President's Page
Peter Harvey 32 Lodge Lane, Grays, Essex RM16 2YP. Tel: (01375) 371571.
Email: grays@peterharvey.freeserve.co.uk
Council agreed some years ago to fund the development of an on-line database facility
for the Club, but for various reasons this stalled and never progressed beyond initial
work undertaken in early 2002. Last autumn we agreed to pursue this development with
Teknica Ltd, the company behind MapMate, the biological recording and mapping
software that is now widely used by recorders and other naturalists in Essex.
The result of well over eight weeks work by Teknica Ltd is now to be found in our new
database and php-driven website at www.essexfieldclub.org.uk. The new website contains
many pages with content based on the old website, but also provides a massive amount
of new information dynamically linked to records contained in database tables that are in
themselves hidden from users. Hence all users can obtain information, distribution maps
and pictures about species where this is available, and this is a facility that can be extended
as more data and additional information become available. Searchable information is
provided on the Essex Red Data list and Essex Biodiversity Action Plan species.
The site is designed to provide easy use of a wide range of information. Many innovative
features are included specifically for handling and presenting natural history data. Many
of these features are only available to logged on users, as is the facility to upload pictures
to the website e.g. to support records and for use within your own pages. Website forms
continue to allow any member of the public to submit records for 'easily recognisable'
species, but because pictures can now be directly uploaded to support these records, it is
necessary to register on the website first and to activate this registration. Registered
members of the Club can add their own pages to the site and this is a feature that we
would particularly like members to use. The 'My stuff page provides links to your own
records, habitat assessments, pictures and pages, so that you can view and edit these.
Members, County Recorders and Field Club Groups can easily develop their own section
of the website as a self-contained set of linked pages, as well as add their own recording
schemes etc. Further access to data behind the maps can be provided on request to
active members of the Club by the relevant County Recorder. It is also hoped that other
wildlife groups and societies in Essex will wish to participate as 'Hosted or affiliated
members', providing data and pages 'owned' by them.
The new website is hopefully (!) very easy to use and provides a huge amount of
information on species. Although much of the data arc currently species-based, it is
hoped that we can extend this to build up a database of sites, habitat and ecological
information. A form to submit information about brownfield sites, specifically designed
for non-specialist use, has been jointly funded by the Essex Biodiversity Project and
Buglife to support a new Essex Habitat Action Plan for the county. I have used this as a
basis to develop a further form with which users can use to submit information and
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 53, May 2007
1