The NLS Investigator is a web client/server software program designed and written by the Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR). It is available over the Internet using client/server architecture. It allows the user (client) to connect to a database of variables (on the server) and to perform extracts of variables in a specific database. Advantages to this type of architecture are that there is no installation on the client machine, no hard- or firmware to send to the user, and the user spends no time in setting up software. Any delay time is a function of the speed of the client's access to the Web and its accompanying bandwidth. Browser limitations should not be of concern if the client's browser is Netscape 4.0+ or Internet Explorer 4.0+ or equivalent.
Features that improve the NLS Investigator are:
The purpose of this manual is to briefly demonstrate how to use the Investigator software, build a 'tagset' of variables, and perform an extract of data from it. Once the user has designed and created a set of variables, the set must be extracted from the database and the resulting file will be delivered to the user's account (7.0 My Account: 7.4 Account Deliveries). The file that is delivered will be a zipped file and the user should have the archive utility, WinZip. Custom Weight results are also delivered to the account in a zipped container.
If the user is running a frequency or table, the results will also be delivered to the user's account from where the user can view (text and html) the file in a browser and save it to the local PC.
Supplementary documentation, including this manual, are available on-line. The user should explore the following documents and determine how each can aid in the formation of an extract. Click on the links below to view the documents and bookmark them as necessary. References to these documents may appear throughout the manual. Any questions about the contents of the following documents should be addressed to NLS User Services. (usersvc@postoffice.chrr.ohio-state.edu)
Any questions about this manual should be addressed to cc_webmaster@postoffice.chrr.ohio-state.edu
When you see the arrowhead below, it means that you can perform the action described in that paragraph so that your screen will resemble the images in the manual. Performing these operations will take you through a step-by-step process of familiarizing yourself with certain variables, while at the same time, building a tagset of those common variables that you will probably want to include in all of your extracted tagsets.
| Perform the operation stated here in the Investigator software. |
When the user links to the NLS Web-Investigator at http://www.nlsinfo.org/web-investigator the following page will appear. This page, the Getting Started page, briefly explains the functions of the buttons across the top of the page and provides (contextual) links to these functions. From this page the user may browse the integrated parts of the Investigator by using the buttons and the links below them. If the Getting Started page is open in your browser, please read it now and briefly follow the links, to familize yourself with the pages. No further explanation of these functions is required here.
To get back to the Getting Started page, click on the Getting Started link below the menu bar at the top of the Investigator page. Note: You are logged on now as "Welcome, guest" and may browse any of the pages. You can connect to the cohort databases and select variables to familiarize yourself with the process, but you cannot run an extract yet. You must first set up a new account to extract the variables. When you create and account you will be logged in as,
"Welcome, e-mail.name@server.domain.address...", your account's name. Once you have an account and have become familiar with the software, you will connect to this page and from here, most often, use the My Account button to login.
In order to extract data or extract custom weights the user must first set up a new account. The My Account link is used to logon to use the features of the NLS Investigator and to retrieve extracts and tables that were created during the variable selection process. The only required information for the account is a valid e-mail address that can be verified. If an invalid e-mail address is supplied, you will not receive the confirmation and verification notification necessary to start the account. All information gathered is confidential and will not be shared or sold. From the account page the user may also elect to be notified by e-mail about updates, retrieve/delete extracts and frequency tables, and manage personal account information.
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