Searching for Metadata

This section will guide users and guests to the site on how to search and filter metadata provided by data publishers to spatialdata.gov.scot.

Accessing the portal

The portal can be accessed from the following link:

https://www.spatialdata.gov.scot

The home page of the portal comprises a basic search bar at the top, and also provides the option to browse by topic category (default) or by INSPIRE theme. Visitors can also browse the newest entries to the site or the most popular using the tabs lower down the page. Tabs in the header menu give access to the main search page, map viewer and sign in page (for registered users). Clicking the portal name on the header menu will return the user to the home page.

userdoc_fig_2_1_1_Home

Figure 2.1.1: Home page

When logged in, registered users of the site will be presented with further buttons on the header menu for button_contribute and button_adminconsole (for user and site administrators). The button_contribute menu gives options to navigate to the Editor board, add a new record, import new records, manage directory, batch editing and access rights.

Basic searching

Quick searches on the portal can be performed directly from the home page using the search box and clicking the search button (button_search_icon).

Note: wildcard characters, such as the asterisk key, can also be used.

userdoc_fig_2_2_1_BasicSearch

Figure 2.2.1: A basic search from the home page

This will take the user to the main search panel, showing the resulting records in the centre of the page, with additional filtering options to the left. The user can also access the main search panel by clicking button_search on the top menu of the home page. To the bottom right of the page is a small map view showing the geographic extents of the queried results. This can be minimised by clicking the collapse button on the right of the map.

userdoc_fig_2_2_2_SearchResults

Figure 2.2.2: Search results displayed on the main search panel

Advanced searching

Other search options are available from the button_search_advanced icon to the right of the main search box. This expands to show Options, Languages and Advanced.

  • Options allows users to search by “Exact match”, “In title only”, and “Only my records” (if the user is logged in)

  • Languages allows users to limit the search based on the metadata language of a record by searching “in all languages”, “in detected language”, or “in UI language”

  • Advanced allows users to limit the search based on the temporal coverage of a record.

To perform an advanced search:

1| Click button_search to access the search page.

2| Click the button_search_advanced next to the search text box to access advanced options.

3| Provide additional search criteria (e.g. constraining by exact match, language or temporal extent).

4| Click button_search_icon to run the search based on the selected options. Results will be displayed in the list below.

Note: search options can be cleared by clicking button_search_reset.

userdoc_fig_2_3_1_AdvancedSearch

Figure 2.3.1: Advanced search options

Filter and sort options

Search results can be limited using the options available in the left-hand panel. Each search filter shows the number of records returned next to it. Filtering options available are as follows:

  • Type of resources (e.g. datasets or services)

  • Licence Type

  • Topics

  • INSPIRE Theme

  • Keywords

  • Organizations

  • Years (grouped in 5-year intervals)

  • Formats

  • Available in

  • Spatial Representation Type (i.e. raster or vector)

  • Update Frequencies

  • Scales

At the top right of the search results list, there is a menu to sort the results by title, relevance, date of change, rating, popularity, and scale. At the top left of the results list users can select all results, all results on the current page, or none to deselect. Upon selection users can choose to export the results to a zip, pdf or csv file. Note that registered users will be able to perform additional actions, such as publish (if they have Reviewer privileges) or delete (if they have Editor privileges), on selected records.

userdoc_fig_2_4_1_SortOptions userdoc_fig_2_4_1_SelectOptions

Figure 2.4.1: Sort and select options