Help for Finders
Scientific Name Finder (Search Option)

CONTENTS

• Top Screen Area / Blue Menu Bar
• Left Screen Area / Left Control Panel
• Main-Display Screen Area
  • Overview
  • Taxon List Header Lines
  • User-Selectable Controls
  • Search Tips and Functionality
• More Information . . .

• Back - move back to previously viewed screens
• Forward - move forward to previously viewed screens
• Home - display the TIARA home page
• Help - display a context-sensitive help page
• Restart - display the TIARA home page and reset internal settings to their "start up" state

Left Screen Area / Left Control Panel (more details about the Left Screen Area)

• Finders group - use a finder to locate the home page of a different taxon
• Settings group - change the settings for the active screen

Main-Display Screen Area

  Overview

     The Main-Display Area of the Scientific Name Finder (Search Option) displays user-selectable controls, taxon lists and associated header and footer information. With this Finder you can quickly search the TIARA system's "scientific name" data for taxa of interest using one or more words that you enter. Search results are displayed in the form of a taxon list that contains direct links to the Taxon Home Pages of these taxa.

  Taxon List Header Lines 

1. Finder name and option
2. Search criteria for the active taxon list
3. List item (line) count for the active taxon list

  User-selectable Controls

• "Select a finder option:" combo box - Make a choice from the "Select a finder option:" combo box to switch among the available options of the Scientific Name Finder. Selecting an option from the combo box automatically and immediately loads the chosen Finder option.
• "Search for:" text box - Enter the text you want to search for in the "Search for:" text box. Initiate the search by pressing the "Enter" key or by clicking on either the "and Search" or "or Search" button. If multiple words are entered in the text box, pressing the "Enter" key will default to an "and" search. For additional notes and tips on the search functionality implemented on this page, see Search Tips and Functionality below.
• "and Search" button - Click on the "and Search" button to perform an "and" (intersection) search based on multiple words entered in the "Search for:" text box.
• "or Search" button - Click on the "or Search" button to perform an "or" (union) search based on multiple words entered in the "Search for:" text box.
• "Reset" button - Click on the "Reset" button to clear the "Search for:" text box.
• [TaxonName] taxon home page icon () - Click on the yellow Taxon Home Page Icon to link directly to the Home Page of the named taxon that the icon immediately follows.
• "Top" - Click on the Top link (located below the taxon list) to jump to the top of the Main-Display Screen Area.
• Scroll Bars - Depending upon your monitor screen size and the length of the active taxon list, you may see scroll bars on the right and/or bottom of the Main-Display Area. Use the scroll bars to move the Main-Display Area vertically and/or horizontally to better view its contents.

  Search Tips and Functionality

• Searches are case insensitive. Higher taxon names do not need to be capitalized.
• Searches match only complete words. Searches for partial names will return nothing or unpredictable results.
• To locate a species page, try searching under the genus name alone, and then selecting the species from the returned list.
• Searches return entries for all matches encountered, regardless of rank. Thus, lists may contain matched taxa representing multiple ranks.
• Searches that match genus-group names return all of the included species in the matched genus/subgenus that are present in the TIARA system. Searches that match suprageneric names return only the specifically matched higher taxon (for lists of included subtaxa, use the Taxon Lists functionality available on the higher taxon's Taxon Page). Searches that match species-group names return all generic combinations present in the TIARA system in which that name occurs (try "viridis").
• Searches return taxon lists in strictly alphabetical order, except that interpolated subgeneric names are ignored for the purpose of alphabetization. To generate an alphabetical list of species within a subgenus, perform a search using the subgeneric name.
• An unlimited number of multiple words may be entered in the "Search for:" text box (this facilitates searches for any number of random multiple taxa). Separate individual words by a single space. Select an "and" or "or" search by clicking on the appropriate Search button. The default functionality initiated by pressing the "Enter" key while the cursor is located within the "Search for:" text box is an "and" search.
• You can use the multiple word functionality of the "Search for:" text box to search specifically for multinomial species names. However, it is generally faster and easier to search using just the genus name, and then select the species from the returned list. The latter method has the added benefit of perhaps returning the desired species under a synonymous name, or in a different subgenus, than might have been specifically entered as a multinomial species name. Searching by genus to locate species also removes some of the difficulties associated with unknown or uncertain terminations for species-group names.
• The "and Search" and "or Search" buttons operate on the current contents of the "Search for:" text box and may be used in any combination as needed without reentering strings into the text box. With this functionality, you can also modify (or add, or delete) one (or more) of a long list of entries in the "Search for:" box without having to retype the complete string over from scratch.
• In addition to providing icon links () to matched taxa, most taxon list lines also provide icon links to the more inclusive higher taxa to which the matched taxa belong. You can use this functionality to locate and access links to higher taxa whose names you don't know or can't remember, if you know the name of an included taxon.
• The yellow icon images returned in taxon lists may be slow to load if they are particularly numerous, if the server is busy, or if your connection is slow. However, if the adjacent text allows you to identify the positions where the icons will load, these positions are generally clickable even if the icon is not visible. Thus, after a little practice, you may be able to proceed to the desired Taxon Pages without having to wait for the icons to load.

More Information . . . 

• General Overview for Newcomers