6th March 2006, 09:15 PM
In my experience, and trust me when i say I have had to fill in dozens of the wretched things, when an entry to Oasis is completed it then has to be approved by the relevant SMR/HER before it is added to the publically searchable greylit database hosted by ADS. In other words the HER officer has access to a list of all the work ongoing in his/her region and has the final say in approving the data for public consumption, and can edit where necessary.
Although the idea is to attach a full site report with the entry this can also be left out, meaning that a searcher can find the basic info they want before approaching the SMR/HER direct.
In principle I think the scheme is a worthwhile one - electronic publication available to anyone who's interested with access to a PC simply has to be an advance over the situation where most fieldwork ends up as 6 paper copies which never see the light of day. If nothing else its quite a handy tool to see what everybody in my unit is doing, let alone anywhere else. However i do agree with flashdigger in that the actual oasis form itself is a pain, not necessarily too detailed but in places badly structured.
Although the idea is to attach a full site report with the entry this can also be left out, meaning that a searcher can find the basic info they want before approaching the SMR/HER direct.
In principle I think the scheme is a worthwhile one - electronic publication available to anyone who's interested with access to a PC simply has to be an advance over the situation where most fieldwork ends up as 6 paper copies which never see the light of day. If nothing else its quite a handy tool to see what everybody in my unit is doing, let alone anywhere else. However i do agree with flashdigger in that the actual oasis form itself is a pain, not necessarily too detailed but in places badly structured.