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1) How can I get started quickly, with minimal instructions?In the MRIB, each piece of information can be found through three search strategies, which can be used separately or combined: a) Category Search, b) Geographic Search, and c) Keyword Search.a) Using the CATEGORY SEARCH option, select the topical category that most likely contains your subject of interest:
At any point in your search, the CURRENT SEARCH cell will summarize your search parameters:
2) What are the definitions of the various MRIB search categories?In MRIB, information resources are classified on the basis of 12 facets (top level categories), and each facet contains an authority list of controlled vocabulary terms (information subcategories).By combining these controlled vocabulary terms, the users of MRIB define their search paths. Following is an explanation of the 12 facets. Text files of the controlled vocabularies for these facets are available on the MRIB Facets page.
Geologic Time: The geologic units of time (eon, era, period, and epoch) addressed by the information resource. MRIB uses a simplification of Grant's 2003 time scale. Feature Type: The generic features, geographic and otherwise, with which the information resource is concerned. Included are landforms (e.g., mountains and oceans), geological features (e.g., landslides and earthquake zones), biological features (e.g., coral reefs and kelp forests), administrative areas (e.g., marine sanctuaries and exclusive economic zones), and human constructions (e.g., dams and canals). Biota: The common names of organisms, arranged in five kingdoms: animals, plants, fungi, protists, and bacteria. A subcategory for viruses is also included. Discipline: The traditional academic area within which an information resource falls. Research Method: The means by which the scientific investigation was accomplished, including field observation, laboratory analysis, data processing, and modeling. Hot Topics: Issues of concern to scientists, policy makers, and the general public, including the environment (e.g., climate change and pollution), hazards and disasters (e.g., earthquakes, storms, and tsunamis), resources (e.g., energy, mineral, and water), and "science and scientists" (e.g., methodology and policy). Agency: Any organization that contributed to the information resource, by funding or conducting research, interpreting or compiling data, publishing a document, hosting a web site, and so forth. Subcategories include governments, academic institutions, museums and aquariums, other nonprofit organizations, professional associations, and businesses. Project: If applicable, the project name as specified in the information resource. This name may be different than the formal project title employed by the parent agency for administrative purposes. Author: The person(s) responsible for the intellectual content of the information resource (as distinct from the custodian of the web site providing the information resource). Content Type: The intellectual form of the information resource: text, data sets, images, and so on. File Type: The transmission form of the information resource. MRIB employs the IANA MIME classification of electronic media types: application, audio, image, model, text, and video. 3) Why are some terms used in more than one search category?By their nature, some controlled vocabulary terms (information subcategories) may fit more than one facet (top level category), reflecting the different contexts in which those terms can be used. Additionally, some terms have been deliberately placed in multiple categories or subcategories to accommodate variable search strategies by different users. A good example is the term "sediment," which occurs (along with its derivatives) repeatedly in the MRIB controlled vocabulary:
Feature Type: Geological Features > Sediment Hot Topics: Environment > Sediment Hot Topics: Resources > Sediment Research Method: Laboratory > Sedimentology 4) Can I conduct a combined search using multiple categories?Yes, and you can also search multiple terms within a single category. For example, suppose the CURRENT SEARCH cell reads Discipline: Geology > Geomorphology.You now want to refine the search by adding terms from Feature Type and Hot Topics. You might proceed as follows: a) Select Feature Type in the MODIFY SEARCH cell. The content cell will display the subcategories within Feature Type that intersect the initial search for Discipline: Geology > Geomorphology (see below).
5) How can I search by location?You can zoom in by clicking anywhere within the global map on the MRIB home page. This zooming operation creates a regional map with your click point at the center. The bounding coordinates of the regional map will be displayed in the CURRENT SEARCH cell at the top of the page and also in the navigation tool above the compass rose (see below). The map display can be manipulatedin several ways using the pull-down menus to the right of the map (Map Action, Zoom Rate, Map Type, Projection, etc.); we encourage you to experiment with these features. For more information, see Map View Help.
a) To view a table of all matches within the zoom area, click the View Table hot link above the map or the View Table button next to the compass rose. b) To view individual studies within the zoom area, go to the Map Action pull-down menu, choose Select Study, and then click on the appropriate red dot within the map. The resulting table will display all studies corresponding to the latitude and longitude of the selected dot. You can also search for named locations using the Location facet, which employs a specialized MRIB gazetteer with more than 1,700 place names and corresponding bounding boxes:
6) How can I conduct a search for "fish" (or some other topic)?The MRIB thinking processRemember that MRIB allows you to use different search strategies to retrieve to the same information resources: you can search by topic, map, or keyword -- or a combination of the three. Give some thought to how you might categorize the subject you want to explore (in this example, "fish") and then read the following discussion of possible MRIB search strategies: a) Beginning with the GEOGRAPHIC SEARCH option, you might try zooming into an area of interest, but you will eventually need to search by category or keyword in order to focus on the fish within the target area. b) Beginning with the CATEGORY SEARCH option, you should choose categories likely to contain controlled vocabulary terms relevant to fish. You are not likely to find fish-related terms in the Location or Geologic Time categories, for instance. If you are interested in a particular project that studied fish, you might find relevant information in the Project category. If, however, you are unaware of specific projects related to fish, you should consider looking at other categories first. Feature Type includes a set of biological features in its controlled vocabulary. One of these is Feature Type: Biological Features > Benthos -- so if you are looking for information on bottom-dwelling fish, you might choose this subcategory. Feature Type: Biological Features > Water Column, on the other hand, would lead to information on nektonic fish. If you are primarily interested in fish as organisms or fish as resources, the Discipline category includes several relevant subcategories: Discipline: Biology > Ichthyology, Discipline: Biology > Fisheries, and Discipline: Oceanography > Fisheries, among others (note the deliberate overlap of the two "fisheries" subcategories, to accommodate users with slightly different perspectives on this topic). Research Method might be useful if you are interested in a specific sampling method or laboratory technique for studying fish. Hot Topics would be a good place to look for environmental issues relating to fish habitats or resource issues relating to sustainable fisheries. The Author and Agency categories would be useful if you already know of a specific author or agency (such as the National Marine Fisheries Service) conducting research on fish. Biota lists organisms by their common names, but the subcategories of fish are intentionally broad: cartilaginous fish (rays and sharks), jawless fish (hagfishes and lampreys), lobe-finned fish (coelacanths and lungfishes), and ray-finned ("bony") fish. c) The KEYWORD SEARCH option might be useful for finding information about specific types of fish -- provided, of course, that the MRIB cataloger has included their scientific or common names as supplemental keywords. 7) How do I start a new search or modify the current one?You can always return to the MRIB home page and start a new search by clicking the New Search icon, located in the MODIFY SEARCH cell (see below) and also at the bottom of the page.
Research Method: Modeling Hot Topics: Hazards and Disasters > Storm
Research Method: Modeling Hot Topics: Hazards and Disasters > Erosion
8) What are the differences between the map and table views?The map view allows the user to assess, at a glance, the spatial distribution of information resources in MRIB. The table view, in contrast, provides the basic metadata about each information resource (title, author, and content dates), along with links to the full MRIB catalog record and to the online resource itself. The table view also allows the user to export all or part of the MRIB database in a variety of formats.There is another important difference between the map and table views. Currently, about 70 per cent of the information resources in MRIB are georeferenced (associated with particular locations) and are thus represented by red dots in the map view. The other 30 per cent of the database consists of strictly topical resources that are not georeferenced and cannot be searched and retrieved in map view. This portion ofthe database is available in table view only, following a category or keyword search. You can switch between these two views at any time by clicking the View Table or View Map links in the content cell. For more information, see Map View Help and Table View Help. 9) How can I have an online information resource added to MRIB?Click the Submit a Document icon at the bottom of any MRIB web page to use the Electronic Index Card (EIC) Creation Utility, which will guide you through a step-by-step procedure for contributing new online information resources to MRIB. |
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