In order to use the MN PANDA effectively, you must know how to navigate between the levels. The structure of this module is very similar the ANALYSIS PANDA, therefore getting use to moving around in the MN PANDA should be rather easy. (This is considering that MN PANDA relies on prior use and understanding of the ANALYSIS PANDA, a very important point that will be elaborated below.).
MN PANDA is layered hierarchically so that the
TOP LEVEL is the PANDA HOME page (the first page you see when you open the CD), which allows you to access each of the modules including the MN PANDA (micronutrients), FS PANDA (food security), EMERGENCY PANDA (coming in 1999) and others. Further understanding of the structure can be visualized in the following figure (all levels are connected by hyperlinks):
The top level will link you to the MN HOME page, where the navigation begins for the Micronutrient module. The MN Home is represented by this symbol:
From MN HOME, you can link to SECTIONS 1-5 (level III) contain the following content, respectively: (1) Causes, Manifestations, and Indicators; (2) Data Characteristics and Cleaning; (3) Situation Profile; (4) Targeting Priorities and Assessing Program Content; (5) Causality for Program Design. All section and nutrient pages are represented by this symbol below which is a hot button linking back to the MN HOME page (always found to the left of the page title):
Each of these sections listed will link to the each micronutrient-- VAD (vitamin A deficiency), IDA (iron deficiency anemia), and IDD (iodine deficiency disorders) (level IV) -- to provide elaboration on information specific to that micronutrient you will use the links to exercises and definitions (level V).
Often you will need to move from one section to another in the MN module or get back to the main ANALYSIS module. (The ANALYSIS module is the crux of the MN PANDA— if you have not become familiar with the routines and concepts in ANALYSIS PANDA, then please review it before using the MN module.) The navigation bar located below the title at the top of each page will allow you to move between sections (1-5) and then the labels for IDA, IDD, and VAD will allow you to go to the individual sections. When you are in a section, it will be indicated in blue (see below):
At times when using MN PANDA, you will need to access information on SPSS Basics, EPI-InfoBasics, or Statistics Basics. All of these and an email contact are accessible from the bottom navigation bar of each page in the PANDA Package.