Getting Started

This guide will walk you through creating a user account and how to use and access existing content on OCL, which can be adapted for your own use or inform the development of your own data dictionaries.

Specifically, you'll learn how to:

• Create a user account
• Find concepts in global search
• Repository Search and Source Versions
• Download concepts as CSV

##What is OCL?

The Open Concept Lab is an open-source terminology management service designed to help organizations collaboratively manage definitions for data, indicators, or any other concept. For example, the Columbia University International eHealth Laboratory Interface Terminology can be stored on OCL just as easily as a master list of Locales.

OCL preferentially focuses on communities and projects in low-resource settings and as a result, all content stored on OCL is open and free for others to use by default.

To complete this guide, you only need a bit of time, a browser, and an internet connection. You do not need any software development skills or technical knowledge.

##Step 1. Create User Account

1. Direct your browser to www.openconceptlab.org
2. In the top-right of the toolbar, click on Sign In (Note: If you are doing this on a small screen, you may need to expand the toolbar menu first)
3. In the Sign In menu, click on the Sign Up link
4. Enter your full name, desired username, email address and password and click Submit

5. You will receive an automated e-mail from OCL for you to verify your email address in order to activate your account. (Note: Check your spam folder if you don't see the email in a few minutes.)
6. Follow the link in the email to confirm your e-mail address and activate your account

##Step 2. Find Concepts in Global Search

1. In the search bar at the top of the page, type in "malaria" and press Enter
2. Find CIEL / CIEL / 32 : Malarial Smear in the search results and click on the link to take a closer look
3. Notice the rich detail available for each concept, including the concept Class and Datatype, the multi-lingual names and synonyms, the descriptions, and custom attributes.
4. Now click on the Mappings tab to view how this concept is related to other CIEL concepts and to other terminology systems. Note the different types of mappings, such as Q-AND-A, CONCEPT-SET, NARROWER-THAN and SAME-AS. OCL allows each source to define its own relationship types or to use a pre-defined list.
5. Finally, click on the History tab to view how the audit trail for this concept. The full history of the concept is saved and can be viewed or restored.

TIP: Global Search looks across all public content hosted in OCL.

##Step 3. Repository Search and Source Versions

##Step 4. Download Concepts as CSV

##Step 5. OCL Resources

Let's define the key resources used in OCL so that we're using a common vocabulary: