Using the Research Portal
The Research Portal allows you to comprehensively search and view the language used in Common Controls, How Common Controls are tagged, what Citations map to each Common Control as well as how they match. The Research Portal can be accessed at Research.unifiedcompliance.com.
Common Controls Tab
The Common Controls Tab in the Research Portal allows you to search controls by keywords. Controls are all displayed in a hierarchy and categorized by Impact Zone. Direct search hits are also highlighted in gray, so you may find it easier (or at least more visually appealing) to begin your search at the Common Controls Tab.
Research Portal: Common Controls Section
Research Portal: Common Control Hierarchy
You will notice an 'i' icon at the end of each control. By clicking the icon you will receive additional information about each control. You can find out how the control is tagged, any connected elements, related audit items, and more.
Since there are so many controls to choose from you will find that simple searches often yield an astronomical number of hits. Therefore, it is best to do a search using advanced search operators (i.e. + and, - not, "" exact phrase, * end-of-term wildcard, etc.). This will cut down on the number of individual searches that are necessary to find a match. by narrowing or widening your search options.
Citations Tab
Another tool that will help you in your matching quest is the Citations Tab. The Citations Tab allows you to search through every citation ever mapped by the UCF. With such a broad scope, the Citations tab includes the most robust search function out of all of the UCF's matching resources. The Citations tab allows you to search by Citation ID, Authority Document ID, Citation Reference, Citation Guidance, Control ID, and Common Control Name. Search results will include a list of citations that match the data entered into the search fields, along with the corresponding tagging (if available) and matched control.
In your searches you will notice that many citations do not include tagging. This signifies that the parent document was published prior to the implementation of tagging functionality into the Mapper system. In such instances the matched control is more likely to be outdated than those associated with tagged citations.
The Common Controls tab and the Citations tab can be very effective when used in tandem; particularly when you want to search by control ID to determine the types of citations that a specific control has matched to in the past. You will find there to be quite a bit of overlap in wording between and across documents, especially in the case of local statutes. When you encounter a control match in a previous document that you don't feel confident selecting for your current document, even if the citation itself matches verbatim, keep in mind that the UCF's Common Controls are ever evolving, and there may now be a closer match.