A field-guide is a practical identification instrument built to carry knowledge into the field: it maps navigable features across a domain so that a user can move from observation to recognition without consulting an external authority. It persists by being published as a structured set of cues, taught for field use, and carried into the field where it performs its function — identification under conditions of uncertainty. [formal: via<field_guide> | substrate: mind | horizon: hours | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.91]
Accepted ontology entry
field-guide
A field-guide is a practical identification instrument built to carry knowledge into the field: it maps navigable features across a domain so that a user can move from observation to recognition without consulting an external authority. It…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made reference book or card set that encodes a practical identification system — keyed visual, textual, or sensory descriptors organized to help users distinguish species, objects, or phenomena in the field; persists via publishing, teaching, and the habit of carrying it into natural or urban environments.
Names and aliases
- field-guideen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrmi0v8g00bwd1nlrx23qz6gDEPENDS_ON →
A field-guide functions by mapping features onto a classification system — without a classification framework to reference, there is no structure for identification. The guide is useless if there is nothing to classify into; the dependency is present-tense and constitutive.
- cmrrebpth01d0q89dnq5yzsu4INSTANCE_OF →
A field-guide IS a specific kind of reference work — a curated collection of information for identifying and understanding subjects in a domain. Law 9: specific→general. A competent speaker describes a field guide as 'a kind of reference.'
- cmrc6da4l00isa9g4w16qp1irSERVES →
A field-guide is built and maintained for the sake of navigation — it enables users to identify and locate subjects in their natural or working environment. Law 8d: designed purpose is to further navigation's operation. Servant→master direction correct.
- cmrhajc2b015x8aehc613gx7cSERVES →
field-guide is built and maintained for the sake of learning — it provides curated information for understanding subjects in a domain. Law 8d: servant→master.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 18, 2026, 12:10 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 1ba4a95b0fab9b8846bed252ea69588657ccf701793bcde502c42b0f684ea9be