OceanExpert | Document

Author(s)	Murray Brown
Summary	The IODE has supported the creation of a global index of Internet websites containing ocean data and information, called OceanPortal. It currently holds 3400+ records, but it is linked to approximately one-half million web pages with marine-related content. Work of establishing and maintaining OceanPortal area described, and future efforts to enlarge and improve it are proposed. Users can either search the ‘catalogue’ database (ie they can search in the title of the site/page or the summary description). This is the ‘search the catalogue’. The user can also browse through this catalogue. Web sites in OceanPortal have been categorized into nearly 200 categories and sub-categories (see also under 3). A very powerful function in OceanPortal is the website indexer: once a month OceanPortal ‘visits’ all sites and pages catalogued, and indexes their content. This index is also searchable by the user. This therefore represents a very specialized search engine for ocean data and information on the web. Users can access this service through ‘search the sites’.
Doc Type	Working Document
Status	Published on 20 Dec 2002
Notes	Seventeenth Session of the IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE), Paris, France, 3-7 March 2003
This document is in the list(s):	IODE Session Working Documents