Tagalong Tools

Managers in the fisheries section of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) knew that the process they were using to survey the state’s fish population wasn’t a model of efficiency. The surveys required field workers to write information about fish characteristics, water quality, habitat, and more on paper forms, take the data back to field offices, and then re-enter it into computer databases. Often, that paperwork would sit in a pile until winter, and the double data entry was a time-waster.

The introduction of mobile devices in 2007 into boats for data collection changed all of that. The division purchased 73 rugged tablet PCs on which survey information is now gathered and summarized using software developed by the group’s information technology specialists. Rick Lorenzen, a supervisor in the fisheries section, says that the highly durable tablets have replaced the mountains of paperwork, improved accuracy of data entry, and created an annual staff time savings of 8,800 hours per year.

“The speed in which we can report survey data to the public also has improved from 14 months to three months,” Lorenzen says. “Our field workers now can have fish in hand while entering information, which leads to improved observation, and we are getting cleaner data because the tablet software has built in validation checks, so if someone mistakenly inputs the wrong link for a species of fish, the system gives a warning.”

The software’s intuitive drop-down screens also have shortened the data-entry learning curve for new employees. Field workers now access and enter data by name of fish, for example, rather than more cumbersome three-digit codes. “The code for walleye in the old system was WAE, which wasn’t exactly intuitive for people new to the department,” Lorenzen says.

Yet another benefit is network-delivered updates of new software versions. When fisheries staff connect the tablets to central computers to upload survey data, the devices are automatically updated with any new fish look-up tables. That once was done manually, which meant sending out CDs with the software updates to offices around the state. Often, those disks didn’t arrive in a timely fashion, so there were many different versions of software being used.

Similarly, the DNR’s forestry division recently introduced mobile hardware into the field. The devices are being used by some 250 foresters to record data about tree stands like species, height, width, and more, says Dave Martodam, information services supervisor in the forestry division.

The 85 mobile devices were first used to gather data on harvested sites around the state that had been regenerated with seedlings or new plantings. The survey data is used to decide whether new action needs to be taken on the sites, such as additional plantings.