LTER Metadata Query Interface – Current Status and Future Challenges

Wade Sheldon

GCE-LTER

Current Metadata Query Interface: DTOC

DTOC Query Results

DTOC Dataset Links – Site IS

DTOC Strengths/Weaknesses Strengths

Familiar to LTER scientists Simple (keyword search, browse) Fast Populated by all LTER Sites

Weaknesses Limited search parameters Limited metadata content to search Can’t tailor results (sort, filter, search within results) Targets of document links highly variable (Site pages) No scope for enhancement

KNB Metacat Web Query Interface

KNB Metacat Constrained Search

KNB Metacat Search Results

KNB Metacat Data Set Metadata Display

KNB Metacat Data Entity Metadata Display

KNB Metacat Strengths/Weaknesses Strengths

Simple interface with keyword guidance Searches rich metadata content (EML content) Some constrained search support (title, author, all) Consistent display for all documents Highly configurable

Weaknesses (of default web interface, stylesheets) Limited search parameters Can’t tailor results (sort, page, filter) Expansive displays of query results, metadata hard to view Links to entities, data “buried” Relatively slow

Ideal LTER Metadata Query Interface Subject of working group (shameless plug) Some considerations:

Needs to be PI-friendly (usability is key) Should be flexible

support multiple interfaces (search, browse, query builder) results should be customizable (user-selectable detail) ideally should support multiple database targets

Should be results-oriented links to resources described should be highly prominent

(“where’s the *&!# data!”)