Training

Recording palynology

Pollen and spores: describing a grain precisely enough that someone else can check the determination.

1. Size. Measure the longest axis in micrometres, and say how the grain was prepared.
2. Shape. Record the ratio of the polar axis to the equatorial diameter (P/E).
3. Polarity and symmetry. State whether you are looking at the grain in polar or equatorial view.
4. Apertures. Count the apertures and describe their kind and position.
5. Surface sculpture. Describe the ornamentation of the outer wall.
6. Wall structure. Note the exine stratification if your optics can resolve it.

How far this can go: Light microscopy usually supports family or genus, not species. The grasses are the standard illustration: Poaceae pollen is uniform enough that most of it cannot be separated below family, though a few cereals — rye and maize among them — have grains distinctive enough that a species name is defensible. That pattern is general. Palynologists classify conservatively because the morphological differences between related species are often too small to describe reliably, and a confident species name from a single grain is the most common way a pollen record becomes untrustworthy. It is also worth keeping the two ideas separate: a pollen type is a morphological category, and a plant taxon is a taxonomic one. Recording the characters you measured — and naming the ones you could not resolve — is worth more than a determination the evidence cannot carry.

To learn more: PalDat link directory (Division of Structural and Functional Botany, University of Vienna); Illustrated Pollen Terminology (Halbritter, Ulrich, Grímsson, Weber, Zetter, Hesse, Buchner, Svojtka & Frosch-Radivo; published by Springer); Textbook of Pollen Analysis (Originally Munksgaard, later Blackwell and John Wiley & Sons; scanned copy hosted by the Internet Archive).

Open the Palynology branch in the library

Recording biological names & occurrences

The shared foundations for proposing a biological name, resolving synonyms and checking geographic plausibility.

1. The evidence itself. Keep the original images, sounds, measurements or specimen details separate from the proposed name.
2. Place and time. Record date, locality precision, habitat and whether the organism was captive, planted or introduced.
3. Diagnostic characters. Write down the characters that support the candidate and the lookalikes you excluded.
4. Name and source. Record the name exactly as returned, its identifier, source and release or access date.

How far this can go: A name match, computer-vision suggestion or mapped occurrence is not an identification. Aggregators inherit errors and uneven collecting effort from their source datasets, while accepted-name services do not inspect your evidence at all. Use these resources to generate and normalise a candidate, then support the determination with diagnostic characters, a specialist key, an expert opinion, a voucher or an appropriate sequence. Record which release, dataset and access date you used when the result matters.

To learn more: iNaturalist (iNaturalist, an independent nonprofit organisation, and its contributor community); Biodiversity Heritage Library (Biodiversity Heritage Library international consortium of natural-history, botanical, research and national libraries).

Open the Biological names & occurrences branch in the library

Recording plants, fungi & lichens

Floristic keys, accepted-name services and specialist references for plants, bryophytes, fungi and lichens.

1. Whole organism and growth form. Photograph the organism in place before taking close views.
2. Diagnostic structures. Record leaves, stems, flowers, fruiting bodies, gills or pores from the views a key asks for.
3. Substrate, host and habitat. State exactly what it was growing on and the surrounding habitat.
4. Microscopic and chemical evidence. If used, record spore dimensions, preparation, optics and every reagent or sequence marker.

How far this can go: A photograph of habit or colour often supports a family, genus or species group, but many vascular plants need flowers or fruit, bryophytes need microscopic leaf and cell characters, fungi need spore and tissue characters, and lichens can require microscopy or chemical tests. Never infer edibility from a photograph or a database match. If the diagnostic structure, life stage, substrate or test is missing, report the highest defensible rank and state what would resolve it.

To learn more: Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland, third edition (British Lichen Society editorial board and specialist authors); Fungimap (Fungimap Inc., an Australian nonprofit organisation and registered charity).

Open the Plants, fungi & lichens branch in the library

Recording animals

Field, image, sound and taxonomic references for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and other terrestrial animals.

1. Scale and complete views. Record overall size and the dorsal, lateral, ventral or close views the group requires.
2. Diagnostic anatomy. Record the structures a specialist key uses, not only colour or pattern.
3. Life stage and sex. Distinguish adult, juvenile, larva, nymph, moult, egg or other stage where possible.
4. Sound and behaviour. Keep original audio and record the behaviour, time, weather and recording equipment.
5. Place and habitat. Record locality precision, habitat, substrate, host and whether the animal was captive or transported.

How far this can go: A clear field photograph can support species in a distinctive, well-covered group, but many invertebrates need microscopy or dissection, birds can require sound or plumage-age context, and reptiles and amphibians may need scale counts, calls or locality-specific keys. Computer vision and community agreement do not lift that ceiling. If the distinguishing structure, call, life stage or view is absent, record a family, genus or species group and name the missing evidence.

Open the Animals branch in the library

Recording birds

Sight, call, reporting and threatened-species resources for identifying birds and sharing what you find.

1. Size and shape. Compare the bird with a familiar one, then note the bill, tail, legs and overall build.
2. Colour and pattern. Describe where each colour sits on the bird, including the eye, bill and legs.
3. Behaviour and habitat. Write down what the bird was doing, where it was and what time of year it was.
4. Call or song. Keep the original recording and note how far away the bird was and what else was calling.
5. Place and precision. Record where you were, how exact the location is, and whether the species is threatened.

How far this can go: A clear photograph or a good recording can support a species name for many birds, but similar species, immature or moulting birds, hybrids and mimics can need more than one view, several calls or an experienced observer. Suggestions from apps, photographs, sound models or community agreement are a shortlist, not a determination. If the field marks or the call are not clear, record a family or genus and say what is missing. For threatened species, the safest record to publish may be a region rather than a point.

To learn more: Merlin Bird ID (Cornell Lab of Ornithology); Birds in Backyards (BirdLife Australia); BirdLife Australia Bird Profiles (BirdLife Australia).

Open the Birds branch in the library

Recording marine & freshwater life

Names, images, keys and occurrence evidence for fishes, aquatic invertebrates, algae and marine biodiversity.

1. Water and habitat. Record marine, estuarine or freshwater setting, water body, depth, substrate, flow, tide and temperature where known.
2. Scale and living appearance. Photograph the organism in water with scale before colour, posture or soft parts change.
3. Counts and structures. Record fins, rays, spines, appendages, segments, shells, valves or reproductive structures required by the key.
4. Life stage and association. Record egg, larva, juvenile, adult or colony and any host or substrate association.

How far this can go: Distinctive adult fishes and large invertebrates can sometimes be identified from good in-water photographs, but many larvae, plankton, algae and cryptic species require counts, microscopy, internal anatomy or molecular evidence. Distribution records and image galleries narrow a candidate list; they do not verify it. If a required fin ray, appendage, valve character, reproductive structure or sequence is absent, stop at the rank the visible evidence supports.

Open the Marine & freshwater life branch in the library

Recording microscopic life & imaging

Imaging methods, primary image archives and specialist references for cells, microbes, algae, protists and diatoms.

1. Sample and preparation. Record source material, collection method, medium, fixation, stain, mount and whether the subject was living.
2. Optical system. Record microscope, objective, numerical aperture, illumination and contrast method.
3. Scale and focus depth. Calibrate the image and retain a focus series or z-stack when depth carries characters.
4. Morphology and movement. Measure several individuals and record shape, structures, arrangement, movement and variability.
5. Processing. Declare cropping, stacking, denoising, deconvolution, colour mapping and every other material edit.

How far this can go: Light microscopy can support a useful morphological description and, for some well-characterised groups, a genus or species. Many bacteria, small protists, diatoms and fungal structures need culture, electron microscopy, chemical or molecular evidence for a defensible species determination. Repository images are comparative evidence rather than a key, and an image-model label is a candidate. State preparation and optical limits, preserve scale and focus depth, and stop where the visible characters stop.

To learn more: MicroscopyU (Nikon Instruments); MyScope (Microscopy Australia and Australian university partners); Diatoms of North America (Collaborative specialist editorial board with institutional and United States agency support).

Open the Microscopic life & imaging branch in the library

Recording dna & microbial identification

Voucher-linked barcodes, curated marker databases, name authorities and strain references for sequence-assisted identification.

1. Sample and voucher. Connect the sequence to a preserved voucher, culture, image or traceable source sample wherever possible.
2. Marker and laboratory method. Record locus, primers, extraction, amplification, library preparation and sequencing platform.
3. Sequence quality. Retain raw reads and report trimming, assembly, ambiguity, length and quality metrics.
4. Search and result. Record database, release, algorithm, parameters, query date, coverage, identity, gaps and top alternative matches.
5. Agreement and uncertainty. Compare the molecular result with morphology, ecology, geography and contamination controls.

How far this can go: Percentage identity alone never proves species. Short queries, conserved markers, contamination, mixed templates, sequencing errors and mislabelled references can all produce a persuasive wrong match. Report marker, primers, sequence quality, search service, database and release, alignment coverage, identity, gaps, top alternatives and reference provenance. A species determination needs a marker known to resolve that group plus agreement with morphology, ecology or voucher evidence; otherwise report the supported clade or operational unit.

Open the DNA & microbial identification branch in the library

Recording rocks, minerals & fossils

Authoritative names, measured reference data, classifications and contextual repositories for geological materials and fossils.

1. Field and geological context. Record the material in place, its relationship to surrounding units and the precision and legality of the locality.
2. Scale, habit and texture. Photograph fresh and weathered surfaces with scale and describe grain size, fabric, habit and relationships.
3. Physical properties. Record hardness method, streak, cleavage, fracture, lustre, density estimate, magnetism and reaction only when safely tested.
4. Fossil anatomy and taphonomy. Record orientation, preserved structures, completeness, deformation, matrix and whether the specimen is a body fossil, trace, mould or cast.
5. Analytical evidence. Retain instrument, method, calibration, standards, raw files, processing and uncertainty for every analysis.

How far this can go: A field photograph may support a broad rock class, fossil group or distinctive mineral, but colour and locality are rarely enough for species-level mineral identification or a fine fossil determination. Weathering, mixtures, treatments and lookalikes make image-only claims fragile. Name the tests performed and retain raw spectra, diffraction, chemistry or measurements. If laboratory confirmation is required but absent, report the candidate or material class and the test that would resolve it.

To learn more: Handbook of Mineralogy (Mineralogical Society of America); BGS Rock Classification Scheme (British Geological Survey, UK Research and Innovation); Mindat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy with an expert-moderated volunteer community).

Open the Rocks, minerals & fossils branch in the library

Recording astronomy & astrophotography

Object resolvers, catalogues, ephemerides, time-series services, science archives and plate solving for sky observations.

1. Exact time and place. Record exposure start and duration, time standard, clock source, observer coordinates and elevation.
2. Target and sky coordinates. Record target designation, coordinate frame, epoch or equinox, field centre, orientation and plate scale.
3. Optical train and detector. Record telescope, aperture, focal length, reducer or barlow, mount, guider, camera, binning and filters.
4. Acquisition and calibration. Record every exposure, cadence, dither and the bias, dark, flat, comparison-star or wavelength calibration used.
5. Processing and measurement. Declare software, versions, parameters, stacking, background removal, deconvolution, colour mapping and measurement apertures.

How far this can go: A successful plate solve establishes a coordinate mapping, not the physical identity or nature of every source in the frame. Catalogue matches depend on epoch, proper motion, resolution and selection effects; transient names and preliminary orbits can change. Photometry and spectroscopy require calibrated methods beyond visual resemblance. Retain WCS residuals, catalogue and release identifiers, time standard, instrument metadata, raw and calibration frames and processing history, and state when an object remains a candidate.

Open the Astronomy & astrophotography branch in the library