Follow the connections

The Navigator is the public research interface to MODAVIS. It brings instrument records, specifications, documented events, people, places and terminology into connected views. The deployed dataset and the application have independent version numbers.

A useful first visit#

• Find an instrument or begin with a place or builder.
• Read the source accounts attached to the record.
• Compare specifications with attention to their dates and attribution.
• Follow a person, term or documented event into related records.
• Retain the dataset version and source references for your research notes.

Read an instrument record in layers#

Begin with the identity of the instrument you have found, then look at the accounts that support the record. A shared record is a point of connection between sources; it does not make every attached statement equally current or equally certain. Names, places and builder relationships are useful routes into the evidence, but each can carry historical qualifications.

Use a question to guide the first comparison#

For a first exercise, choose one instrument with more than one source account and compare a single feature. Note the wording, attribution and available dates before deciding whether the accounts agree. If there is only one account, record that limitation and follow its source rather than assuming that the absence of another account means the description is uncontested.

A geographic view is a complementary entry point. It can reveal regional patterns and nearby records, while the record view supplies the qualifications needed to interpret them. A map marker may reflect a documented place with limited precision; zooming in does not create more accurate evidence.

Move from browsing to research#

Once an interesting pattern appears, capture the question, filters and record identities in a research note. For a larger analysis, move to a fixed POD distribution and record its version. This separates the exploratory convenience of the live interface from the reproducible basis of a published result.