Morpho User Guide

 

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Searching for Data Packages

There are three different ways to search for a data package. These are the subject search, the taxonomic search, and the spatial search. Each allows you to use different criteria in your search. You may combine features from one or more of these three types of searches into one search.

To begin a search for data packages, do one of the following:

  • Click the search button   found on the toolbar on the Main Welcome Screen.
  • Click on "Search for an existing data package" on the Main Welcome Screen.
  • Go to the "Search" menu at the top of the Main Welcome Screen, and select "Search".

! NOTE: if you are not logged in but have network access, the only network data packages that will show up in your search are those which have "public" access privileges. To view additional data sets from the KNB network, log in on the Main Welcome Screen.

Search Interface

Next, you will see the search interface, pictured below.


You can name the search by typing in the field next to "Query Title", and then save the search and its parameters for later use. Save the search by clicking the "save search" button in the toolbar at the top of the screen, or selecting "Save Search" under the "Search" menu at the top of the screen. After you save the search, you can access it directly from the "Search" menu on the main menu bar at the top of each window.

Check the appropriate boxes at the top right of the search interface to specify where you would like to search. You may choose whether you want the search to occur only locally (i.e. on your computer), in the catalog (i.e. on the KNB network), or both.

The four tabs (Subject, Taxonomic, Spatial, Options) provide more detailed search criteria. After entering your search criteria in one or more of these tabs, you have the option of combining all of the search criteria from all tabs to constrain your search further than if you were only to use the constraints from one tab. This can be accomplished by checking the "Combine constraints from all tabs" box at the lower left of the search interface. Each of the four tabs are described below.

Subject Tab

The first tab that is displayed is the Subject tab. This tab allows you to search for specific text in the documentation of the data packages.

You begin by choosing which data package documentation field or fields will be searched. Next, you choose whether the selected documentation field(s) either contains, starts with, ends with, or equals what you type in the blank field to the right of the window.

By clicking the "More" button located at the lower middle of the window, you can create additional search panels for other terms in the documentation fields. Clicking "Fewer" will take away the extra fields.

You then choose "And" or "Or". Choosing "And" makes the search return data packages that contain matches for EVERY ONE of the terms you specified in the fields. Choosing "Or" makes the search return data packages that contain matches for ONE OR MORE of the terms you specified in the fields.

As an example, examine the screen below. Here, the "More" button has been used to create two 'Subject' search criteria. The top search criteria will look for items where the "Title" "starts-with" the phrase "NCEAS", while the lower region indicates the "Abstract" should "contain" the word "fish". These two search criteria are to be logically "OR"ed as indicated by the button near the bottom of the screen. Click "Cancel" to exit the search interface.

 

 

Taxonomic Tab

The next tab is the Taxonomic tab, which allows you to search for data packages associated with a certain taxonomic rank and value.

 

 

You choose whether your selected taxon rank either contains, starts with, ends with, or equals what you type in the blank field to the right of the window. For example, you may search for the taxon rank "Species", and specify that the species name contains "Neotoma".

By clicking the "More" button located at the lower middle of the window, you can search for additional taxa in the documentation fields. Clicking "Fewer" will take away the extra fields.

As with the Subject tab, you can choose "And" or "Or" criteria if searching for more than one taxa. Choosing "And" makes the search return only data packages that match EVERY ONE of the taxa you specified. Choosing "Or" makes the search return any data packages that match ONE OR MORE of the taxa you specified. Click "Cancel" to exit the search interface.

Spatial Tab

The next tab is the Spatial tab, where you search for data packages based on a geographic area you specify.

 

You may search for data packages with a spatial coverage within a spatial area by drawing a bounding box on the map with your mouse. You can create a "bounding box" like the one shown over the United States by clicking somewhere on the map and then dragging with the mouse still pressed. Releasing the mouse will then complete the action and create a white rectangle like that shown. The latitude and longitude values indicated by the sides of the box are shown in the text boxes on the right. The box can be resized by dragging one of the white squares on the corners, or repositioned by dragging the white square in the center.

To draw a more precise bounding box, you can zoom into an area of the map to see more detail using the "Zoom In" button. Return to the previous views using the "Zoom Out" button.
When the "Search" button is clicked, data packages will be queried to find those packages that contain geographic latitude/longitude coordinates inside (and overlapping) the indicated bounding box. Click "Cancel" to exit the search interface.

 

Additional Options Tab

The final tab, "Options", allows you to specify whether the search should be case sensitive (meaning only data packages containing the exact case for which you typed in the search fields will be returned). Also, on this tab you may specify if you would like to include taxon synonyms from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) in the search.

 

Search Results

After entering your search criteria, choosing any additional options, and clicking "Search", your results are displayed as a set of data packages which met your search criteria. An example is shown below. Open the data package you would like to view either by double-clicking on it, right-clicking and selecting "Open", or selecting the desired data package, and then clicking the "Open" button in the main toolbar at the top of the window.

 

 

The icons in the first column of the search result screen tell you if the package contains:

Data and documentation Documentation only

 

Icons in the last two columns indicate whether the package is located on the local machine or on the network (or both).


 

Three buttons are now active in the main Morpho toolbar, and allow you to refresh the search, save the search for future use, or revise the search by changing the search parameters. These options are also available from the main "Search" menu located at the top of each window.

 

Learn how to create a data package of your own on the next screen.

 

 

Help Index

PreviousOpening an Existing Data Package       Creating a New Data PackageNext