How to use FishNet
  • Conducting a Search

    Enter your search terms into the provided fields and click execute to conduct a search. Some search fields may contain a ">>" link at the top right corner of the search field. These links will open up a search helper that may help guide your search. For example, the location search helper opens a box allowing you to provide a more specific location search. The institution code search helper facilitates conducting a query on a specific institution, by displays a list of available institutions codes. The polygon search helper displays a listing of pre-generated polygons related to special topics or common geographic areas. Clicking the link "[+] Click to expand Map for drawing" will display a map that can be used for drawing polygons that can be used as search criteria.

  • Viewing Results

    Results from your search will be display on the lower portion of the page below the search fields. Each result set will indicate the number of records found and how many of the records contain geographic coordinates that can be used for mapping data. Just below the number of records returned are 4 tabs for viewing your results:
    • Search Results -listing of specimens records.
    • Taxon -summary listing the number of records found for each taxon in your result set. A link to the Encyclopedia of Life is also provided for each taxon, making it easy to get further information (general description, life history, photos etc.) about a particular species.
    • Providers & Citation -summary listing the number of records found for each data provider in your result set along with a generated citation for the .
    • Location -summary listing the number of records found each unique locations within a result set.
    Clicking the "[+] Search Query Link" to the right of the tabs will generate a URL for your search that you can copy & paste to faciliate re-executing your query again at a later date or emailing the link to a colleague to look at the results.
    Mapping screenshot
  • Downloading/Mapping Results

    Below your query results are links to download the full dataset for the selected tab (Search Results, Taxon, Providers or Location) in either comma separated value (CSV) or tab delimited text (TXT) format. If your query results contain mappable geographic coordinates, the Search Results tab will also contain a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format in addition to the CSV and TXT links. KML files can be visualized in Google Earth as well as many newer GIS programs.
    Mapping screenshot