• Replication is ideal for special interest groups where many users can
contribute to a shared resource.
By creating a so-called 'sync' file of records matching current defaults, users can send
their relevant records seamlessly by e-mail or via the web to other MapMate users, or to
a central 'hub' - e.g. our County Recorders.
MapMate 'remembers' what it has sent and where it has sent it, so new syncs only send
new or edited records. This is a powerful feature, and for this alone it is hoped that as
many Essex recorders as possible will use MapMate.
'Syncing' also makes the process of sending in records to other recording schemes very
simple - records you might not otherwise have bothered submitting if you have only a
few.
It is also possible with a little care to import data into MapMate from a tab-delimited
text file, so all those records you have in another database or spreadsheet do not need to
be entered afresh. MapMate is compatible with the National Biodiversity Network
standards and a query already exists to output data to Recorder 2002. Virtually all the
data associated with a record (potentially almost 80 fields which the user can pick and
choose to suit!) can also easily be exported to a standard spreadsheet such as Excel.
IF ENOUGH NATURALISTS IN ESSEX SIGN UP TO USE MAPMATE, THEN THE FIELD
CLUB WILL PURCHASE THE SOFTWARE AT BULK PRICES AND SAVE YOU MONEY
WE WILL ALSO RUN ONE OR MORE TRAINING DAYS
TO HELP YOU GET STARTED
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO AGREE TO PERIODICALLY SYNC YOUR
RECORDS TO YOUR COUNTY RECORDERS
A single user MapMate costs £24.99
A 50x registration pack (with 50 install CDs and 50 unique licences) costs £625 incl.
VAT and delivery - that's just £12.50 each! A 25x registration pack (with 25 install
CDs and 25 unique licences) would cost £375 incl.-£15each.
All users have free on-line support and free product updates for 1 year from purchase.
Further years of on-line support and product updates would be (optionally) £160 per
year for all 50 users. We will absorb this cost!
If you want to participate, and didn't attend the AGM and sign up then, please write or
email me and give me contact details BY THE END OF JANUARY, so that the Field
Club can then order copies and plan the first training day.
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Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 46, January 2005