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Submit-ready Iowa archaeological site forms in minutes, not days

Iowa records sites on the Iowa Archaeological Site Form, submitted to the Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) at the University of Iowa, which maintains the Iowa Site File and the I-Sites database. OSA site numbers must appear in reports submitted to the SHPO. FieldTap Report Builder turns the site form into a one-time setup.

Why state forms break every other tool

Every state has its own paper site form. Iowa's is Iowa archaeological site forms — a fixed PDF layout Iowa OSA expects to receive exactly as published. Generic field tools give you two bad options: rebuild the form by hand in their form builder (and still retype results into the official PDF), or pay for a professional services engagement to digitize each form.

Either way, every revision the agency publishes restarts the cycle. CRM firms end up paying for software and still doing the typing.

FieldTap Report Builder

Import once. Map once. Done forever.

Report Builder is the only feature on the market that lets a CRM firm digitize a state's official PDF form themselves — no professional-services bill, no rebuilding the form by hand. Map the fields once and every record auto-exports a submit-ready Iowa OSA PDF for the life of your firm.

1. Import the official PDF
Drop the Iowa OSA site forms into Report Builder. No rebuilding the form by hand, no professional services engagement.
2. Drag-map fields once
Drag your FieldTap fields onto the PDF. Locations, attributes, photos, dates — once they are mapped, they auto-fill for every record going forward.
3. Auto-export forever
Every record in your project exports a fully-populated, submit-ready PDF in the official Iowa OSA layout. No retyping. No reformatting.
4. Update when the agency does
When the agency revises the form, re-import the new PDF and remap any changed fields. Your records keep working.

Forms covered for Iowa

FieldTap ships with Report Builder templates for the official Office of the State Archaeologist, University of Iowa forms below. Use them as-is, customize them, or import your own variant.

Iowa Archaeological Site FormOSA Site Record

The form on which all discovered sites are recorded and submitted to OSA for processing.

Survey ReportProject Documentation

CRM report; OSA site numbers must be used in any report submitted to the SHPO.

Location MapUSGS Quad Reference

Required map attachment locating the site with coordinates.

What Iowa OSA reviewers expect

  • OSA site numbers must be used in any project report submitted to the Iowa SHPO — FieldTap supports placeholder numbers swapped on export.
  • Site forms are submitted to OSA and indexed in the I-Sites database — FieldTap exports records ready for that submission.
  • Coordinates must agree across the form, map, and any GIS deliverable — FieldTap generates all three from one record.
  • Section 106 review under the NHPA drives most Iowa CRM fieldwork; consistent records reduce revision cycles.

Iowa SHPO FAQ

Does FieldTap export the Iowa site form?

Yes. You import the Iowa Archaeological Site Form once, map fields once, and every record exports a fully populated PDF, ready to submit to OSA — no retyping.

Does FieldTap handle OSA numbering?

Yes. Crews record with placeholder numbers; once OSA assigns the number you update the record and exports refresh.

Does this work offline?

Yes. Recording, GPS, and photos run fully offline. Sync and export require connectivity.

Can we map a custom Iowa form?

Yes. Report Builder accepts any PDF, including internal QA forms.

What about GIS deliverables?

Shapefile, GeoJSON, and CSV come from the same record as the PDF, so coordinates and attributes always agree.

Map Iowa archaeological site forms once. Submit forever.

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