The table in Biotics 4 formerly known as OBSERVATION (displayed as a grid in the Source Feature record) was renamed VISIT in Biotics 5. The columns in the table were also renamed as follows:


observation_id  -->  visit_id

observer --> visited_by

observation_date  --> visit_date

observation_data  --> visit_notes


REASON: The term "observation" is often used to refer to evidence of presence or absence that may not meet standards for creation of Source Features or EOs according to NatureServe spatial methodology. Many programs that use Biotics also have an external observation database (e.g., Kestrel) that includes a spatial feature for each observation.  The data being managed in this Biotics table refers to monitoring a defined location, so "Visit" is a more accurate and less confusing term.


IMPLICATIONS:  If you have queries or views that refer to the OBSERVATION table, they must be updated to use the new table and column names. Otherwise you'll get errors such as: "ORA-00942: table or view does not exist"