Waste & Materials Management's Environmental Monitoring Program
GEMS Database Help
This page provide help for users of the DNR GEMS Database Web pages. Topics include:
You may also access the DNR GEMS Database Glossary if you need help understanding some of the terms used.
General Information
Select one or more fields to use to query the GEMS database. Each white box represents a possible entry. After keying and/or selecting criteria, press Enter or click on the Submit button to start the query pressing Enter may not work with some older browsers). Some criteria fields, indicated by a plural notation and a list, allow more than one value to be selected. To select more than one item, in the list, hold the CTRL key down while clicking on your selections.
You may leave any fields blank. The more fields you can accurately fill in, the better your chances of quickly finding what you're looking for. There are, however, tradeoffs - your search will take longer the fewer criteria you fill in, and the more criteria you use for which you do not know the exact information in the database the less likely you are to return information of interest. Note that you must match the data exactly as it appears in the database, so unless you are sure of spellings, abbreviations, etc., you may want to limit your query. If you want to start your query over, use the Reset button.
On any query result screen, you may click on any list item that is underlined and highlighted to bring up additional detail information. At the end of the list, a count of records appears (for example, Records 1 to 20 of 351). When there are multiple pages of data , buttons are shown which allow your to navigate to the First, Previous, Nest and Last pages of data. If you would like to enter a new query, just click on the ReQuery link at the bottom of the screen.
The links at the bottom of the page are for navigating through the DNR Web site.
Search Options
You can currently access the database through a single query - the Facility Search. Other query options may be added in the future.
Facility Search
Use this option to identify monitoring points that have been established in the GEMS database for particular facilities, or to access monitoring data for specific monitoring points at particular facilities. More details on the tools available for this search are presented below.
Searching Tips - Facility
The following criteria are available for the Facility Search:
- License No./Monitoring ID
If you know the License Number or Monitoring ID of the site, it may be entered as a criterion. It must match the field exactly to return a result.
- Facility Name
- Facility Owner
Enter the Facility Owner exactly as it appears in the database. To facilitate Facility Owner entry, the user can select the List of Values link, which opens a new Facility Owners window. That new window allows the user to query the existing list of facility owners to identify the particular owner of interest. The system will retrieve all sites where the Facility Owner contains the text you enter if that text is both preceded and followed by a "%". The text entered is not case sensitive. For instance, entering "%waste%" will display a list of facility owners with the word "waste" in its name. Selecting the owner of interest from a list will automatically place that owner name into the query box.
- County
The name of the Wisconsin county where the site is located.
- Region
Enter the name of the DNR region where the facility is located.
Enter the Facility Name exactly as it appears in the database or you will get an error message. If you are uncertain about the exact facility name to enter, the user can select the List of Values (List) link, which is located at the top of the screen and appears as a downward facing arrow, and opens a new Facility Names window. The new window allows the user to query the existing list of facility names to identify the particular facility of interest. The system will retrieve all sites where the Facility Name contains the text you enter if that is both preceded and followed by a "%". The text entered is not case sensitive. For instance, entering "%LakE%" will display a list of all the sites with facility names that contain the word "lake" or any word with "lake" contained with in it (for example: Town of Lake or Lakeland). Selecting the facility of interest will automatically place that facility name in the query box.
Downloading Query Results
If you would like to view the data in a file, you can use the 'Download' button found at the bottom of each page that shows a list of records. This takes you to a screen that allows you to select from the specific fields available for download. Not all fields will contain information for every query. For example, downloads completed from a query results screen containing a list of facilities will only contain facility information.
Downloads are sorted by county, license number, point id, sample date or parameter code. If any of these fields are de-selected, the download will execute but it will not be sorted.
Selection of the Show Detailed Data Items checkbox will allow additional information for those monitoring points to be downloaded. Select the Submit box to complete the download.
Several options for download format are available, but the Excel option is simplest if you have that software available. We suggest that you choose the save button from the dialog box that appears after the query is submitted. If you choose to view the file before saving, you will need to complete the following steps to save the file later:
- Select 'File'
- Select 'Save As'
- Change the 'Save as type:'to desired file type'
- Give the workbook a name
- Select 'Save'
Notice: When querying details pertaining to multiple facilities or multiple points it is possible the dataset will be too large to be managed by the data systems involved. If this happens, you may either receive an error message during the download or the query may take an unacceptable length of time. If you are unable to download the data you desire, try adding filters to your query in order to break up the dataset into smaller more manageable pieces.
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