MagIC  |  Help Contents  |  Full Text    

MagIC Help Library
First  |  Previous  |  Next  |  Last    

2.1  Uploading Data

2.1.1  Using the Contribution Wizard

The MagIC Contribution Wizard is a step-by-step interface to create and update your contributions to the MagIC database. It is intended to be an intuitive tool for you to use.

To proceed, you need to select the appropriate option:

Uploading a New Contribution

Select the New contribution option if you are not going to update one of your existing contributions, or if this is your first contribution to the MagIC database.

Update an Existing Contribution

When you choose to update an existing contribution, you must upload the ASCII text file (*.txt) and Microsoft Excel file (*.xls) associated with the contribution. In most cases, an update will be necessary if some of the information in the existing contribution has been changed, or information has been added. You will be given a list of your previous contributions on the Reload Previous Contribution page. Select the contribution you wish to edit.

Changes will take effect immediately upon completion of the contribution process, and will be available for users to view. If your contribution is listed as In Progress on the Reload Previous Contribution page, it is not yet available for users to view, since the final confirmation page was not reached on your previous contribution visit. You must complete the entire process in order for your contribution to be available for users to see.

The Reload Previous Contribution form allows you to select one of your existing contributions to update.

A list of your existing contributions is given, with the most recently updated or created first. Contributions are grouped five per page, so if you have made more than five contributions, you will need to use the page navigation links at the bottom of the form to locate the desired contribution.

Each contribution is listed with the date contributed or updated, along with a unique identifier string and the contribution's status. A status of Completed indicates that you completed the entire process for that contribution, and it is currently available for users to view in search results. In Progress indicates that some steps in the process have not yet been completed for that contribution, so in order for users to view it, it must be completed. Updated indicates that the contribution was completed at some point, and that you have subsequently updated some of its data.

Other information is provided to help you differentiate your contributions. Each citation to which the contribution is linked is listed in the standard citation format, including its author(s), year published, title, and journal and DOI information, if applicable.

Activate a Private Contribution

If this is your first contribution to MagIC, you will only be able to select the New contribution option.

All steps in the contribution process, along with the final confirmation step, must be completed in order for your contribution to be made available to users of the database. Once your contribution is in the database, you may update it at any time. If you do not complete your contribution, it will be removed from the database and you will need to upload it again.

In order to make a contribution, you must first log in. If you do not yet have a username and password, select the "login" option at the top right of your main browser window. From there, you may create a profile, username, and password.

Select the New contribution option if you are not going to update one of your existing contributions, or if this is your first contribution to the MagIC database.

When you choose to update an existing contribution, you must upload the ASCII text file (*.txt) and Microsoft Excel file (*.xls) associated with the contribution. In most cases, an update will be necessary if some of the information in the existing contribution has been changed, or information has been added. You will be given a list of your previous contributions on the Reload Previous Contribution page. Select the contribution you wish to edit.

Changes will take effect immediately upon completion of the contribution process, and will be available for users to view. If your contribution is listed as In Progress on the Reload Previous Contribution page, it is not yet available for users to view, since the final confirmation page was not reached on your previous contribution visit. You must complete the entire process in order for your contribution to be available for users to see.

2.1.2  Logging In

You must be logged in to make or update a contribution to MagIC. If you are not currently logged in, you will be automatically taken to the User Authentication screen, where you can enter your username and password. From there, you will be taken to the next step in the contribution process.

If you have not yet created a profile, you may follow the appropriate link from the User Authentication screen or click on the Register tab in the main browser window. This will take you to a simple form to enter your contact information and to create a username and password. The identification of contributors and their addresses is an integral part of scholarly data archiving and this information is continuously updated in the EarthRef.org address register. EarthRef.org does not distribute address information to third parties. You may read the entire EarthRef Privacy Policy by clicking on the Disclaimer link from the home page.

Some of the contact information given in your profile will be displayed when a user views your contributions, and from Mailing List searches.

2.1.3  Uploading Files

Two files must be uploaded for each contribution, and both are output from the MagIC Console Software. One file is a Microsoft Excel (*.xls) file, which contains a spreadsheet for each table in the database into which your data will be inserted. The other is an ASCII text (*.txt) file containing information that the upload programs need to be able to add your information to the database.

Uploading a file is accomplished in the standard fashion through your browser. Clicking the Browse... button will cause a dialog box to display, allowing you to browse for the desired file on your local computer or network. Once the file is selected, the file name will be automatically filled in beneath the upload field.

If either of the required files is missing from the upload, you will get an error message asking you to upload both files. In addition, if one of the files has become corrupted and can not be read, your upload will not be possible and you will receive an error message.

After clicking the Continue button, you will immediately see a progress bar showing the status of your upload. Because MagIC contribution files may contain several thousands of records and may therefore be very large, the file upload may take a moment. Please do not click the Continue button a second time since this will force the upload procedure to begin again and will delay your upload.

Upon successful upload, you will automatically be taken to the next step in the contribution process.

2.1.4  Selecting Main Reference ''This Study'' for Your Contribution

Upon successful file upload, you must first verify the main reference to which your contribution will be linked. If an exact match to the reference is found in the database (either by DOI or author list, year, and title), or the Contribution Wizard did not find any similar matches, you will see a screen like the one below in which one reference is listed. You need only click the Continue button to verify that this is the correct reference.

2.1.5  Selecting Additional References

After you have verified the main reference (This study) to which your contribution will be linked, the Contribution Wizard will process all other reference information included in your uploaded files. As with the main reference, the Wizard will attempt to find exact matches to the references.

If all references are found in the database (either by DOI or author list, year, and title) and no errors are found, you will not need to verify any information. Instead, you will automatically be taken to the next step. If neither an exact match nor similar matches are found in the database, the Contribution Wizard will insert the new reference.

If, however, the Contribution Wizard can not find an exact match but finds similar references, you will see it listed with one or more possible existing database matches, followed by the reference in your contribution. In most cases, there may only be a slight spelling or other variation between the existing reference and the one in your contribution, and you will need to verify that the highlighted reference is indeed the correct one to which your contribution should be linked. The Contribution Wizard tries to find the best match to your contribution's reference, but you must confirm the reference before proceeding.

It is always best to select the existing database reference, even if you find slight variations in the spelling. This is because other data in the database may already be linked to it, and the existing reference data will most likely be much more complete than the reference in the contribution file. You may contact EarthRef.org to update the variation in the database. If you choose to add the new reference instead of using the existing one, the reference data that you provided in the MagIC software will be inserted into the database.

Occasionally, there is some data missing from the uploaded file because it has not been completed in the MagIC software prior to the creation of the upload files. In this case, you will see any problem references listed at the bottom of this screen to alert you to the fact that these references will not be matched to your contribution. It is best in this case to refer to your data in the MagIC program and to complete it as best you can. Once fixed, you may return to the Contribution Wizard to update the contribution. You may, however, choose to continue without correcting the references and update the contribution at a later time. Until then, your contribution will not be linked to the problem references.

2.1.6  Selecting Mailinglist Entries

Your data for people associated with the contribution you are uploading will be inserted into the EarthRef.org address book. The Contribution Wizard will perform a check to see whether these individuals already exist in the database. If a match is found for each individual, or no similar entries already exist, the mailinglist data will be automatically processed and you will not see this step.

If, however, an exact match can not be found for one or more individuals, and one or more similar entries are found, you will be asked to select the best match for each individual. As with the reference data, the difference between the information in your contribution and that in the database may be a simple spelling difference. If that is the case, it is always best to select the existing entry, as its data will be more complete, and it may already be linked to other data in the database. You must select the most appropriate entry and click the Continue button to process these records.

2.1.7  Data Parsing

Most of the data in your contribution (aside from reference data) will be processed in the Data step of the Contribution Wizard. In most cases, this will consist of inserting thousands of records into many database tables, which can take several minutes.

So that you will know where in the data processing stage the Contribution Wizard is, you will see a status bar like the one in the screen below. For each table in your contribution files, you will see a status bar indicating the current record being processed. The status bar image illustrates visually where each record lies, and below the bar is a numeric indication of the record.

If an error is found during the data processing, the processing will not continue. You will see a message indicating what the problem is so that you may fix it in your MagIC program data. Once fixed, you may return to the Contribution Wizard to update your contribution.

2.1.8  Activating Your Contribution

After processing is complete, you will see a confirmation message stating the number of seconds processing took, along with instructions for activating your contribution. Please note that even though your data has been inserted into the database, you must verify that you want to activate it by checking the checkbox on this screen. This is done to allow you to decide when your contribution will be activated. If, for example, an error was found at some point in the contribution process, or you decide you would like to update some of the data and re-upload the files, you may choose to wait until you have the updated data files to activate your contribution.

Activate Contribution with Global Access

If you continue without selecting the option to confirm the activation, your contribution will remain in the database temporarily, but will be unavailable for users to see. It will be removed from the database within 48 hours and it will not appear in your list of existing contributions.

Keeping Contribution Private

If you have checked the "Activate this contribution" checkbox on the previous screen, your contribution will be activated in this step, making your data available to users. You will again see a status bar indicating which table is currently being activated. The process will take only a few seconds.

Keeping Contribution Private with Group Access

In this final step, a confirmation e-mail will also be sent to the e-mail address provided in your user profile, and will include a link to a summary page of your contribution data, a link to the main citation referred to in your contribution, and a reminder of your username and password.

Once activation has completed, you will see a confirmation message. At this time, your the contribution process is complete, and your data is available for users to see.

2.1.9  Summary Page

If you did not select the "Activate this contribution" checkbox on the previous page, your contribution will not be activated in this step, and instead of a status bar you will see a message alerting you to this fact. If you forgot to check the checkbox, simply click the Back button to return to the previous step, check the checkbox, and click the Continue button. The process will then proceed as described above.