Improved Record Keeping with the IrisBG - ArcGIS Sync | August Coffee Chat 2024

"A map is the greatest of all epic poems. Its lines and colors show the realization of great dreams."

 -Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, National Geographic Magazine

Our August Coffee Chat started with a review of mapping terminology from the article "The Earth is not flat and why that affects the accuracy of your coordinates in IrisBG."

Greg Payton, Director of Collections at the Dawes Arboretum gave a presentation and demonstration of how they are using the IrisBG - ArcGIS Sync for updating their plant records and how they use Field Maps to update their basemap.

*Correction: Laura mentions in the video that cell phones and mobile devices gather location data from a single satellite. This is incorrect, they receive their location data from one or more cellular towers on the ground.

Thanks to all of you who joined us! The Coffee Chat attendees were a mix of users experience levels with 10% attendees trying out the trial, 24% of the users identifying as novice, 55% intermediate users, and 10% advanced users.
It is helpful to know what experience our community has with GIS when we are writing our Knowledge Library articles. Thirty-eight percent of make use of the mapping module in IrisBG, 35 percent use the mapping module and ArcGIS, 15 percent use another free service, and 12 percent only set up the initial locations required in IrisBG.

The map below shows the gardens and arboreta represented by those who registered for the Coffee Chat - home offices not taken into consideration.  

Q & A

Q. Where can I learn more about how to use GIS (Geographic Information Systems) as a botanical garden?

A. Here are two communities to join that members of the IrisBG Community are also a part of:

Plant Map Google Group - Subscribe to receive emails

ESRI Community: Public Gardens New(er) GIS Users

Q. How do I learn more about the Non Profit Pricing Program from ESRI?

A. https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/nonprofit/nonprofit-program

Q. What tablet do you use?

A. Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 3. It is shock proof and semi-waterproof and comes with a case and stylus.

Q. Do you use a WiFi only enabled model or do you have a cellular data plan on the tablet?

A. We use a mobile hotspot with our WiFi enabled tablet.

Q. How does the Trimble work for accuracy under a large tree canopy?

A. The Trimble generally works well but if it is an exceptionally large tree canopy, I use the polygon layer to draw a circle around the tree and then find the center.

Q. How often is your collection re-inventoried?

A. We strive to update 1/5 of the inventory each year so that the entire collection is updated on a five year cycle.

Q. Can you import photos from ArcGIS into IrisBG?

A. Yes. Photos are linked to the item level accession.

Q. Are there data storage issues with images?

A. The images reduced to 3 megapixels upon import to IrisBG. There may be issues if you self-host your database. 

Q. What rank are images given when they are imported?

A. Images are imported with the rank of 2.

Q. Is it possible to see Task lists from IrisBG?

A. This will be in the next IrisBG - ArcGIS Sync template to be released soon in IrisBG. This will allow you to create lists of accession items organized by task. Learn more about Creating Tasks in IrisBG.

Q. Can you change the default rank of imported images into IrisBG?

A. Yes. Look under File and Options.