Alaska

Alaska has a long history of avian surveys prior to the widespread adoption of eBird. Many of these observations only exist in difficult to access, hard-copy reports or books. These historic observations are valuable and can be meaningful contributions to eBird. For users who undertake these archival efforts, we recommend following a set of best practices. This ensures appropriate credit is given to the original observer(s) and includes information on the original data source.

For historical data accounts, eBird requires the following:

• Must have a public eBird profile with a description that explains the goals of the account, the individual responsible for the account, and that individual’s personal eBird account or contact information.
• Must have permission from the individuals or source to enter the data.
• For accounts involving multiple observers, please enter the observer’s name(s) in the checklist comments field.
• If the eBird account used to enter historical data covers multiple observers, use “Data” as the account’s last name (e.g., “Historical Singapore Data”) and opt out of Top 100 output.

We also recommend data archivists incorporate these suggestions:

• Include the name of the person entering the data with the observer’s name(s) in the publicly viewable checklist comments.
• Cite the reference material in which the observation was originally published.
• If available, provide a link to the source material.
• Include any additional information relevant to the record in the species comments.

To add links to checklist or species comments, follow the following HTML syntax:

<a href=”url“>link text</a>

To make checklist comments visible, follow instructions here.

Three historical checklists that follow these best practices can seen below:

Ketchikan Area Historical Data
Alaska Historical Data
Historical eBird Records