In an ideal world, we would have a beautifully drawn up survey and detailed guidebook descriptions of everything ready to show at the BCRA conference (mid-September). Although we are getting better, it is in fact a struggle to get these before next expedition ! Life is made particularly difficult when bits of data and description arrive in dribs and drabs, meaning a lot of piecemeal updating. By the time the majority of expo members are back in Cambridge, it is at least two months since the return home, all urgency has been lost and memories have faded. To avoid this, think:
Did you have to leave Austria without finishing your sketching ? Use the post or visit Cambridge! Get hold of a centre line and draw up your survey as soon as possible - don't leave it to the start of next term when your memory will have faded. Some entirely nonsensical surveys have been produced by surveys being drawn up by people other than the original explorers, in the pub, several months later
Have you written a passage description ? If not, do it when you get home. If you can type it, so much the better, email it to any or preferably all of Martin Green <mjg54> at cam.ac.uk, Mark Shinwell <mrs30> at cam.ac.uk, David Loeffler <dl267> at cam.ac.uk, Wookey <wookey> at aleph1.co.uk and anyone else relevant. Failing that, send a disc to one of the above people (someone with email, at least) or whoever is in Cambridge doing the drawing up. If you have to write it on paper, photocopy it, send a copy to whoever has the survey book (to glue in) and to someone else who will take the trouble to type it up and circulate it.
Have you got the survey book or the log book ? Photocopy it so there is a back up and get copies to other addresses before your house burns down. Get copies (or the original) to Andy, Wookey, whoever is doing the drawing up, or anyone who will volunteer to type in the logbook or cave descriptions.
Have you got some good (even recognisable...) photographs ? Offer them to whoever is doing the BCRA lecture. Try to get them scanned and send jpegs to Andy, or even better, let Andy have 35mm negatives (not the prints) or slides to scan - he now has a Nikon scanner which does even better than the Photo-CD resolution used for the 1996 images..
Have you some unique experience or amusing anecdote? Write an article for the exCS/CUCC mailing list, for the web site and/or the journal.
Is the only copy of the survey data on your computer ? Get it backed up, preferably including copies to other people involved. Multiple disc failures have caused total loss of the Kaninchenhöhle dataset once already, and backup to another site saves almost infinite grief.
Have you got the only copy of anything else ? Make backups and distribute them now!
Are you a complete computer nerd with too much spare time ? Incorporate all of the above into the web site :-)