches. Pocket pages hold maps, park brochures, newspaper clippings, and other such items. My pen of choice is the Uni-ball Vision, available in most stationary stores. It leaves a clear, dense line, and is both fade-proof and waterproof. A technical pen with a line width of .35 mm is another excellent choice. After you get home from the field, transfer your notes to a separate binder or other form of storage. Don't risk losing all of your accumulated notes because your notebook got lost in the field!

What to Write and How

Many veteran writers will admit that a blank page is very intimidating. If you don't know where to start, start with the basics: the date, time, location, weather conditions, and what you see and hear. An "X" next to a species name on a life-list is useless for scientific purposes. Record the commonplace along with the unusual. In the business of notetaking, detail is everything.

Figure 2: Keep as complete a record as possible of photo contents, and shooting data. The better the records the more valuable they are! Photo data: Chinese Geese (Anser cygnoides) with young, 4 July 1994, Palo Alto Duck Pond. Photo by Denise D. Greaves.

Try writing your notes as a diary. Write about what you did that day, even the mundane things. Describe what happened, what worked and what didn't, what you talked about. These details may seem trivial, but they can refresh your memory more effectively than a note of the time and temperature. Take your time. Imagine someone reading you're notes 20 years hence who doesn't know the area your working in. Strive for accuracy. "Saw some ducks on the pond" isn't nearly as useful as "Saw 5 mallards (2 male, 3 female) feeding near the cattails at the south end of Leavitt's Pond." If you have to guess, mark it as such. Some observers use abbreviations to speed their note-taking. If you use abbreviations, make a key and keep copies of it in each of your binders or file boxes or your notes may become useless, perhaps even to you.

A drawing or sketch is a good way to add information and depth to your notes. You don't have to be an artist; a rough diagram or line drawing will add details and clarify your experience. You will also find that if you persist, your ability to draw what you see will improve.

I often go back through my notes and add comments or notes to myself in the margins. Sometimes my "Eureka" moments happen in the marginalia. I leave about one third of the right side of the page blank for margin notes. Others prefer to fill up as much of the page as possible in order to save paper.

If photography is part of your observation session, note the type and speed of your film, the settings, and the type of lens. Make a quick note telling what each frame or set of frames is about, especially if you take a lot of photos. As useful as photos are, photos with notes are even more valuable.

Some people might consider using audio or video tape, transcribing the narration later. This can be problematic since transcribing--assuming you get around to it--introduces the possibility of errors. Also, even the best electronic gear can malfunction due to the demon Murphy. Use audio or video recordings only to record data that you can't record on paper or still photos.

Indexing and Cataloguing Your Notes

Figure 3: Overviews of an area help establish placement, and provide the reader a method of tying toether the object with its surroundings. Be careful of camera angles; it's easy to misalign horizons, etc.! Photo data: Exposed rock formations (rock type unknown), San Francisco Wildlife Refuge, looking east, 2 February 1992. Photo by Denise D. Greaves.

As your notebooks grow, you have to deal with the problem of keeping them organized. This is particularly true if you will be sharing your notes with others. The most effective way to make your notes useful to yourself and others is to index and catalogue them. I recommend using a three-tiered system, adapted to your particular needs. The three divisions are the Diary, Catalogue, and Species List. This system was pioneered roughly a century ago by the zoologist Joseph Grinnell.

The Diary is the notebook itself. The observations are tracked and organized by the date they were made. Write the date, your name, and the locale on each page of notes so loose pages won't get mixed up.

The Catalogue tracks specimens, photos, etc., that many naturalists bring home along with their field notes. Give each item a unique sequential number, starting with "1" and continuing for the rest of your life. List the items in numerical order on the pages of your Catalogue along with a description and the collection date. Each item must also have a clear label that includes at the very least the Catalogue number, a brief description, the date, location, and the name of the collector. The Catalogue can be modified somewhat to suit your work. For example, I seldom collect specimens, but I do use photos fairly often. So I have two catalogues, one for specimens and one for photos.

The Species List (or Species Account) is an index to the Diary. Create a page for each species of wildlife that you observe. Each page lists the dates when that species was observed, along with the locale and a short description. You can also index behavior traits, weather patterns, geological phenomena, or whatever else is of interest. This lets you cross-reference your notes, turning them into a valuable research tool.

Indexing notes and materials takes time, but going through your notes is often when the pieces come together and discoveries are made. Indexing becomes not just convenient, but necessary if you are sharing information with other people. Without indexes, someone else using your notes would have to plow through them page by page to find the needed information.

Although the information contained in high-quality field notes becomes more valuable with time, there are not many places where one can donate field notes where others can study them. Sometimes universities or museums will accept field notes as donations to their collections, especially if the donor is affiliated with the institution in some way. One noteworthy organization is the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, a private foundation which has a repository for field notes dealing with studies of western vertebrates. For more information, write to them at 439 Calle San Pablo, Camarillo, CA 93012, or call them at 805-388-9944.

The author would like to thank Prof. Steven G. Herman of The Evergreen State College in Olympia for his assistance with this article.

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