FAQ
Frequently asked Questions
Click the blue links beside the questions for the answers and the blue arrow at the end on each question to return to this list!
I am new to this site, where do I start? [1]
What if I make a mistake when tagging a photo? [2]
I hit “Done”, but I think I made a mistake, can I go back? [3]
Why isn’t there an “I don’t know” or “unidentifiable” button? [4]
What if there is more than one species per photo? [5]
What do I do if I can't identify the animal from the photo? [6]
Will every photo contain an animal? [7]
What if I see an animal that is not on your list? [8]
Will an expert check my tags? [9]
What if I am having technical issues or have a question? [10]
The stats page says this project is out of data! [11]
How Can I see better? [12]
How can I ask more questions? [13]
I've got some suggestions to improve this project! [14]
These pictures and videos are cool! Can I share these images? [15]
Where on Earth is this project located? [16]
How long do you plan to run this project and how often will you need the help of Zooniverse volunteers? [17]
I am new to this site, where do I start?
You are in the right spot! Read about the project by clicking on the About tab at the top of the screen, and then the Research tab. When you understand a bit more of what we are doing and trying to accomplish, it is time to move on to looking at the videos and images: select the Classify tab, then at the top of the list of species you will see a button ** Tutorial**. Review that and then commence with looking at the subjects and selecting the species you see. Additional assistance is provided in the Field Guide which shows as a tab on the extreme right edge of the Classify screen, Note the tutorial or field guide can be reviewed at any time without losing your place in the classification, but be careful if you jump to external links or otherwise leave the subject you are working on before you hit “Done” or “Talk and Done” – you could lose any work you have done there, and your data will not be recorded if you exit the page any other way. ↩︎
What if I make a mistake when tagging a photo?
Tags will appear in the bottom left hand side of the image, you can click the ‘x’ on each tag to remove it. Once you move past that image by clicking “Done” or “Talk and Done”, you cannot go back to fix it, but do not worry! Every photo is tagged multiple times to ensure accuracy of identification. Usually volunteers make mistakes they wish to correct because their “fingers are faster than their brain” – repeated actions become automatic and are completed before one realizes they should have clicked differently. The faster one works the more likely this is so “experts” are as prone to this sort of error as anyone! This is one reason a crowd can do the job as well or better. It is very unlikely more than one person makes the same mistake on any one subject. ↩︎
I hit “Done”, but I think I made a mistake, can I go back?
No, you can’t go back, but it's ok! We always show the same photo to multiple people, so your answer will be combined with the answers of other volunteers. After showing the image to many people, wrong answers will get outweighed by many correct answers. ↩︎
Why isn’t there an “I don’t know” or “unidentifiable” button?
With several volunteers seeing each image, it is most useful if each person makes their best guess, even if it is very uncertain if any one individual is correct. While this can be challenging (and even uncomfortable for the individual who hates making any sort of error), comparing the multiple responses tells us a great deal. If the volunteers do all guess the same, it is very likely they are correct, and if the responses differ then that is a measure of the uncertainty of the subject – ie we will know that subject is not clear enough to make a determination. Those projects that have offered a “I don’t know” option have also found it overused by some volunteers – which effectively means some subjects do not get enough people who do try to identify the animal. ↩︎
What if there is more than one species per photo?
That is great! You can tag multiple species before hitting the “Done” or “Talk and Done” button to move on. ↩︎
What do I do if I can't identify the animal from the photo?
Give it your best guess as to what species you think it is! At minimum, we want to know the number of animals there. If some of the species identifications are wrong, that's okay. We'll work with the best data we can get. Use the Confused–with and Characteristics filters to narrow the field as much as possible to (hopefully) at least get to the correct family or group. ↩︎
Will every photo contain an animal?
No, but almost all will, at least to start off. These images have had some pre-selection done to eliminate most of the “nothing there” images. If you do not see anything, remember some animals are experts at camouflage! Some ground birds may be quite well hidden, and some not where you are expecting them! ↩︎
What if I see an animal that is not on your list?
Please used the “Done and Talk” button and leave a comment with the hashtag “#newspecies”. While we will likely NOT analyze hashtags beyond this and the other specific use listed below, feel free to tag any subject for your own or community use in any other way you like! ↩︎
Will an expert check my tags?
It is unlikely that each image will be individually checked to the responses received from the volunteers that classified them. The volunteer responses will be extracted, aggregated together and a consensus determined if one exists. Some subset of the consensus results will be verified to determine overall accuracy, and then the results will be accepted and used to produce useful visualizations of relative numbers and locations of each species in the study area. ↩︎
What if I am having technical issues or have a question?
Any questions or comments can be posted under the ‘Talk’ tab found near the top right of the page. We would love to hear from you!
If you believe the issue affects more than one subject and the quality of data being collected, alert a team member by placing a “Mention” in your comment such as @admins. (See the comment Help under the “?” top right of any comment block for a full list of “mention” options) ↩︎The stats page says this project is out of data!
We will let volunteers know when this project is nearing completion or other milestones using a Blue banner across the top of the project home page, and specific comments in the talk forums. Images and videos are organized by "subject sets" for various camera locations, and for various date ranges as we go forward. We will be working through these sets in some organized way, activating sets of videos or photos (usually batches of a few thousand) for volunteers to sort through. Once one of these sets is nearing completion, then another set is activated. There may be delays of several hours (or even a day or two in the worst cases) before more images are made active, so please keep checking back, and we will do our best to keep you informed! ↩︎
How Can I see better?
If the subject is an image you can pan, zoom, colour invert or rotate the images using the controls along the right edge of the subject image. You can also save the images and view them with third party photo-editing software that allows brightness or contrast control. For videos you can expand the video to fill the screen, or change the speed it plays with the controls below the video. You can also save subjects in your favorites to compare with other subjects taken by the same camera. This is particularly useful to determine if branches or bushes that may appear to be an animal are in multiple views of the same site. ↩︎
How can I ask more questions?
Please leave us questions in the [Talk forum](https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ ecology-project-international/pacuare-reserve-camera-trap-project/talk). While we will answer as many questions as we can, also look through the other comments and use the search function to see if your questions have already been answered. If someone asks a question and you know the answer, go ahead and give them a reply, just keep in mind the Zooniverse Talk Community Standards! ↩︎
I've got some suggestions to improve this project!
Let's [Talk](https://www.zooniverse.org/projects ecology-project-international/pacuare-reserve-camera-trap-project/talk)! ↩︎
These pictures and videos are cool! Can I share these images?
These images come from a system of wildlife cameras, run by the Pacuare Reserve - Ecology Project International. You may share unmodified videos and images for educational, non-commercial purposes, as these are available under a creative commons non-commercial license, so long as you credit "Pacuare Reserve - Ecology Project International". ↩︎
Where on Earth is this project located?
Check out the rest of the About pages and follow the links back to the Pacuare Reserve and Ecology Project International websites for more information. ↩︎
How long do you plan to run this project and how often will you need the help of Zooniverse volunteers?
As a new project we intend to start small and verify the data collected is meeting our needs but the intention is for us to continue collecting videos and images to provide an ongoing data set for species numbers and movements at Pacuare Reserve. ↩︎