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This section outlines some common approaches to data management which most people currently use, and shows how with Catalyzer things can be better.
Most people store information about files by giving them coded names, like: SCP_076_GX_rat_tty.dat and putting them into directories like: data/jan04/expts/run2/
Catalyzer will import all this information into a catalog, so you can search across all your data. The Catalyzer catalogs will also preserve the structure of folders and subfolders you have. With Catalyzer you can then add as much human readable annotation to the data files (e.g. paragraphs of notes, specifics of the experiments. You can also add in the links between files (e.g. explicitly link the raw data files to the analysis files). If you need to share your data with other people, a Catalyzer catalog will be a lot easier for them to understand than a filename like SCP_076_GX_rat_tty.dat, especially as you can publish a catalog as a website. Catalyzer will also dive into your data files and extract extra information and thumbnails embedded within, giving you a richer catalog of your data.
Many people store tabular data in spreadsheets. This is convenient to create and enter data - but it can be hard to search and sort across multiple spreadsheets. Spreadsheets also don't deal well with links and cross references between different worksheets, or with links to external files and images.
Catalyzer interacts very smoothly with spreadsheets - you can copy and paste tables between a spreadsheet and Catalyzer. As Catalyzer has a familiar hierarchical structure, you can store multiple "worksheets" in a single catalog, and search across all of them.
Paper notebooks and forms are where a lot of experimental data is currently recorded - results of particular experiments, details of methods and protocols. But there is a disconnect between paper and the files where the data is stored - writing down filenames can be error prone, and it's hard to find the relevant page of a lab book while you're looking at data on the computer.
With Catalyzer it is possible to set up slick data entry forms (with push buttons and menus) to record structured information directly into the computer - so there's no need to enter it twice.
Using Catalyzer as an electronic lab notebook, you can link directly to data files, and have all the benefits of search ... and built-in web publishing too.
Some people set up their own relational databases to store their information, using tools like Access and Filemaker. These tools are significantly harder to use than spreadsheets and word processors, particularly when you have many types of complex structured information, and you usually need a database programmer to set one up. Relational databases weren't designed to cope with hierarchical structures like the file system either and tend to be quite inflexible in terms of changing structures - they optimise for search speed rather than flexibility.
With Catalyzer, you get the benefits of structured data and powerful search associated with databases, but the simplicity of tools like spreadsheets and word processors - you don't need to be a programmer to use Catalyzer. Catalyzer can also be used as a curation and submission tool for entering structured information into databases - it saves catalogs in standard XML format, which makes integration straightforward (XML is a generalisation of the HTML format used in the web).