## Initial Recording Forms

Sites listed in the database
This form gives users the option to choose from all sites listed in the application. The site can be selected by clicking on the name and using the OK button, or by simply double-clicking on the name. If there are no sites listed in the database, or you wish to add a site, then click the Add or Modify Site Information button, which opens the 'Sites' form.

At this stage users can select which class of animal they wish to record: mammal, bird, fish or 'other' (amphibians and reptiles). The default is mammal. This selection limits the options displayed on the main recording form to relevant species and elements only, thereby making the recording process quicker. It also turns on or off certain fields, such as 'fish size'. To switch between classes, simply close the main recording form and select 'recording' from the switchboard or menu.

Sites
This form allows users to enter very general information about any sites from which they wish to record an assemblage. The 'site code' is crucial to the structure of the database, as all specimen numbers and context numbers use this as a prefix. A code up to ten characters in length can be entered. The 'site name' and 'excavation date' fields can be up to 50 characters in length, while the 'location', 'excavators' and 'comments' fields are memo fields, allowing unlimited entry.

Note should also be made on this form as to the type of analysis being undertaken. For example:

- evaluation report: the assemblage is hand-collected and sieved, and from an evaluation excavation
- assessment report: post-excavation analysis following 'MAP2'; determines an idea of scale and cost of main-phase post-excavation analysis that could follow
- technical report: the full zooarchaeological archive for the main phases of the excavation; can be influenced by project research objectives

(Dobney, Jaques and Johnstone 1999)

Use of the navigation buttons at the bottom of the form allows the user to scroll through all sites listed in the database. When the OK button is clicked, the user is returned to the initial form, 'Sites listed in the database', now updated to include any additions.

Sites Metadata
This form contains a variety of fields relating to the metadata of the site. This includes detailed location data, the name, address and contact email of the zooarchaeolgist who analysed the assemblage, etc. It also includes a 'memo' field relating to customisation, in which a description of any customisation of the York System can be described in detail. Likewise, the 'Phases and Corresponding Dates' field is also of unlimited length. This information is included because any assemblages recorded with the York System can be archived with the Archaeology Data Service, also at York. This will permit safe storage of the data, as well as allowing it to be used by other specialists.