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Help section
General Questions
Q: How do I contact
CHRONOS?
A: Please see our
contact information at http://www.chronos.org/contacts.html
Q: What are RSS Feeds
and how can I use them?
A: The RSS (Really Simple
Syndication) feeds you see on the opening page are dynamically created
indexes of some of the data on the CHRONOS site. We will be
expanding in the web site more of these in the future as a method for people
to "subscribe" to changes in the data available from this system. This
will allow data to come to you, rather than you looking for data.
We also plan to allow you to subscribe to searches in the near
future. These searches would periodically run and
inform you of any changes in the search results that might be of
interest to you. Modern browsers (like Safari and Firefox) allow
users to discover and subscribe to RSS feeds. E-mail clients like
Thunderbird
are also able to subscribe to these feeds and inform you
interactively of updates to the feed, much like when email is received.
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RSS
Q: What does 'CHRONOS' stand
for?
A: CHRONOS is the Greek word
for time (cronos) and this project
is about geologic time and Earth's history.
KHRONOS was the PROTOGONOS (firstborn immortal that emerged at creation) of time who emerged self-formed at the very beginning of time.
He was an incorporeal being, serpentine in form with three heads - that of a man, a bull, and a lion. He and his mate, the serpentine Ananke
(Inevitability), entwined the world-egg in their coils and split it apart, forming the ordered universe of earth, sea and sky.
Khronos remained as the remote, incorporeal god of time who encircled the universe, driving the rotation of the heavens and the eternal passage of
time. He occasionally appeared to Zeus in the form of an elderly man with long white hair and beard, but for the most part he remained a force beyond
the reach and power of the younger gods.
Checkout http://www.theoi.com/ for all your
mythological needs.
Q: What are metadata?
A: Metadata are "data about
data", or information known about an image in order
to provide access to the image. Usually includes information about the intellectual content of the image, digital representation data, and security or rights management information. Metadata describe the attributes of an information-bearing object (IBO) - document, data set, database, image, artifact, collection, etc.; metadata acts as a surrogate representation of the IBO. A metadata record can include representations of the content, context, structure, quality, provenance, condition, and other characteristics of an IBO for the purposes of representing the IBO to a potential user - for discovery, evaluation for fitness for use, access, transfer, and citation. Examples of metadata format are the MARC format used by the library community, Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata developed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee Directory Interchange Format (DIF) used by NASA's Global Change Master Directory Government Information Locator Service (GILS), and Dublin Core set of attributes for electronic resources developed with the lead of the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC).
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metadata
Q: What is Postgresql?
A: Postgresql is a
sophisticated, open-source (i.e., free) object-relational database management system that allows you to store and retrieve data according to various parameters given in a query and that supports almost all SQL constructs, including transactions and user-defined types. The PostgreSQL Global Development Group is a community of companies and people co-operating to drive the development of PostgreSQL, the world?s most advanced Open Source database software. The PostgreSQL software itself had its beginnings in 1986 inside the University of California at Berkeley as a research prototype, and in the 16 years since has moved to its now globally distributed development model.
Q: How can I have my
paleontologic or stratigraphic data made available through CHRONOS?
A: Please contact data@chronos.org
for details on how to share your data through CHRONOS.
Q: How do I cite
in a publication a dataset that I have obtained through CHRONOS?
A:
Citing a reference related to a specific dataset or a source, you want to identify the work/data
source and provide information on how to locate a copy of the same work. Citing electronic resources
such as CHRONOS is tricky because they continuously change. The suggestions provided below summarizes
information from the Chicago Manual of Style (2003), the Columbia Guide to Online Style (1998), the
Library of Congress, the US Census Bureau Guidelines to cite dynamically generated files, and the ISO
standard on bibliographic references.
To cite a web page or an online database, one should include the URL and the date when the site or
database was accessed or viewed.
References to material (data) from a single publication obtained through computer services like
CHRONOS should be treated like first references to the original printed material except that the
usual reference information is followed by the name of the service, the accession or identifying
number within the service, if available, and the date when the material was accessed (Chicago Manual
of Style, 2003). In our case, the service is CHRONOS. A unique GUID (Global Unique ID) is being developed
for datasets in CHRONOS (CHRONOS dataset GUID).
E.g.: Smith, J.A., 2002. Strontium isotope records of orbulinids. Journal of Electronic
Publications, 34, 256-264, CHRONOS dataset <GUID> (12 November 2005).
If the data sources are multiple, a unique citation number will be provided (also a GUID,
different from the dataset GUID mentioned above - under development). Suggested citations for
CHRONOS and data downloaded through CHRONOS are:
Entire System:
CHRONOS System [online]. Available from World Wide Web: http://chronos.org (DATE WHEN SYSTEM WAS ACCESSED).
Data from multiple databases in the CHRONOS System:
CHRONOS System [online]; generated by USERNAME; using CHRONOS XML searches; http://chronos.org;
<dataset GUID> (DATE WHEN DATASET WAS ACCESSED).
Data from Neptune database:
Neptune [online]; generated by USERNAME; using CHRONOS XML searches;
http://services.chronos.org/databases/neptune/index.html; CHRONOS <dataset GUID>
(DATE WHEN DATASET WAS ACCESSED).
For further information, please consult:
ISO 690-2, Bibliographic references, Part 2: Electronic documents or parts thereof
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/iso/tc46sc9/standard/690-2e.htm#5.1
The US Census Bureau citing Dynamically Generated Tables/Files-
http://www.census.gov/main/www/citation.html
Emory University Electronic Data Center http://einstein.library.emory.edu/citations_general.html
and http://einstein.library.emory.edu/citing_EDC_sources.html
The assistance of Jennifer Harbster, Research Specialist in the Science, Technology, and Business
Division of the Library of Congress, and of the science librarians at Iowa State University is
gratefully acknowledged.
Q: How do I cite
in a publication software that I have obtained through CHRONOS?
A: References to
computer software should include the complete
title, version, release date (if available), the short name or acronym,
and the location and name of the person,company or organization having the property rights to the software (Chicago Manual of Style, 2003).
E.g.: Time scale web service v. 1.0, timeDOM.jws, CHRONOS, http://services.chronos.org:8080/axis/nepwss.jws
Cyberinfrastructure
Q: I just want to
search for data, how do I start?
A: Go to the "Searches"
tab of this portal and select "Data Searches". This is the best
place to start, but you can also try the Timescale and GIS interfaces
(GIS is under development and only includes the Neptune database at this
time)
Q: What is a relational
database?
A:
A database in the form of tables which have rows and columns to show the
relationships between items, and in which information can be cross-referenced between two or more tables
to generate a third table. A query language is used to search for data. If data is changed in one table,
it will be changed in all related tables. The relational database was invented by E. F. Codd at IBM in
1970. A database that has only one table is called a flat file database.
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relational database
Q: What is a database
schema?
A: The overall structure of the
database tables that store information: user
profile data, content metadata, or pure structured information. In the simplest case, a database schema
has a single database table of user information. Each record (row) within this table might represent a
unique customer, with each field (column) representing relevant customer information (address, city,
phone number, etc.). More complex schema would involve multiple database tables related to one another
through a common unique identifier. Such relational database tables are necessary for more complex data
schemas for performance and easier administration.
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database schema
Q: What is a federated
database in CHRONOS's network?
A: A federated database is a
database that is not hosted at CHRONOS's server and that is networked to other databases
using some kind of IT connection (e.g., JDBC pipe). PaleoStrat and
Paleobiology database are two examples of federated databases in CHRONOS's
network.
Q: What is a hosted database in
CHRONOS's network?
A: A hosted database is a
database that permanently resides
on CHRONOS's server. Neptune is an example of a CHRONOS hosted database.
Q: What databases are
currently part of the CHRONOS federation?
A:
We have integrated eight databases (as of January 2006) - Neptune (hosted),
Mesozoic Planktonic Foraminifera Database (hosted), HERMES (hosted),
PaleobiologyDB, PaleoStrat, ODP/JANUS, FAUNMAP, and MIOMAP. Additionally,
two data repositories, Pangaea and S.net, have been connected into the
search system via web service.
Q: What are the
Services CHRONOS provides?
A: CHRONOS provides a
range of services including standard web services and
ReST services. You can find out more about these at the Tools
tab. We will also be providing soon more information about how you can
incorporate these services directly into your
web sites and applications. All the search services and ReST interfaces like those used in the "Data Searches"
section are open and available for others to use in their web site. Please contact CHRONOS if you are interested in
learning more about this.
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ReST
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Services
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