  We discuss the selection and observations of a large sample of nearby
galaxies, which we are using to quantify the star formation activity in the
local Universe. The sample consists of 334 galaxies across all Hubble types
from S0/a to Im and with recession velocities of between 0 and 3000 km/s. The
basic data for each galaxy are narrow band H alpha plus [NII] and R-band
imaging, from which we derive star formation rates, H alpha plus [NII]
equivalent widths and surface brightnesses, and R-band total magnitudes. A
strong correlation is found between total star formation rate and Hubble type,
with the strongest star formation in isolated galaxies occurring in Sc and Sbc
types. More surprisingly, no significant trend is found between H alpha plus
[NII] equivalent width and galaxy R-band luminosity. More detailed analyses of
the data set presented here will be described in subsequent papers.
