Find Log & Collection Catalog
Record finds with location, depth and context, then print display labels. Coordinates blur before they leave your browser.
Your log
Labels
The record is worth more than the object
A find with its location, date and depth is evidence. The same find in a tin with no note is a pretty stone. That information cannot be reconstructed later — you will not remember which field, and "somewhere near the river" is not a location.
So the fields that matter most are the ones people skip: where, how deep, and what was around it. The identification can wait, and often improves later once you have looked properly or asked someone. The context is gone the moment you pick the thing up, which is why this page nags about those four fields and nothing else.
Coordinates are sensitive
A precise location for a productive site is exactly what looters want, which is why archaeologists do not publish them. Everything here stays in your own browser, and labels offer a deliberately blurred precision for anything you might show other people:
| Decimal places | Ground resolution | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 111.3 km | Region only |
| 1 | 11.1 km | Nearest 10 km |
| 2 | 1.1 km | Nearest kilometre — safe to share |
| 3 | 111.3 m | Nearest 100 m |
| 4 | 11.1 m | Nearest 10 m |
| 5 | 1.1 m | Nearest metre — keep this private |
Two decimal places is about a kilometre — enough to remember the spot, not enough to lead a stranger to it. Keep the full precision in your own copy and share the blurred one.
Labels should outlive the software
Write the catalogue number on the specimen itself where you can — a dot of clear varnish, the number in ink, another dot over it — and put a paper slip in the box carrying the same number. That survives a dead laptop, a lost phone and a file format nobody can open. Anything existing only in an app is one failure away from being a tin of pretty stones again. Download the CSV occasionally for the same reason.
Catalogue numbers here are zero-padded on purpose. Without it, number 10 sorts before number 2 in every spreadsheet and file manager — which stops mattering never, and starts mattering at exactly the point the collection gets big enough to need sorting.
How to use
- Record where, how deep and what was around it — those cannot be redone.
- Write the catalogue number on the specimen and on a slip in the box.
- Blur coordinates on anything you plan to show other people.
- Download the CSV now and then; a browser is not an archive.
Frequently asked questions
What should I record about a find?
Where, when, how deep, and what was around it — in that order of importance. Those four are the ones that cannot be reconstructed later, because you will not remember which field and "somewhere near the river" is not a location. The identification can wait and often improves once you have asked someone.
Why does depth matter?
Because depth is a rough proxy for age in undisturbed ground, and because it tells you whether a find was in place or had been moved. A surface find and one at fourteen inches mean very different things about the same object. Record zero for a surface find rather than leaving it blank — zero is an answer.
Should I publish my coordinates?
No. A precise location for a productive site is exactly what looters want, which is why archaeologists do not publish them either. Keep the full precision in your own record and share a blurred version — two decimal places is about a kilometre, enough to remember the spot and not enough to lead a stranger to it.
How precise is a decimal place of latitude?
One whole degree is about 111 kilometres, and each decimal place divides that by ten. So two places is roughly a kilometre, three is about 110 metres, four is 11 metres, and five is about a metre. Five places is a precise enough location to walk someone to the exact hole.
Why are the catalogue numbers padded with zeros?
So they sort correctly. Without padding, number 10 sorts before number 2 in every spreadsheet and file manager, because they are being compared as text rather than numbers. That stops mattering never and starts mattering at exactly the point the collection gets big enough to need sorting.
How should I number my collection?
A prefix, the year and a padded sequence — something like SB-2026-007. The prefix identifies you or the site, the year groups finds usefully, and the sequence never repeats. Write it on the specimen where you can, and put a paper slip carrying the same number in the box.
How do I write a number on a specimen?
A small dot of clear varnish or acrylic, the number written on it in ink once dry, then another coat over the top. It is reversible with acetone, it does not touch the specimen itself, and it survives handling. Never write directly on the object and never use anything permanent.
Is my data safe here?
It never leaves your browser. Everything is stored locally on your own device and nothing is uploaded to anywhere. That also means clearing your browser data deletes it, which is exactly why the CSV download exists — use it.
Why download a CSV if it is already saved?
Because a browser is not an archive. Clearing site data, switching device or a corrupted profile all lose it, and none of them give warning. A CSV opens in anything, will still open in twenty years, and can be backed up like any other file.
What goes on a display label?
The catalogue number, what it is, a line of physical detail, and the provenance. That last line is the one people leave off, and it is the half that mattered — a specimen labelled only with what it is has lost its evidence. Keep labels to four short lines, because a label that does not fit the box is not a label.
Can I use this for rocks and fossils as well as detecting finds?
Yes — it is the same job. A mineral specimen without its locality is worth a fraction of one with it, exactly as a coin without its field is. The kinds list covers coins, jewellery, stone points, fossils, minerals, pottery and the rest, and the fields are the same either way.
Does this send anything anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is stored or uploaded.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged, or stored.