dietQuery

For many species of birds there is an enormous wealth of published diet data in the literature. However, a researcher interested in using these data to address large-scale questions is confronted with several challenges. First, many data are published in journals not included in standard library subscription services. Second, these data do not exist in a standard format that allows a user to easily perform the same query across several data sets. dietQuery is a R package in development for compiling diet data sets from the literature and searching these data sets using taxonomy-based queries.

Using dietQuery

The dietQuery R package is still in development, but I've prepared a tutorial folder with example data files and a full reference for those interested in trying out some of the basic dietQuery functions.

1. Begin by downloading R.

2. Next, download the dietQuery tutorial folder. This folder contains four example diet data sets and the code and reference files needed to perform basic diet data set searches.

3. Unzip the tutorial folder and put it somewhere on your computer. Set the current working directory in R to this folder either by going to 'Misc' > 'Change Working Directory...' or using the setwd() function.

4. Follow the instructions included in the 'Tutorial code.R' file (located in the tutorial folder).