I always start an entry with the date, a description of my location, and what I can report about the conditions generally. Whatever I know about the weather, plant community, and geology should go here.

So what are collecting events? They're just a description of how I collected samples, as specifically as I can manage. Sweep netting a certain plant, blacklighting, collecting galls, aerial netting in a field are all collecting events for my purposes. I just write down codes based on my initials with numbers on them. Yours could be HJK0001 and I actually do recommend simply using initials + four digits so small numbers still look like serial numbers. This is also a familiar format for this kind of thing, and it makes sense contextually when seen on labels or in notebooks and databases. Some people use dashes or other symbols but this can cause problems when searching databases or interpreting small labels. Just keep it simple.

The easiest way to get GPS coordinates is to use a smartphone and any of the many free apps. Because all I want is coordinates and elevation I use aptly named My GPS Location on my Android phone. You can even repurpose an old phone as a GPS unit because it doesn't need cell service. You can get coords later if you're careful with Google Earth or some other mapping service but this isn't ideal. I'd prefer not so great coordinates in the field over hoping I'll be able to find the spot on a map later.

So what does this look like in practice? When I collect something, I write the date and location down in the book, uptick my field number, and describe how I collected it, and write that field number on the container or a piece of paper with the insects.

I might make an entry like this:

See, If I'm collecting pollinators, I should note the time of day in addition to the plant. I don't need to know a gall was collected in the afternoon instead of the morning but knowing a pollinator is nocturnal completely changes how you understand it. With reared samples, leave room for emergence data. Trap types, pheromone brands, weather events, behavior, microhabitat, plant or animal host, anything you can think of can be recorded. Adapt it to your particular needs. If I'm doing a study I define site codes the same way. I can say WRNV01 through 05 are sites for an Oenothera pollinator study or something. The easier it is for me to keep such finely defined collecting events, the more likely I'll do it and the better my records and data will be.

With record keeping laid out like this it's easy to make great specimens because detailed notes make for detailed labels. Besides, making labels from this is so much easier. I can just read the fieldnumber off the pin and get coordinates and stuff out of a notebook instead of trying to read from hastily scribbled and vague labels on specimens.

Here's the catch: I have to make labels ASAP! If I don't get around to it or die these specimens will likely be thrown away. Not necessarily out of laziness but because the data is missing. Ideally my fieldnotes can be read by anyone but they're as unique as my fingerprints and probably where only I can find them. I can't expect someone to tear my place apart looking for the data to a half dozen samples from camping trips.