Access Services
Overview
A definition of web services provided by the Australian Research Data Commons is:
“Services in the research domain support the use of research collections and datasets by providing automated functions for the creation, access, processing and analysis of data.”
Typically web services provide machine readable information that can be used by software to access data. In many instances you would not be accessing the services in a web browser.
How to Access Services
If the maintainer of the collection has added links to web services, they will appear on the “Services” tab.
A DAP collection may have files, services, or both listed.
Sometimes the URL for a service is designed to work with particular software (e.g. GIS software for mapping services). Following the URL in your browser may look it doesn’t work, even though it does with the correct software. If you don’t know what software to use, look for the contact details on the Description tab.
Click the arrow icon next to the service to see more details, or click the Toggle all button.
Types of Services
There are many types of services that could potentially be listed, all with different behaviour. The specific details will vary depending on the research domain and the type of data or software that the service provides.
Generic
This type could contain a URL for any service. If it’s not clear how you should use the service, or what software you should use, check to see if any contact details are provided. If none are provided in the information about the service, check the Description tab of the collection for the contact details there.
OGC_WMS
Open Geospatial Consortium Web Map Service. This type of service can be used with GIS software (e.g. QGIS), or specially designed websites. Mapping services typically provide visualisation of maps but do not allow the user the download raw data. You can copy the URL and use it with your GIS software. Note that if you follow the link in your web browser you will see an error message. This is normal, and is because the URL by itself does not contain any queries for the web service. These queries are added by your GIS software when accessing the service.
OGC_WCS
Open Geospatial Consortium Web Coverage Service. This type of service provides geospatial data and can be used with GIS software (e.g. QGIS), or specially designed websites. Coverage services typically allow the user to download data in a raster format. You can copy the URL and use it with your GIS software. Note that if you follow the link in your web browser you will see an error message. This is normal, and is because the URL by itself does not contain any queries for the web service. These queries are added by your GIS software when accessing the service.
OGC_WFS
Open Geospatial Consortium Web Feature Service. This type of service provides geospatial data and can be used with GIS software (e.g. QGIS), or specially designed websites. Feature services typically allow the user to download data in a vector format. You can copy the URL and use it with your GIS software. Note that if you follow the link in your web browser you will see an error message. This is normal, and is because the URL by itself does not contain any queries for the web service. These queries are added by your GIS software when accessing the service.