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While at a good fossil comrade's home in Quebec, I spied upon his shelves a few svelte volumes of field notes of his time in Morocco. Inside were, of course, notes but also sketches and sundry details about lithology, fauna, etc. In these days of iPhones and the like, it is not all too common to encounter these arguably anachronistic records of our time in the field. To me, these are truly rich artifacts that tell a story that a phone camera reel does not adequately tell. It goes without saying that, should my friend predecease me, I will inherit these little notebooks and enjoy the gritty details of his adventures. In that tradition, I keep a field notebook, too. I itemize site visits using a log index that makes for a quick reference in a master list of sites, organized by date. This is a peek into how the proverbial sausage is made. Perhaps others of you also scribble notes in a book as well, so I'd be interested to see these examples of our scratch marks.

Hello all! You are invited to complete an online survey as part of a research project conducted by Ulises Sabato and Dr. Ashley Johnson (faculty mentor) at Jacksonville University. The research project is called How do Amateur Paleontologists Collect Data if at all, and Why? The purpose of this study is to collect data regarding the data recording practices of amateur fossil collectors. We are looking for responses from individuals who prospect(search) for fossils and who are 18 years old and over. The study involves the completion of a 17-items online survey. The survey may take up to 15 minutes to complete. Participation is entirely anonymous, we will not be collecting any personally identifiable information (e.g., name, phone, IP address, etc.). The survey is conducted through Qualtrics and can be completed anywhere you have access to the Internet. If you know anyone else who might like to fill out the survey, feel free to share it. If you meet the above criteria and would like to participate in this study, follow the link below to access the informed consent and the survey. You may also copy paste the link into your web browser. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ulises Sabato at Usabato@ju.edu CONSENT AND SURVEY LINK: https://jacksonvilleu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eEgEEkwN35BMkmy Thank you for your consideration. The study is being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Ashley Johnson, ajohnso40@ju.edu). The project has been approved by the Jacksonville University Institutional Review Board, (JU IRB # 2023-012).