I have been using the new eBird data entry module, now in beta testing. You can log into it at http://demo.ebird.org/ and it has recently been reviewed in North American Birding at http://www.nabirding.com/2011/06/04/more-ebird-love/ While I agree with the favorable nature of the review, I don't think it goes nearly far enough. Somebody with some human factors smarts has been at work on the interface and it has resulted in an interface that more efficient, and more importantly, easy and pleasant to use. The move to a sequential checklist format is long over due. In the beta version, species are in a single column dow the left side of the screen, as opposed to the three-abreast format used in standard eBird (and, not coincidentally, in the OBBA II data entry module). The new format is easy and natural, whereas three-up format is just maddening. Not only is it easier to find the species you are looking for, entering comments and additional data is much more streamlined. Formerly, entering supplemental information required calling up a whole new screen cluttered with data entry boxes for every species on your list, rather than just the ones you have additional data on. In the beta version, there is a button "Add details" that appears when you designate a species. You enter details on the fly and only for particular species.. There are subsidiary options to enter age/sex data, breeding codes, info about oiled birds (highly specialized), as well as general comments. The breeding code options are particularly interesting, especially for those of us conditioned by five years of atlassing. It opens up the possibility of a continually updated breeding bird atlas for the whole country. The "Jump to species" function is much improved. The entry box is located in a separate panel that is stationary. That is, it does not scroll up with the list; it is always at the top right of the screen. It searches on fragments of vernacular or scientific names and suggests species as you type. With a little experience, you can use this to zero in quickly on the desired species. For instance, typing "d-bil" gives the unique choice "pied-billed grebe." This is a real boon for entering data following a visit to a new area. I recently entered data from three field seasons in South Africa where there are several enormous families, such as larks, pipits, cisticolas, Old World flycatchers, sunbirds, etc. Searching manually through these groups can be time-consuming, but using the "Jump to species" function can reduce the workload to a couple of keystrokes. Perhaps the most welcome improvement is the almost exhaustive implementation of keyboard shortcuts. It is now possible to enter an entire checklist without taking one's hands off the keyboard. There are still some places you can get into that require the mouse to get out of. In the standard mode, keyboard codes often do not work the same way on successive screens. In some cases, hitting the ENTER key moves you to the next screen and in some cases it makes you start all over on the current one. I'm not a great typist, but even so I find the present setup much more efficient that the old one. Now if they can just make it work on my iPhone . . . Cheers, Bob -- Robert D Powell Congress Farm Research Institute Wilmington, OH, USA [log in to unmask] http://rdp1710.wordpress.com Nulla dies sine aves ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]