PANGAEA search

=Basic search=

The most convenient and fastest way to find data is using the search engine on PANGAEA home. Each predefined dataset in its granularity as defined by the PI can be found by keywords and any expressions matching the data set description. Search is supported by an autocomplete functionality. Keywords can be combined to create Boolean expressions using a syntax identical to those used by search engines.

As a result of a query the titles of datasets are listed, linking to the full meta-description.

 At the end data are provided online in both html (View dataset as HTML) and text formats (Download dataset as tab-delimited text). The meta-description provided with each set contains the fields according to standards for describing geodata (mainly schema.org, partly ISO-19115). PANGAEA Search is not case-sensitive.

By prefixing keywords (using the format "prefix:keyword") with a tag name from the PANGAEA XML schema the search can be performed inside specific parts of the schema.

=Filtering of search results=

The results of search can be filtered using facets in the left panel:
 * Dataset Author
 * Dataset Publication Year
 * Topic
 * Project
 * Basis
 * Device
 * Campaign and
 * Location

Additionally, the search results can be filtered by:
 * Geographical coordinates and
 * Date

=Advanced search=

Choosing search terms When choosing search terms keep in mind:
 * Try the obvious first. If you're looking for information on the grain size of sediment, enter "grain size" rather than "sediments"
 * Use words likely to appear on a site with the information you want. "Holocene ice Lazarev" gets better results than "Holocene ice extension from the Lazarev Sea shelf".

Capitalization PANGAEA searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For example, searches for "marine geology", "Marine Geology", and "mArInE gEoLoGy" will all return the same results.

Using query operators PANGAEA Search uses per default the "AND" logic to combine the search terms. This means that all entered terms must be in the searched documents. To find documents that contain either one or another term (or both) concatenate by "OR". For example, enter "falconensis OR bulloides" to get all datasets that contain one of the terms.

The use of "AND" between keywords is optional. If you want to combine "AND" and "OR", use brackets - for example: "Globigerina AND (falconensis OR bulloides)".

Excluding searches by using "-" To exclude certain keywords add a minus sign ("-") immediately before the search term you want to avoid (be sure to include a space before the minus sign).

Approximate searches If you do not exactly know the spelling of a word, you may want to search not only for a particular keyword, but also for variants in spelling. Indicate a search for all by placing the tilde sign ("~") immediately in front of the keyword.

Wildcards Wildcards allow a substitution of unknown characters in the item used for searching. The following table describes the wildcard characters and their attributes:

Phrase searches Search for complete phrases by enclosing them in quotation marks. Words enclosed in double quotes ("like this") will appear together in all results exactly as you have entered them. Phrase searches are especially useful when searching for phrases or full names.

Searches in specific fields PANGAEA XML schema can be used for specific queries using the PANGAEA search engine. Search for keywords in specific fields by putting a the field name with a ':' immediately in front of the term you want to match. The most used field names are:

Query examples

PANGAEA Search Results The results page shows a list of abbreviated dataset descriptions (thumbs) including the links to the full dataset description and links to download the dataset in either html or text format. The score gives an estimate on the relevance of the search result: a higher score means that the entered words can be found more often and closer together.

Datasets are listed with ordinal numbers and are shown in ten hits per page. Above and below the listing, one may click the page number or the NEXT (or PREV) link to see more results.

=Data warehouse=

The data warehouse is a tool to combine data from different PANGAEA datasets in one file. With a login the < Data warehouse > button is visible after submitting a query. The button links to a page which allows to configure geocodes and parameters for an export table. Parameters are listed in order by a score which depends on the query.

 Example:

The following example will produce a distribution map of a plankton shell in the world ocean sediments.


 * go to http://www.pangaea.de
 * login (or sign up for an account)
 * search for bulloides (species name of a planktonic foraminifera)
 * click on < Data warehouse > (a button on the upper right of the page)
 * choose:
 * Latitude
 * Longitude
 * Depth, sediment [m]
 * Globigerina bulloides [%]
 * < Start Data Warehouse Query >
 * find a file bulloides.tab on your desktop
 * start Pan2Applic (needs to be installed first)
 * drag'n drop bulloides.tab to the empty window
 * choose Convert/Ocean Data View (ODV needs to be installed first)

=External services=
 * pangaeapy: a Python module to download and analyse metadata as well as data from tabular PANGAEA datasets
 * pangaear: an R client to interact with the PANGAEA