Arctos has many different search options. You do not need to be logged in to search, but an account is required for downloading data. Key search options are accessed through the first “Search” tab.

• • Catalog Records – Search collection(s) for all data related to a catalog record (specimen or object; anything that is assigned a catalog number). You can also search for observational data here by either selecting “observation” as the type (upper left under Search), or by choosing specific collection types in the dropdown menu for “Collection.” If you only want specimens with tissues, click the “Require Tissues” box. There are 8 blocks of search fields, organized according to type of data; click “Show More Options” in the upper right of the block to view all of the search options for that block.

• • Projects/Publications – A key feature of Arctos is tracking usage of collections through Projects and Publications. You can search by project title (or words within a title), participants, or other data including specimen citations.

• • Taxonomy – Interested in Arctos taxonomy? Search across all taxonomic names and view their classifications in the Search Taxonomy interface.

• • Media – Arctos is rich in media (images, audio, video) associated with catalog records. There are two ways to search Arctos for media: (1) through the Media interface under “Search”, where you can search by keywords or specific media metadata; and (2) through the Specimen Search (Media block), where you can look for records that specifically contain media.

• • Geography and Places – Find geospatial data in Arctos by searching either Geography (typically county-level and above) or Places. You can also spatially browse the records in Arctos.

• • Code Tables – Arctos relies heavily on code tables for controlling the values of data, thus making the records more searchable. Collections interested in Arctos should look at the code tables prior to any data migration.

• Agents – Arctos has over 79,000 agent names (people and organizations). Search on Agents to find a particular agent’s contribution to the data in Arctos.