These instructions are for those that have already enrolled in the Marstons Mills River Herring Counting Project. If you have already communicated with us either by email or phone that you are going to count in 2008 and we have acknowledged that, then you are enrolled.

If you think you have enrolled but haven't heard back from us, email Kevin Galvin at HCP@MarstonsMills.org or call him at 508-420-0075.

If you are not enrolled and would like to participate in this project, please go here and sign up. We'll get you set-up and then direct you back here.

After the initial emails to kick things off have been sent, we will then use collaboration tools that are offered by Google to communicate back and forth. These are:

Online spreadsheets to communicate your preferences and availability, the schedule that we assign to you and also the counts that you take.

A blog to communicate other information about the project. You can visit the blog here.

You must have an account with Google to use these tools. If you do, then you are all set to get going. If you participated in the counting project before then you are all set. If you did but your email has changed, then you'll have to update your Google Account.

If you don't have an account with Google then you'll have to establish one [we'll tell you how later]. It's easy and it's free!

BTW: Establishing this account with Google won't impact any email or other online accounts you have with anyone else - they will all continue to work the same way. While you could use this Google account to access all of the other services that Google provides, you could use it for just our Herring Counting Project and not affect anything else at all.

While most of you are reading this online, these offline people are reading this same page printed on paper. These instructions were written to accommodate both online and offline counters.

The process will be essentially the same for both except that things will be sent/communicated through the regular mail or via phone for the offline counters. The spreadsheets for the offline counters will be maintained online by us on this end.

The following sections on this page will have comments shown in brackets [like this] to indicate what happens with the counters that are working offline.

Also, if you are working online and would like to be the "go between" for one of the offline counters, please let me know. As their "cyberbuddy" you'll complete the online spreadsheets for them. This would really help on this end, as we have 3-4 people that we need to do this for from here.

Each of these steps will be explained in detail below. This section provides an overview of what's involved:

On this end, we will create a Google spreadsheet for each enrolled counter. That spreadsheet will be the means by which you specify your preferences, where we do all of the scheduling of your counts and also where you will report back to us the results of your counting.

The counter's preferences at the top left - these were entered by the counter at the outset.

The days/hours the counter is unavailable - these were "X"ed out by the counter at the outset.

The yellow and green cells are when the counter is scheduled to count - these were assigned by us after the Master Scheduling task was completed.

The yellow and green cells with numbers contain the tally - these are entered by the counter after the count is taken.

We will send you an email when this spreadsheet has been created for you [or we'll mail a printed version of the spreadsheet to you] and the first thing you will do is enter information into it about your counting preferences and indicate when you can't count.

When you've completed that step, you'll respond to that email to indicate so [or mail the spreadsheet back to us] and then wait for the next message from this end.

After we've received these updated spreadsheets from all of the counters we'll develop a Master Schedule on this end, and then update your spreadsheet with the dates/times that you are to count.

Then, after each time that you count you will go back into your spreadsheet and post that count in the appropriate cell.

These following sections describe each of these steps in detail and cover the counting process as well.

If you are counting for the first time. you'll receive an email with the subject 2008 - Counter nnn - your name (Google Docs), click on the link in that email to access your spreadsheet.

If your have counted in past years you'll get the email with the subject 2008 Herring Counting Project - Your Spreadsheet Is Ready, click on the link in that email to access your spreadsheet and skip to Step 1-A .

[If you are working offline, that is through the mail, we'll mail a printed copy of the spreadsheet to you. Please skip to Step 1-A now].

If you already have a Google Account and are signed-in you'll go right to the spreadsheet. If you already have a Google Account but aren't signed-in, do so and you'll go right to the spreadsheet.

Follow these instructions after you have clicked the link in the email mentioned above.

Then, when you get to the page in Google titled Create and share your work online, click on the link that says Create A New Google Account.

You'll then arrive at the screen titled Create a Google Account - Google Docs. Here, enter your existing email address, choose a password and answer the rest of the questions on the screen. You'll get a confirmation that your account has been created.

Note: If you are working online and if the pane at the right is open and blocking the rightmost hours on the spreadsheet, you can close that pane by clicking on the X box beneath the "Publish" tab [near the top right].

In the cell to the right of "Max in total" enter the total number of times you want to count in the whole program.

In the cell to the right of "Max per day" enter the total number of times you want to count in any given day.

In the cell to the right of "In a row" enter how many times in a row you want to count in any given day. This is for people who may be traveling a distance and may want to do, let's say, two counts in a row.

In the cell to the right of "Preferred Site" enter where you prefer to count. Choices are Either, Mill for Mill Pond and Middle for Middle Pond. We'll be as accommodating as possible.

Next, put an "X" in each time slot that YOU CANNOT COUNT, so you are essentially blocking out the hours that you are not available to count.

That means that the cells without an "X" in them are the days and hours that you can count.

So, for example, if you can't count after 4:00 on Tuesday and Thursdays, put in "X" in 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00 on those days. The time in the heading is the hour in which the count is taken, so if you can't count before 9:00, for example, you would put an "X" in 7:00 and 8:00.

Do so by replying to the email that you received [or mailing back the spreadsheet to us] and say that you are done with Step 1.

Very Important: Please DO NOT change your spreadsheet after you've sent this email to us saying you are done! If you need to make changes to your preferences or availability please email us here for instructions on making these changes.

If you should start to make changes to your spreadsheet after we start building the Master Schedule we'll get all screwed-up! This doesn't mean that your schedule is set in concrete, just that we need to control the changes from a global view.

After we've received the spreadsheets back on this end from all counters we'll prepare a Master Schedule considering everyone's preferences and availability. You won't see this Master Schedule spreadsheet - it's just for our use on this end.

When it's completed we'll then update your spreadsheet and highlight, in yellow and/or green, each Date and Time that you are scheduled to count and then we'll send you an email saying that it's complete [or mail it back to you].

You can then access your spreadsheet and print it out [or it will be mailed to you] and you'll have an easy reference of when you are scheduled to count.

Return to your spreadsheet and enter the number into the yellow [Mill Pond] or green [Middle Pond] box.

[The offline counters will receive instructions on how to report their counts back to us].

A yellow cell means to count at Mill Pond and a green cell means to count at Middle Pond. You may have all yellow cells, all green cells or a mix of both on your spreadsheet. At the bottom of the spreadsheet there is a legend to remind you which color means which location.

The counting for YELLOW cells will be done at the Herring Run on Mill Pond at the junction of Routes 149 and 28. If you aren't familiar with this location, it is a small, paved park and you can easily walk right up to where the count will take place, which will be at the top rung of the ladder, right where the herring slip into Mill Pond. There will be a white board at the bottom of this step to help you see the fish as they pass.

The counting for GREEN cells will be done at the control gate [this map shows where the unpaved road is] where Middle Pond feeds the flume going to the Marstons Mills River. This is located off Flume Avenue in the Indian Ponds neighborhood. Detailed directions are:

Take Mistic Drive [the "Indian Ponds" signs] off Route 149 and stay to the right all the way to Flume Avenue.

Just after # 90 Flume Avenue is a unpaved road on the right which leads to the counting area. Park on the pavement if you are driving.

Walk down and to the right on the unpaved road and you'll see the concrete control gate [about 300' from the street].

At the far right end of the concrete control gate, where the water enters it from Middle Pond, you'll see a white board laying across the highest control board.

You may count at any time in the indicated hour. But count for just 10 minutes.

If you need a hand tally counter [clicker] to count with, contact Kevin Galvin at 508-420-0075 .

Oftentimes, when you arrive to count there will be people at the herring run and children will be playing in the area where we are doing the counting. Don't be bashful about asking them to step away for 10 minutes while you count. Ideally, no one is hovering over the area where you are counting as shadows cast into the pool before this last step into the pond could frighten the herring away.

A: If it's days into the future, then email Kevin Galvin at HCP@MarstonsMills.org. If there's little time to react [or if you are an offline counter] call him at 508-420-0075 . If you get the voice mail, leave a message with your name and the date/time of the slot you can't do. We'll adjust your schedule.

A: To the statistical model a count of zero is just as important as one of 50 or 100. We need exact, accurate counts from everyone for all of the sampling periods to get a reliable projection. Don't be discouraged by zero counts!

A: Count the best you can at the specified time, then contact Kevin Galvin at 508-420-0075 .

A: This may be a problem at Mill Pond on weekends, but even when it’s busy there is usually room on the grassy area across Route 149 from the Herring Run. If you can't find a spot you can park at the William Marston House at 71 Route 149 - the red house beside Mill Pond.

A: We have flexibility as to what times of the day we do the counts and can adjust to when people are available.

A: If you remember within the hour, call Kevin Galvin at 508-420-0075 as the 9 slots we count during the day are at random times and maybe we can adjust. If it’s too late for that please don't make up a number! Put the letter M in the cell to indicate that you missed the assigned count.

A: Yes. The possession of herring, regardless of where, how or when it was caught is against the law! This will continue through at least 2008.

A: If you see someone interfering with or taking herring, don't approach them. Do the following instead:

Record the date, time, vehicle description and registration number and what it was they were doing.

Call Doug Kalweit at his direct line: 508-294-1378. He’s the town’s head of Natural Resources.

Again, thank you for helping out in this counting program and I'll be posting updates from time to time on a blog that's been established just for our Herring Counting Project. You can access that blog here.

I'll also be at the flume and the herring run quite a bit, so I hope to meet all of you during the next couple of months.

If you have any problems or questions, be it with your Google account, accessing the spreadsheet or any aspect of counting, contact me either by email at HCP@MarstonsMills.org or call me at 508-420-0075 .