Open AccessSamplEase: a simple application for collection and organization of biological specimen data in the field
Author(s) -
Alhaddad Hasan,
Alhajeri Bader H.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.4503
Subject(s) - biological data , laptop , handwriting , computer science , data collection , field (mathematics) , data management , biological materials , process (computing) , data science , database , engineering , biology , bioinformatics , artificial intelligence , biomedical engineering , operating system , statistics , mathematics , pure mathematics
Careful collection and organization of biological specimens and their associated data are at the core of field research (e.g., ecology, genetics). Fieldwork data are often collected by handwriting or unsystematically via an electronic device (e.g., laptop), a process that is time‐intensive, disorganized, and may lead to transcription errors, as data are copied to a more permanent repository. SamplEase is an iOS and Android application that is designed to ease the process of collecting biological specimen data in the field (data associated with biological samples, such as location, age, and sex). In addition to biological specimen data, SamplEase allows for the assignment of photographs to each collected sample, which provides visual records of each specimen in its environment. SamplEase outputs biological specimen data in a tabular format, facilitating subsequent analyses and dissemination. Despite the simplicity of SamplEase , no similar data management application is readily available for researchers.