iSpot was launched last summer: "iSpot is the place to learn more about wildlife and to share your interest with a friendly community. Take a look at the latest spots, start your own album of observations, join a group and get help identifying what you have seen."
iSpot has been developed by the Open University as part of the Open Air Laboratories project (OPAL), with funding from the Big Lottery Fund. I've been part of the team working on it for the last year or so.
Here's an introduction to what iSpot is all about:
So far we have over 1,000 registered users on the site, including a healthy mix of beginners and more experienced naturalists, all busy helping each other identify what they've seen. One thing we're trying to encourage on the site is for people to explain why a species is that particular species, not just give its name. Of course, not all species can be identified from photos or descriptions, and the site allows this to be shown clearly where necessary.
Several national and local recording schemes have representatives active on the site, and they are being 'badged' with a logo next to their user name so that every time they are active on the site a link is given back to their society's website. If you're involved with a recording scheme or society and would like to find out more about this please do contact iSpot.
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