Geospatial Data Portal — Help *BETA*
- In this section:
- Searching the Collection
- Exploring Search Results
- Using Data
Can't find the answer to your question here? Please contact us.
Searching the Collection
To begin searching the geospatial data collection, click on "Return to Search" in the lefthand navigational menu or click here. You may submit a search by clicking on the "Search" tab or by clicking on the "Jump to Search" buttons on each tab.
Geographic extent (spatial) search
From the main page of the portal, ensure the 
tab is selected and then draw a box on the map by clicking, dragging, and releasing the left mouse button.
To zoom, click the the vertical bar on left side of the map or hold the shift key then click and drag the mouse across the map. To pan across the map, click the directional arrows in the upper left corner of the map or hold down the Ctrl or Alt key and then click and drag the map with the mouse.
Keyword search
Click the 
tab and enter your search term(s) in the appropriate text box. The "Keyword" field allows for searches across the entire item record while searches using the "Title" and "Abstract" fields are limited to those fields only.
Temporal extent search
After clicking the 
tab, use the calendar tools to define the "from" and "to" dates. Clicking on the month and year text allows you to jump to a specific month and year.
Exploring Search Results
After clicking on the "Search" tab or the various "Jump to Search" buttons, the results of your search will begin to load. The Scholars' Lab Geospatial Data Portal groups geospatial data into collective "datastacks". These datastacks aggregate individual layers by geographic, thematic, and other categories. A layer of information on Charlottesville's rivers and streams might be found both in a "Charlottesville" geographical datastack and in a "Hydrography" thematic datastack, for example.
For each result, you can click on the result title to view the full metadata listing or choose one of the links below the description to view the data. "Web Services" provides a list of the WFS, WMS, and other web services available for this datastack. Interactive Map launches an OpenLayers- and GeoView-based viewing tool that allows you to preview one or more of the layers in a given datastack. Right-click KML and choose "Save as..." to download a KML file to load the datastack layers into Google Earth. Finally, the XML link will provide the ISO 19139-compliant metadata for the datastack.
Using Data
ArcMap 9.3
If you are working on a UVA lab or classroom computer, this connection should already exist. Otherwise, you must use ArcGIS 9.3 and create a connection through ArcCatalog by using the following steps after locating the service URL associated with the metadata record via the "Web Services" link:
- WMS: In the Catalog Tree, expand "GIS Servers" and select "Add WMS Server". Add your URL to the dialog box and click the "Get Layers" button. The service will now be available from the "Add Data" button in ArcMap.
- WFS: In the Catalog Tree, expand "Interoperability Connections" and double-click "Add Interoperability Connection". Select "Web Feature Service (WFS)" from the Format pull down box. Enter the WFS URL in the Dataset box and click "Settings". You can select the layers you wish by clicking the
button next to the Table List box.
Google Earth
For more information on Google Earth and a guide to getting started, please see Google's support page.
Interactive Map Tool
After clicking on "Interactive Map" in a search result, our GeoView-based viewing tool will open. After a moment, all the layers present in the datastack will display. You can select multiple layers by holding down Ctrl or Shift as you click. Right-clicking and choosing "Add Selected Layers..." (or double-clicking on a single layer) will display the layers you have chosen on a map similar to the one used in our "Where" search. Right-clicking on a layer in the left pane allows you to zoom to that layer, remove it, add another layer, or change the properties for the layer, including symbology and opacity.
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