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Three different
query forms, accessible via the tabs above, enable records to be retrieved from
their corresponding data sources. Enter one or more search criteria using the
inputs described below, and press the "Search" button at the bottom
of the form. Records matching all search criteria will be retrieved.
Searches are not case sensitive.
Input
Types On The Form
- Text
Box
-
A simple text
box accepts a string of alpha-numeric characters and compares it against values
in the database. If the field in the database contains only numbers (e.g.,
"Publication Year" or "Accession Number"), only exact
matches will be retrieved -- wildcards and ranges cannot be used. If the field
is for text, a "sub-string search" will be performed. Searching
for "stella" in the species field would match "stella"
as well as "constellatus" and "castellatum", among others.
- Single-Select
List Box
-
A single-select
list box displays all the values that occur in the database, but allows only
one value to be used in a given query. The default value, [any]
causes the field to be ignored.
- Multi-Select
List Box
-
A multi-select
list box displays all the values that occur in the database and allows multiple
values to be used in a given query. Use Ctrl-Click to toggle individual selections
on and off; i.e., hold the Control key down (PC), or the Command key (Mac)
when you click on a value. Note, clicking a value without holding down
the control key (i.e., a simple click) clears all other selections in the
list box and leaves the most recently clicked value as the only selection.
Note also that some browsers "remember" selected values between
queries even though the selected values are not visible (i.e., have scrolled
off) the list box. Press the Clear button to clear the form.
- Radio Button
-
A radio button must have one and only one selection chosen out of two or more choices.
Results
Query feedback.
The query parameters entered on the form are summarized in query language at
the top of every result page. Read the query statement to be sure that the query
being processed is what you intended. Some browsers have a tendency to "remember"
parameters from previous queries. Press the Clear button between queries
to clear previously used parameters.
Number of records.
The number of records retrieved by every query is reported immediately after
the query feedback (near the top of the page) as the results are being formatted.
If the number returned is much larger than you expected or want to wait for,
press the "STOP" button on your browser to cancel the query. You can
create a more restrictive query by entering additional search criteria on the
form.
Retrieval Limit.
The number of records retrieved is limited to 1000 to prevent "excessive
resource consumption" by a single user and to prevent browser crashes;
large result sets can cause some computers to lock up. Note that 1000 taxonomic
records amounts to more than a megabyte of data. If you need a result set larger
than 1000 records please contact Sarah Spaulding or Jean DeMouthe.
Output format.
We hope
the content and structure of retrieved records will be self explanatory, but
some of the field definitions below may provide additional insight. At present
the only type of output is HTML. We hope to provide structured text and XML
in the future.
Field
Definitions
- ACCESSION NUMBER:
- A number given
to each unique sample received by the Diatom Collection of the California
Academy of Sciences. Each locality record has a unique accession number
- BASIONYM AUTHOR:
- Author of the species group name. If the species has been placed in a different genus by another author, the author of the original name (basionym) will be enclosed in parentheses before the author of the new combination. In "(Ehrenberg) Cleve", for example, Ehrenberg is the basionym author.
- CITY OR TOWN:
- Name of city or town from which sample was taken. Used only if the sample was collected within the boundaries of the city or town.
- COLLECTOR:
- The name(s) of collector(s). Personal names are typically in the form of last name, followed by initials; e.g.,
- COMBINATION AUTHOR:
- If the species
is now classified under a different genus than the one where it was originally
described, the combination author is the person who first used the current
genus-species combination. The basionym author is enclosed in parentheses
and followed by the author of the new combination. In "(Ehrenberg) Cleve",
for example, "Cleve" is the combination author. In some cases, the first initials
precede the last name. For example, "Sims" or "P.A. Sims".
- CONTINENT OR OCEAN:
- The name of
the continent, ocean, or sea where the sample was collected. The multi-select
list box can be used to select zero, one, or several entries from the list
(see "Input Types", above).
- COUNTRY:
- The name of
the country (if any) where the sample was collected. Some countries are abbreviated
(for example, USSR and USA). Some countries may have changed names or geopolitical
boundaries since time of collection. The multi-select list box can be used
to select zero, one, or several entries from the list (see "Input Types",
above).
- COUNTY:
- County, shire,
or district. Do not use abbreviations.
- DISPLAY OPTIONS:
- Page Style - Multiple Pages/Single Page
- Choose Multiple Pages if you would like the results displayed 20 per page, one page at a time. If you would
like all the results displayed on one page, choose Single Page.
- Record Style - Brief Records/Full Records
- Brief Records will display only a few fields of data for each record. Full Records will
display all of the data for each record. Be warned that choosing Single Page and Full Records can
take a long time to download if there are a large number of records.
- ECOLOGY:
- Select from
a list of general types of aquatic habitat where the sample was collected,
such as "marine", "freshwater", "brackish".
- EPOCH:
- Select from
a list of geological terms. Note that epochs are assigned by the collector,
and may be based on varying standards and methods of dating.
- GENUS:
- The name of
the genus as proposed in original description. Orthographic variants (alternate
spellings) will include the first mentioned spelling of a name. Subgenera
are not included.
- IDENTIFIER:
- Name of the
individual who made the taxonomic determination.
- ISLAND:
- Name of island
only. For example, "Bahamas" but not "Bahamas Islands".
- JOURNAL OR BOOK:
- Source of the
publication, including books, journals, serials. For example, this field may
contain "Bacillaria", "Diatom Research" and "Microgeologie".
- LOCALITY DESCRIPTION:
- Name and description
of the site from which the sample was taken. The field is a long text field,
and often includes township and range, type of sampled collected, stratigraphic
level within a sedimentary bed.
- PUBLICATION NUMBER:
- A six digit
number given to each publication by the Diatom Collection of the California
Academy of Sciences. The publication numbers are also the same as published
in: Fourtanier, E. & Kociolek, J.P. Catalogue of the diatom genera. Diatom
Research, 14: 1-190.
- PUBLICATION YEAR:
- Year of publication,
usually as given on the publication itself. The actual date/year of publication,
if known or suspected to be different, is listed in comments.
- SLIDE NUMBER:
- A unique number
given to each microscopic glass slide in the Diatom Collection of the California
Academy of Sciences. There may be one to many (in some cases, 100's) of slides
that were made from material of a single collection, or accession number.
- SPECIES:
- Name of species
used by the identifier of the specimen. It is not necessary to enter a genus
name to make this search.
- STATE OR PROVINCE:
- Full names
of states, provinces, and regions may be entered. Do not use abbreviations.
- TITLE:
- Normally consists
of the full title (no abbreviations) of the original title, in the language
as written.
- TYPE STATUS:
- Select type
status from a list.
- VARIETY:
- Name of variety
used by the identifier of the specimen. It is suggested that genus and species
are searched before searching for variety. Further, more records may be returned
if the fields for "genus" and "species" are left blank.
- WATER BODY:
- Name of the
body of water, such as "Pilot Knob Bog", "Lake Tahoe". If the desired site
is not returned, also try under the field, Locality Description.
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