The Use of Hand Held Tablet Laptops to Record Living Collections

Plant records in botanic gardens are very important and are one of the factors that distinguish them from other types of plant collection. Stocktaking, to ensure that the records held in the database are reflected in the actual plants growing in the Garden, is a particularly important but very time-consuming process. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is experimenting with a ruggedised laptop connected to the main database by using a wireless connection and mobile phone technology so that records can be updated ‘live’ in the garden. This paper describes the issues and lists the specification of the equipment being tested.