Browsing and Finding Data

The SEC-IMS web interface offers four ways to reach a dataset: the landing page (curated featured datasets and a global search), the data catalogue (the full list, filterable), the map viewer (visual exploration), and direct links (when a colleague shares one). This chapter covers the first two. The map viewer is covered in Chapter 3.

The landing page

The landing page at https://secims.example/ is the orienting view of the platform. It presents:

  • A search bar that runs a full-text search across the catalogue (titles, abstracts, keywords, and selected metadata fields).
  • A Featured datasets section, curated by SEC-IMS administrators to highlight datasets of current interest.
  • Quick links to the data catalogue and the map viewer.
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landing-page — Landing page in its default state, with the search bar at the top, the Featured datasets carousel, and the navigation menu.

Searching from the landing page

The search bar performs a full-text search across every published record. Type a word or phrase and press Enter to see matching datasets ranked by relevance. Search terms are matched against titles, abstracts, keywords, contact organisations, and (where present) the descriptive text of related resources.

Useful patterns:

  • A single word — mangrove — returns all records mentioning that term in any indexed field.
  • Multiple words are combined as AND by default — coastal habitat returns records containing both words.
  • Surround a phrase in double quotes — "sea surface temperature" — to match the phrase exactly.
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landing-search-results — Search results panel on the landing page after a sample query (e.g. “mangrove”), showing the relevance-ranked list of matching records with snippets.

The data catalogue

The Data Catalogue page (https://secims.example/data-catalog/) lists every published dataset. Use it when you want to browse the full inventory rather than narrow by search terms.

Records can be filtered by:

  • Resource type — vector, raster, document, or service.
  • Keywords — the subject keywords assigned by the dataset’s custodian.
  • Custodian organisation — who is responsible for the dataset.
  • Date range — temporal extent of the data.
NoteScreenshot needed

data-catalog-list — Data Catalogue listing page, with the filter panel on the left and the results list on the right. Capture with at least one filter applied so the active-filter chips are visible.

Opening a record

Clicking a record — from the landing page, from search results, or from the catalogue — opens the metadata view for that dataset. This page presents the full descriptive metadata along with links to view the data on the map (where applicable) and to download or access it directly.

A metadata record contains:

  • Title and abstract — what the dataset is.
  • Custodian and contact — who maintains it.
  • Spatial extent — the geographic area it covers, often shown as a small thumbnail map.
  • Temporal extent — the time period the data refers to.
  • Keywords and topic category — for catalogue filtering.
  • Lineage and quality — how the data was produced and any caveats.
  • Distribution links — where to download or access the data (see Chapter 4).
  • Related services — OGC API endpoints for programmatic access (see Chapter 7).
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record-detail — A populated metadata record page, showing the abstract, extent thumbnail, distribution links, and related services. Use a dataset with complete metadata so all sections are populated.