Intern:Method

The method table contains definitions of instruments or procedures describing a specific method. They are part of the Event and parameter metadata.

General rules for generating new methods (January 2023)

 * 1) Always ask data submitter for instrument type, manufacturer & model name/ protocol used (Canned response)
 * 2) Information which is nevertheless unavailable can be omitted
 * 3) To define a new method, open the method table, click on and fill out the fields:
 * 4) * Name - full name of the method; follow the syntax rules shown below
 * 5) * Reference - is relational to the reference table in which the reference, describing the method and can help data editors choosing the correct method. The content of this field is not shown in the official data description. Please note: If reference contains a DOI (URI), it will be shown to public (since 2023)
 * 6) * URI - Link to a descriptive web page, DOI or a document archived in Intern:ePIC or a handle linking to a Intern:PDF is recommended. Keep in mind that links to non-persistent external webpages will not be checked for being up-to-date
 * 7) * Description - for internal information only. The content of this field is not part of the official data description, but can help in curation process
 * 8) * Abbreviation - add unique abbreviation only if method will be used in the Event import form, do not use spaces.
 * 9) Whenever possible, add method terms. For further information on how to to do this, see  . Please note: Developments are underway that will allow for semi-automated annotation mapping.
 * 10) PANGAEA data editors are allowed to rename existing methods according to up-to-date syntax rules. Please document here: https://issues.pangaea.de/browse/PEB-248

Syntax (since January 2023)
1. Instruments:  Instrument type, Manufacturer , Model name [further information 1, further information 2 etc.]

Further information with respect to instruments can be added in exceptional cases and only in certain communities/contexts or if not already identified through the instrument model/method, e.g. "sensor numbers", "pore size", "accuracy"

2. Other methods:  Method type according to reference et al. (YYYY) [further information 1, further information 2 etc.]

Further information with respect to methods must be indicated by one of the following separators: Combination of several devices/methods: use separator “;” to combine several methods
 * calculated after
 * corrected using standard xy
 * corrected according to
 * developed by
 * modified after
 * ; Other device/method
 * ; followed by
 * ; measured with e.g. a sensor attached to a CTD
 * ; coupled with

Summary of syntax rules

 * 1) If available, attach one instrument and only the one with which the data was measured directly. If no instrument is available, attach a method instead. In exceptional cases, multiple instruments/methods can be added. Hierarchy as follows: Instrument > Method (one noun) > Method (two nouns) > Method (verb). Example: Spectrophotometer > Spectrophotometry > Spectrophotometry technique > Measured spectrophotometrically.
 * 2) If several instruments/methods were used (e.g. averages values of different instruments), add all important instruments/methods separated by ";". If method become too long, pick a more general method instead, e.g. "element analyzer" instead of 4 different element analyzer models.
 * 3) Instrument type: the more precise, the better (more general features will automatically defined through the attached method terms: e.g. an "isotope ratio mass spectrometer" is automatically assigned to the "Mass spectrometer" category).
 * 4) General spelling language is American English, but instrument models and companys are written according to the manufacturer's specification
 * 5) Write instrument models as they are written on the instrument or, if not accessible, as they appear on the manufacturer’s webpage.
 * 6) Write manufacturers’ names as they are written on the instrument, i.e. if the company has been sold/renamed etc., don’t use the most recent name, but the name as appropriate at the time where the instrument has been manufactured (new method is created when manufacturer’s name changes etc.)
 * 7) Capitalize the first word of the method (e.g. after “,”, "(", “according to” etc.); Capitalize model types the same way as manufacturer does
 * 8) No abbreviations unless they come in brackets within/after the spelled-out device type/method name. Example: Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe) Detector, Canberra

Examples:
 * For instruments:
 * Conductivity meter, Mettler Toledo, SevenGo pro SG7
 * Isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS), Thermo Scientific, Delta plus XP; coupled with Elemental Analyser, CE Instruments, NA 1110
 * Pyrgeometer, Kipp & Zonen, CGR4 [SN: 170262, WRMC No. 12026]
 * For methods:
 * 14C radioactive tracer incubation according to Zhuang et al. 2018
 * ICP-MS according to DIN EN ISO 17294-2