A Century of Natural History Observations

What purpose do these notecards serve?

Dan Smiley's notecards help document the flora and fauna that can be found across Mohonk Preserve. Because these observations were taken so consistently and in such detail, they are an excellent way to track how the landscape of the preserve has changed over time.

Why are you putting them online now?

These notecards are an invaluable source of scientific data; but the older they get, the more susceptible they are to wear and tear. Some of these observations were even recorded on the backs of old hotel menus! By putting this data online, we are ensuring that Dan's tireless work will not be lost as time moves forward.

By digitizing these cards, we are also making it possible for people to access these cards from anywhere. The Daniel Smiley Research Center is situated high in the Shawangunk Mountains, so it can be hard for people to reach our facility or have the funds to travel there. Digital access ensures that our cards are available to anyone who is interested.

I'm having trouble with cards that have more than one observation on them

Some of the index cards you will come across in this project will have more than one observation written on them. These cards will look something like this:

There was an error reported the past few days about glitches occurring when entering information for these cards, where the fields would auto-populate or the information for the last observation would override everything else the volunteer typed. We are happy to report that this issue has been resolved as of 7:30 PM 7/22, and we thank you for your patience as we worked to solve this issue. Please let us know if you continue to encounter this error, however, so we can fix it as quickly as possible.

I found a card that shows a complicated grid or drawing that I can't transcribe. What do I do?

Some cards you may come across will have complex information on them, such as a grid or table. Others may have drawings of maps or shapes. If you are faced with such a card, we ask that you transcribe the species name (if present) and a date if there is one visible. You may enter "unclear" for the rest of the blanks, and we will deal with the card on our end.

This card appears to be the backside of another one that I can't access.

There are a number of cards in the set that have writing on both the front and back. When the observers initially wrote these cards, I don't think they imagined anyone being able to look at them without having the cards physically in their hands! That being said, we understand that if you are presented with a card that is clearly the back of another, it might not be clear what species the card was referring to. If you cannot determine what the species is, enter "unclear" in the species blank and transcribe anything else you can. We will work to match up cards on our end later.

I found a card that just says "Cat" at the top, but there are multiple species listed elsewhere on it. What does this mean?

Dan Smiley used to record what animals cats on the property would kill. Pleasant, right? If you come across a card like this, it might not be clear what exactly Dan or the observer were trying to document. But usually, if you see a card with just "Cat" at the top and other species listed below, it is one of the "Cat Kills" cards. For these, enter "Cat Kills" as the species, and treat the other animals listed as separate observations. For each date, you can put any other animals listed can be written in the "Narrative/additional notes" section.

I found a card that says "Dead Birds" at the top and then lists multiple species of birds. What do I transcribe for this?

Just like in the "Cat Kills" cards mentioned above, observers often kept track of the dead birds they found on the property. For cards like these, enter "Dead Bird(s)" as the species; any other species listed can be put in the "Narratives/additional notes" section.

There is a number in the top right corner of the index card. Do I need to write this somewhere?

The number you are seeing is a relic of a now obsolete organizational system. You do NOT need to worry about writing it down anywhere.
Dan Smiley created a numbering system in order to keep track of the all the flora and fauna species he was observing; while it was very helpful, it was also very specific to the Ulster County region and could be confusing to anyone who was used to normal scientific standards. We have since updated our organizational system to fit modern needs, and the numbers are no longer needed. They remain on the cards as a last reminder of how things once were.

There is a spelling mistake on this card. Should I correct it or type it as is?

There are many instances on these cards where as the observer was hurriedly writing down an observation, they misspelled a word or two. If the word is clearly misspelled and it is obvious what the observer meant to write, feel free to correct the spelling.

There is a weird set of initials that I keep seeing, and I can't tell if it's RP, RL, PL or something else

If you see a set of initials that looks like the one on the last line of the card:

The initials are RJ, for Robi Josephson.

I keep seeing the abbreviation FTR or FR, is this referring to First of the Year?

There has been some confusion over what this set of initials mean. After some discussion, we have determined it stands for Field Trip Report or Field Report. If you see this in an observation, just record FTR or FR in the Narrative/Additional Comments section. Thank you to our volunteer @chawkes for helping clear this up!