First Day Using NAHPU

This guide introduces NAHPU and provides a place to practice before using it for collection work. You do not need to be in the field or have a real specimen. While NAHPU is optimized to work on any screen, due to its wider screen real estate, practicing on a laptop may be easier than on a phone to familiarize yourself with button positions. Use a clearly named practice project and sample values so the exercise records remain separate from research data.

Key concepts

Projects and shared records

A project groups one body of work, such as an expedition, a monitoring program, or specimens prepared in a laboratory. Choose project boundaries to suit how you will manage and report the data. Most day-to-day screens and exports work with the active project.

Personnel and taxon names are stored in the database and can be associated with several projects. Editing a shared person or taxon can therefore affect records outside the project you are viewing.

Sites, collecting events, and specimens

A site describes a place you can visit again. An event describes work at that site during a defined period, including methods, effort, participants, and environmental conditions. A specimen links to an event, which supplies its site and sampling context. Several specimens can share one event, and a site can have several events.

For example, use one site for a trap line and separate events for sampling sessions on different dates. A laboratory project can use the same structure to document where and when its material was obtained. Keep the original collection context distinct from specimen preparation dates.

Location, locality, and coordinates

The project location describes the broad area of the work. Site geography records the administrative hierarchy and precise locality description. Locality descriptions can be shared between sites. Site IDs identify the individual places used by the project, such as a camp or trap line.

One site can hold several coordinates, such as one per trap. Select the relevant coordinate for a specimen when that detail is known. Coordinate uncertainty describes uncertainty in the position. In the specimen form, you will find specimen coordinate extent that describes how far the specimen could have been from the coordinate position.

Field Identifiers

A Field ID is the working identifier you put on a specimen label. Personnel Field IDs use a Cataloger’s initials and personal field number. Project Field IDs use the project prefix, catalog number, and suffix. Follow the convention of your lab. If you do not have one, personnel Field IDs typically carry less risk of duplicating the same number in parallel work, where each field team prepares and catalogs its own specimens. Project Field IDs are more suitable for assembly-line specimen preparation, where specimen cataloging is done by a single person.

NAHPU is FAIR by design. It also assigns UUIDs to specimen and parasite records (if collected) by default, and optionally to each specimen part. These internal identifiers are separate from Field IDs.

Time zone

The project time zone describes the local times recorded for the work. It does not change the device clock or convert existing values. It serves as a reference for interpreting recorded times.

Settings, controlled vocabularies, and custom fields

Controlled vocabularies are the lists used by dropdowns, such as collection methods and preparation types. Consistent terms make records easier to compare. Configure the lists for your workflow and share user configurations when a team needs the same terms.

The active catalog format controls the fields used for new specimens on the device; one project can contain several taxon groups. Custom fields add observations that do not fit a built-in field. Their scope can be one project or the installation, and specimen-related fields can apply to selected catalogs. Some settings affect other projects on the same installation, so review their scope before changing them.

Personnel roles

There are two categories of roles in NAHPU: specimen care roles and event personnel roles. Specimen care roles control the responsibilities of individuals involved in specimen handling. The role is set from a dropdown menu when you create a person. This role determines the level of access and permissions a person has within the system. A Cataloger records the specimen; a Preparator prepares it; a Determiner identifies it. One person may perform several of these jobs. Cataloger is the highest rank that can be selected for all personnel fields.

Event personnel roles, on the other hand, describe the participation of individuals in a particular event. You can create any roles, such as leader, student helper, local guide, driver, etc., and assign them to a person for a specific event.

Taxon identification

NAHPU supports species identification through its taxon registry. The standard taxon import defaults to species. However, it supports importing taxon lists at different ranks, such as species, genus, and family, so you can record the identification at the rank you are confident with. You can also record the identification confidence, which describes how certain you are about the identification.

Many record fields update as you edit; dialogs, imports, and exports may require an explicit confirmation. Check validation messages and reopen a practice record to learn what was stored.

Use Narratives for contextual notes, Associated Data for links and non-media files, and Media for images, audio, or video. A link does not provide an offline copy of its target.

Project identity, project transfer, user configurations, and database backups carry different information. Use project transfer for records and available media, user configurations for reusable settings, and a database backup for an installation recovery point. Tabular exports and PDFs serve review or reporting; they are not project backups.

Practice using NAHPU

Open NAHPU and explore setup
Open Setup NAHPU from the home screen or drawer. Explore the catalog format, identifiers, vocabulary, and export preset choices, or import a prepared configuration. Find the dashboard, navigation, and Info buttons. See Settings.
Create a practice project
Name this project NAHPU Practice so you can recognize the exercise data. For a new project, select Create project > Create new project. Enter project information and the project time zone, choose the catalog format and Field ID mode, and complete the review. Personnel IDs require an eligible Cataloger; project IDs use a prefix, catalog number, and suffix. The time zone describes recorded local times and does not convert existing values. For an existing team project, import its identity to share its UUID. See Projects.
Add practice personnel and taxa
Add project personnel and assign roles according to their work. Coordinate initials and number ranges across devices. Register taxa manually by rank, or import CSV, TSV, or Excel and review the column mapping. If the Class column is absent, select a supported class shared by all rows; mixed-class files require that column. NAHPU can infer kingdom and phylum for known classes. Review the proposed ranks and names before importing. QR imports also require review and confirmation. See Personnel and Taxon Registry.
Create a practice site
Open Sites and select +. Enter a stable Site ID, geography, and observed habitat. Add coordinates manually, from device GPS, from a file, or by QR. Review imported columns and points, then check the map, datum, units, and uncertainty. Reuse a site for repeated visits to the same place. See Sites.
Add a practice event
Open Events and select +. Choose the site and example start and end dates and times. Add an Event ID suffix when needed to distinguish sessions at the same site on the same date. Record activity, effort, participants, and measured conditions. Enter astronomy values from observations or a documented source. Duplicating an event copies its setup but leaves environmental data blank. See Collecting Events.
Create a sample specimen record
Use sample values and a practice label; no real specimen is required. Open Specimen Records and select +. Check its Field ID against the physical label, assign responsible personnel, and select the taxon and identification confidence. Use a higher-rank identification when species is uncertain. Link the event and review capture details, measurements, parts, and any parasite observations. Use Associated Data for links or non-media files and Media for images, audio, or video. Fields update as you edit; check validation messages and reopen the record to verify it. See Specimen Records.
Review and edit your examples
Compare identifiers with labels and review counts, event relationships, coordinates, and attachments. Write a narrative for relevant context and preview its text. Use Export records for a review table or Export documents for labels and reports. These outputs do not replace a project backup. See Narratives and Export.
Practice export and recovery
Export the practice project as ZIP or TAR.GZ and inspect the result and any warnings. Light JSON.GZ contains records without media. If another installation is available, try home-screen Import project and compare the records and attachments; if the same project already exists there, use Merge project. Back up existing data before either operation. Do not replace a working database merely to complete this exercise. See Project transfer and recovery.

Check your understanding

Before starting real work, confirm that you can explain the site–event–specimen relationship, identify which numbering mode you used, correct a single identification without editing the shared taxon, and choose between sharing identity, transferring a project, and backing up the database.