This page is for Frequently Asked Questions about the EDIS Web site itself. Please see Publishing FAQs for questions related to publishing on EDIS
What does "EDIS" mean?
Electronic Data Information Source. EDIS is the Electronic Data Information Source of UF/IFAS Extension, a collection of information on topics relevant to you: profitable and sustainable agriculture, our environment and natural resources, 4-H and other youth programs, Florida-friendly landscapes, communities that are vibrant and prosperous, and economic well-being and life quality for individuals and families.
For more information see the About EDIS page.
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I keep getting errors; why isn't anything available?
The part of the EDIS website that generates the html document pages and some of the navigational pages was not working at the time you tried to use our website. If you email edishelp@ifas.ufl.edu to tell us of the difficulty and what you were trying to access, we will notify you when the system is up.
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What are the two numbers I see listed in the search results (e.g., PP225/CG086)?
The first is the IFAS Publication number, which is given to documents that are official numbered UF/IFAS publications. The second is the Digital Library Number (DLN), which uniquely identifies a publication in our database. The DLN is also used to form the URL for the publication.
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I'm looking for a specific IFAS publication and cannot find it on your site.
EDIS only provides access to currently supported UF/IFAS numbered publications. If the publication is no longer available on EDIS, it may be digitally archived in the UF Library, at http://www.uflib.ufl.edu.
Will you link to my Web site?
No. EDIS is strictly a publication database, although publications authors often do link to recommended or cited Web sites from within their publications.
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An article I found on your Web site is perfect for a project I'm doing. May I use it?
Yes, as long as you aren't planning to use it for commercial purposes and as long as you cite the source. Please see our copyright page for information on obtaining permission.
How do I cite a publication on EDIS?
EDIS publications are published by University of Florida departments as part of their mission in the Florida Cooperative Extension Service. Every EDIS publication has a publication number by which it may be cited, and by which it is classified in libraries and in Florida Extension offices. You should include the publication number, author(s), title, the URL, and the publisher in your citation. Many of our publications undergo periodic revision, so the date a publication was accessed, although optional according to some styles, may be relevant.
See the following examples following different style guides.
- __Chicago Manual of Style__
Author, A.A., B. Author, and C. Author. Year of publication. Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. IFAS Publication Number. Gainesville: Department Name, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/DLN (accessed Month Day, year).
c.f. CMS 15th ed. sections 17.142-43 for treatment of online books; sections 17.293 and 17.356 for inclusion of publication number for public documents
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (IFAS Publication Number). Gainesville: Department Name, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Retrieved Month Day, year, from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/DLN
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I'm having difficulty printing a pdf I downloaded from the EDIS Website.
Try following the troubleshooting guidelines on the Adobe Acrobat site. If you find you are having problems with a specific publication or with only EDIS pdfs but not pdfs from other sites, please email edishelp@ifas.ufl.edu for assistance.
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Comments (7)
Joyce Dolbier said
at 8:08 am on May 26, 2006
nothing to contribute. Joyce.
Joyce Dolbier said
at 3:12 pm on Jun 7, 2006
re Diana's answer to my propsed FAQ on links in custom pdf.
Unclear reply.
Are you saying, that in documents in general, content-wise, the listing of urls increases the quality regardless of whether urls are active links or inactive links in their respective type of pdf?
Joyce Dolbier said
at 3:15 pm on Jun 7, 2006
okay i re read your reply to my proposed FAQ re links in pdf, and the reply is clear in meaning. thanks.
Joyce Dolbier said
at 10:01 am on Jun 20, 2006
re links in Variant PDFs.
If pdf is not searchable, then its content of links that are hyperlinked are not going to be searchable either, correct?
Maybe need to be more specific in how/why a variant pdf is not searchable?
Joyce Dolbier said
at 4:24 pm on Jun 26, 2006
style for citing an edis doc is inclear.
Date of publication means, to me, the latest date shown in footnote l; but nexperienced user students who see four dates in footonote l -- such as first published,; then reviewed; then revised; then reviewed, -- do not know what the date of publication should be. I think it should be the latest rev. date shown.
Joyce Dolbier said
at 9:02 am on Jun 28, 2006
re: style of a reference to EDIS doc.
The main use here seems to be for IFAS persons to use a style that identifies their own dept’s other support resouces/publications. In this case, including the IPN great help for users who are County faculty/staff. Has anyone polled these users?
For external users, Univ of GA studenta, etc., varied types of users preparing various types of written matter. In this case, APA is clearly far superior to CMS. I suppose the important objective is to arrive at style for IFAS authors to use when listing references to other IFAS documents. I think Cluster Editors too busy to linger on this topic somewhat esoteric? Joyce.
Joyce Dolbier said
at 2:31 pm on Jun 30, 2006
re FAQs --cannot find doc in EDIS.
Account for fact that user did not search correctly in edis as a cause of not finding the doc that actually is in EDIS ?? --Refer also to proper use of search facilty -- doc may be in edis but user does not know HOW to find it?
I think that this happened last week in this Cluster, possibly.
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