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CatalogueOfLife

The most complete authoritative list of the world's species, maintained by hundreds of global taxonomists
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Actions12

  • Decision Actions
  • Estimate Actions
  • Name Actions
  • Name Usage Actions
  • Name Usage Search Actions
  • Name Usage Suggest Actions
  • Reference Actions
  • Source Metadata Actions
  • Synonym Actions
  • Taxon Actions
  • Tree Actions
  • Vernacular Actions

Overview

This node interacts with the Catalogue of Life API, which provides a comprehensive and authoritative list of the world's species maintained by global taxonomists. Specifically, the "Reference" resource with the "Get" operation allows users to retrieve bibliographic references related to species taxonomy.

Typical use cases include:

  • Fetching detailed reference data for scientific research or biodiversity projects.
  • Filtering references by year, issue, or search query to find relevant literature.
  • Sorting and paging through large sets of reference data efficiently.

For example, a user might want to get all references from a specific year or containing a particular keyword in the title or abstract.

Properties

Name Meaning
ID The unique identifier for a specific reference.
Issue Filter references by a specific issue code (see https://api.checklistbank.org/vocab/issue).
Query A search string to query references by text content.
Sort By Sorting order of the results: Native, Relevance, or Year.
Year Filter references published in a specific year.
Offset Paging offset to skip a number of results.
Limit Maximum number of results to return (minimum 1).

Output

The node outputs an array of JSON objects representing references retrieved from the Catalogue of Life API. Each object contains bibliographic details about a reference such as its ID, publication year, issue, and other metadata depending on the API response.

No binary data is output by this node.

Dependencies

  • Requires internet access to call the Catalogue of Life public API at https://api.checklistbank.org/dataset/3LR.
  • No authentication or API key is required for this resource.
  • Uses HTTP GET requests with query parameters based on input properties.

Troubleshooting

  • Empty results: Check that filters like ID, year, or query are correct and match existing references.
  • Invalid parameter values: Ensure numeric fields like year, offset, and limit are valid numbers and within expected ranges.
  • API downtime or network issues: The node depends on external API availability; network errors will cause request failures.
  • Rate limiting: Although not explicitly stated, excessive requests may be throttled by the API.

If errors occur, verify the input parameters and network connectivity. Consult the API documentation for valid filter values.

Links and References

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