[R] Packages - a great resource, but hard to find the right one.

[Mike Prager]

"John Sorkin" <jsorkin at grecc.umaryland.edu> wrote:

>>> The multitude of packages is one of the great strengths of R. Unfortunately 
there is no (or at least I am not aware of) any single source
that lists all available packages and gives a synopsis of what
each package does. One can install  and load packages one-by-one
and look at the help pages to see what each package does, but
this is at best an inefficient and a worst a very frustrating
task. Might there be a way to put together a searchable database
that will allow a user to easily search for a given function or
technique in all contributed packages? <<<

Besides the excellent answers already given, don't overlook
Google.  Searching on "r statistics box-cox transform" turns up
a reference to MASS as the third entry. 

When programming in any language, I now find it quicker to
search for syntax (and other) help by Googling than to pull the
reference manual off the shelf or start up an online help file.


-- 
Mike Prager, NOAA, Beaufort, NC
* Opinions expressed are personal and not represented otherwise.
* Any use of tradenames does not constitute a NOAA endorsement.