Thanks @WhiteX for offering some specific steps to get me started. It sounds a lot like setting up a CSV for importing text and photos into A-ID. I'm about to merge some site visit in stack of conservation restriction monitoring reports. You gave me enough fuel to get up the steep learning slope. I'll give it a try and report back! And yes, the video h_d linked is the one I reference in my previous post.
If you look in Youtube for this "Data merge Setting up a data file in Excel to merge with InDesign (720p)", what you describe sounds very similar to what will work in Publisher. Please share any additional thoughts you might have.
@H_d, thanks and yes, the video is about merging documents, not text and photos - an entirely different animal. Having tutorials is essential to engaging users in making the switchover to these programs. Professionally, I create data in QGIS - an open source mapping app - and merge site visit data and photos. Time consuming to perform manually when there are over a hundred pics and 6 fields/ photo of text. And, to make it even more challenging, this process is only used for a couple weeks a year, so it's easy to forget the essential details.
Thanks for the support!
