Collecting, documenting, and archiving bioacoustical data and metadata

Abstract

The best practices for conducting bioacoustical research are described in this chapter. Ethical considerations, including the need for research integrity, animal ethics (e.g., in the USA, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, IACUC) approvals, and data management and archiving are discussed. Suggestions for conducting a bioacoustical study in the laboratory, field, and captivity are described, including designing a data sheet. Recommendations for carrying out playback studies, a special type of bioacoustical study, are also provided. Finally, the importance of historical data, properly logging the details of a recording, documenting equipment specifications, and correctly storing analog and digital acoustic data are summarized.