Welcome
Welcome to the the Beaty Biodiversity Museum's documentation site. Here you can find information about the museum's entire digital presence: including tools, processes and workflows, and external data portals, all in one place.
Sections of the documentation
-
Specify 7
Learn how to use Specify 7, the museum's collection management system.
-
Public Portal
Learn the structure of the museum's public data portal, including how to search for records based on criteria using filters.
-
Reference
Look up specific information, such as data dictionaries for collections, data standards, and the publishing schedule for each collection.
How to best use this documentation
The documentation is organized into four broad categories:
Documentation in this area is meant to be completed first, and outlines the core functionality of the given topic area. Expect examples that are easy to follow, and little to no prior knowledge of the system is required to follow along.
After going through the pages in the Tutorial section, the How-To articles will outline how to perform a specific task. There is an assumption that the user is more familiar with the overall system, and instructions may gloss over more of the basics.
These articles seek to answer the "why" question, to help understand the deeper rationale behind a component of the system. For some, this may be an invaluable way to begin to make sense of a topic, or to explore things beyond what the documentation covers.
Similar to a dictionary or encyclopedia, this is an area where very specific things can be looked up. Other sites, such as the data portal, may link to a particular reference page to help give a complete overview of a term.