Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
4
The fi eld notebook
Angela L. Coe
4
4.1 Introduction: The purpose
of fi eld notes
The fi eld notebook forms the main record of the data you
gather in the fi eld. In particular, it should contain notes on
where the data were collected, the relationships between the
different rock bodies, their compositional and textural
characteristics, and internal features. It usually also records the
location of any samples collected, the position and orientation
of any photographs taken, cross references to published
information and notes on any ideas that you have for
interpretation or questions raised by your observations. In
addition the fi eld notebook usually links together any other
components that you might have used to record data and ideas
in the fi eld. For instance, an electronic database held on a
piece of geophysical equipment, fi eld maps, annotated fi gures
and graphic logging sheets.
One way to think of your fi eld notebook is as an 'academic'
diary, i.e. a record of
all
of your observations, ideas,
interpretations and questions over the fi eldwork period. Often
fi eld notebooks include less academic notes, for instance the
weather, someone you met that day, where you stayed or ate, if
you were ill or your mood. This is because all of these serve as
an
aide memoire
when you come back to your notes, provide
information for future trips and can help you to assess how
good your notes might be for that particular day.
The choice of a suitable fi eld notebook was covered in Sections
2.8 and 2.9. This chapter concentrates on the type of
information that you need to collect in the fi eld and
suggestions for organization of the data. The principles are
equally applicable to both an electronic notebook and a
hardcopy notebook. A few features may need to be adapted for
electronic use: for instance, use of sequential and logical fi le
names rather than page numbers, creating an index and/or fi les
with preliminary information. One of the main challenges of
