How can I search for information in the Clearing-House?
The Search page is where you will find all information available in the Clearing-House.
On the Search page, records are organized into three categories: “National records”, “Reference records” and “SCBD records”. By default, no filters are set. The search results are separated by record category and displayed under separate tabs. The “All records” tab is displayed by default, but users can select a particular category of interest to view only the associated records. The total number of records that exist in the database for each category of records is indicated inside the black circle next to each tab.
Records are also colour-coded to reinforce its record category:
- Records in blue = National records;
- Records in orange = Reference records;
- Records in black = SCBD records - which are managed by the CBD Secretariat.
FILTERS
The Clearing-House offers users a wide variety of filters to facilitate the search for specific information of interest.
There are two types of filters:
- Global Filters appear on the top of the Search page, just below the free text search box and consist of 5 pre-defined filters: Record types, Keywords, Country, Regions and Date.
These filters allow users to search the entire database through all record categories. Records can be searched by selecting a combination of any of the global filters. This gives users the flexibility to retrieve a very wide or a very narrow set of results.
Free text search also applies to the entire database and can be combined with the global filters. It allows users to search the database by typing any word(s) of your choice. TIP: Change the website to your preferred language before typing the text in that language.
Global Filter options:
| Record types | Click here to search by specific National, Reference or SCBD categories of records. |
| Keywords | Click here to select from a pre-defined list of keywords. |
| Country | Click here to filter by a country or countries. |
| Regions | Click here to filter by region(s) or regional group(s). |
| Date | Click here to filter by a specific date or date range. |
When a filter option is selected, the search will automatically be executed, and the active filter will appear at the top of the Search page. Scroll down to view the results.
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- Sub-filters appear when you select a particular option within the Record types global filter. They are displayed below the global filters, just to the left of the search results.
For example, in the BCH, if you select Competent National Authority (in the “National records” category), the following sub-filters appear on the left side (scroll down to see them):
--‘Free Text’, ‘Administrative functions’,
--‘Types of organism(s) under its responsibility’.
You can continue to use these sub-filters to further narrow your search for the Competent National Authority(ies) of interest.
Each record type has its own specific set of sub-filters. The sub-filters, including the Free Text, apply only to the selected record type.
You can perform your search by using the global or the sub-filters only, or a combination of both.
Please click on “TAKE SEARCH TOUR” to go through the search step-by-step
Important Note
Contacts (CON) are only searchable if they are referenced in other records.
