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How to Use the Collections

Help Topics:

Browsing Collections

Use the browse option for viewing items in a collection without specifying search criteria. You can change the default display using the Preferences tool.

If column headings are hyperlinked, they can be used to sort the browse list. An arrow indicates the direction of the sort for that field.

To view a different collection, select a collection from the drop-down list and click Go.

Each letter below corresponds to a definition of that element.

Figure 1: Browse collection
Figure 1: Browse collection

  1. Global Navigation
    Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.
  2. Select All, Clear All, Add to Favorites:
    Use these links to add items to My Favorites. Select All activates all the check boxes on the current page. Clear All removes all checks from the check boxes. To add items to CONTENTdm My Favorites, check the boxes next to the items you want (or click Select All to check all items on the page) and then click Add to Favorites. See My Favorites for more information.
  3. Collection List
    Select a collection to browse and click Go.
  4. Page Navigation
    If the collection contains more items than can be displayed on a single page, click the hyperlinked page numbers, or choose Next or Previous to view other pages.
  5. Field Headings
    Click a hyperlinked title heading to sort. An arrow indicates sort order.

Using Advanced Search

Use Advanced Search:

  • To limit your search results.
  • To search multiple collections at once.
  • If you have very specific search criteria.

The search options presented differ based on your initial choice to search Across all fields, by Selected fields, or by Proximity. The default selection is to search across all fields.

Search Across All Fields

When you select Search Across All Fields, a screen similar to Figure 2 appears. Each letter below corresponds to a definition of that element.

Figure 2: Search across all fields
Figure 2: Search across all fields

  1. Global Navigation
    Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.
  2. Search Mode
    When selected, Across all Fields will be black (it is the default Advanced Search mode). You can switch to Selected fields or By proximity search modes by clicking one of the links.
  3. Search Operators
    Choose to search for all of the words, the exact phrase, any of the words, none of the words, or a combination.
  4. Search Text Boxes
    Type your search terms in the appropriate text boxes.
  5. Search
    Click Search when you have finished specifying your search criteria.
  6. Clear All
    Click Clear all to reset all the search fields.
  7. Available and Selected Collections
    Choose which collections to search by clicking check boxes next to collection names. To remove a collection from your search, uncheck the box.
  8. Select All
    Select all collections to search across.
  9. Clear All
    Clear all collections. In order to perform a search, you must have one collection selected.

Search Selected Fields

When you select Selected fields, a screen similar to Figure 3 appears. Each letter below corresponds to a definition of that element.

Figure 3: Search selected fields
Figure 3: Search selected fields

  1. Global Navigation
    Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.
  2. Search Mode
    When selected, Selected fields will be black. You can switch to Across all fields or By proximity search modes by clicking one of the links.
  3. Search Operators
    Use the drop-down list to choose from the types of queries available. You may choose to search for all of the words, the exact phrase, any of the words, none of the words, or a combination.
  4. Search Text Boxes
    Type your search terms in the appropriate text boxes.
  5. Field Names
    Use the drop-down list to specify which field you want to search. Note: Each digital collection has been constructed using customized user-friendly fields that are mapped to Dublin Core standard metadata fields. When searching individual collections, the custom fields will be available. When searching selected fields of multiple collections, only the mapped Dublin Core terms will be available. See the Metadata Elements Summary page for information about the Dublin Core mappings.
  6. Show Terms Link
    The Show Terms text link is available only when searching a single collection. Click Show Terms to open a list of indexed words that appear in the field you selected from the Field Names drop-down list. Click a word in the index list to automatically place the word in the search text box.
  7. + More Fields| - Fewer Fields
    Add more search fields by clicking More Fields. Reduce the number of search fields by clicking Fewer Fields. You can have as many as four fields and as few as one field.
  8. Search
    Click Search when you have finished specifying your search criteria.
  9. Clear All
    Click Clear all to reset all the search fields.
  10. Available and Selected Collections
    Choose which collections to search by clicking check boxes next to collection names. To remove a collection from your search, uncheck the box.
  11. Select All
    Select all collections to search across.
  12. Clear All
    Clear all collections. In order to perform a search, you must have one collection selected.

Search By Proximity

When you select Search By Proximity, a screen similar to Figure 4 appears. Each letter below corresponds to a definition of that element.

Figure 4: Search by proximity
Figure 4: Search by proximity

  1. Global Navigation
    Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.
  2. Search Mode
    When selected, By proximity will be black. You can switch to Across all fields or Selected fields search modes by clicking one of the links.
  3. First Search Text Box
    Type your search term in the text box.
  4. Proximity Choices
    Use the drop-down list to choose the number of words the search term in the first search text box can be from the search term in the second search text box.
  5. Second Search Text Box
    Type your search term in the text box.
  6. Field Names
    Use the drop-down list to specify which field you want to search. Note: Each digital collection has been constructed using customized user-friendly fields that are mapped to Dublin Core standard metadata fields. When searching individual collections, the custom fields will be available. When searching selected fields of multiple collections, only the mapped Dublin Core terms will be available. See the Metadata Elements Summary page for information about the Dublin Core mappings.
  7. Search
    Click Search when you have finished specifying your search criteria.
  8. Clear All
    Click Clear all to reset all the search fields.
  9. Available and Selected Collections
    Choose which collections to search by clicking check boxes next to collection names. To remove a collection from your search, uncheck the box.
  10. Select All
    Select all collections to search across.
  11. Clear All
    Clear all collections. In order to perform a search, you must have one collection selected.

Viewing Results

Search results may be viewed in a number of ways. You can change the default display using the Preferences tool.

To view an item within the search results, click on a thumbnail image or the hyperlinked Title describing the item.

Each letter below corresponds to a definition of that element.

Figure 5: Search results
Figure 5: Search results, Grid view (default)

  1. Global Navigation
    Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.
  2. Select All, Clear All, Add to Favorites
    Use these links to add items to My Favorites. Select All activates all the check boxes on the current page. Clear All removes all checks from the check boxes. To add items to CONTENTdm My Favorites, check the boxes next to the items you want (or click Select All to check all items on the page) and then click Add to Favorites. See My Favorites for more information.
  3. Search Results
    Displays the number of items in the collection(s) that match your search criteria.
  4. Search Again
    Returns to the Advanced Search page and retains collection and preference settings from the previous search.
  5. Field Headings
    When field headings are hyperlinked, they can be used to sort your results. An arrow indicates the direction of the sort for that field.
  6. Page Navigation
    If the collection contains more items than can be displayed on a single page, click the hyperlinked page numbers, or choose Next or Previous to view other pages.
  7. Check Boxes
    Use these links to add items to My Favorites. Select All activates all the check boxes on the current page. Clear All removes all checks from the check boxes. To add items to CONTENTdm My Favorites, check the boxes next to the items you want (or click Select All to check all items on the page) and then click Add to Favorites. See My Favorites for more information.

Viewing Items

JPEG, JPEG2000 and GIF files open in a window similar to Figure 6. Items may be displayed at less than 100% size. Use the Image Toolbar to change display size.

Figure 6: Search results
Figure 6: Search results

  1. Global Navigation
    Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.
  2. Back to Results
    Click Back to Results to return to the results list.
  3. Add to Favorites
    Add the item to My Favorites. See My Favorites for more information.
  4. Image Toolbar
    Use these operations to navigate the image. See Image Toolbar for more information.
  5. Previous/Next
    Click Previous or Next to view other items in the results list.
  6. Reference URL
    Click Reference URL to open a window that contains the URL of the item being viewed. Copy the URL within the text box and paste it into citations and other references. See also Citing Items from the Collections.
  7. Thumbnail Icon
    When the object cannot be displayed at full resolution in its entirety, drag the red outline with your mouse to view detailed areas.
  8. Item Description
    View descriptive metadata about the item. Clicking on a hyperlinked word in the metadata will launch a search of all collections for items where that word appears in any field.

Image Toolbar

Zoom, pan, rotate, hide/show thumbnail, and clip options may be available when viewing images in some collections.

Figure 8: Image toolbar
Figure 8: Image toolbar

  • Click the magnifying glass icons to magnify or reduce the view. The zoom percentage is displayed in the adjacent text box.
  • Click the arrows to move left, right, up, or down within an image.
  • Click the page icons to view an image at 100 percent, view the entire image, or view the image within the page width.
  • Click the rotate icons to rotate an image 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.
  • Click the hide/show thumbnail icon to hide and show the small image used to navigate the larger image.
  • Click the clip icon to open the clip viewer window that allows you to select a segment of the image to save, e-mail, or print. The selected segment may resize when displayed in the new window.

When the toolbar is visible you can click within the image to zoom in and center the view.

Viewing Compound Objects

Some documents and multi-sided objects are displayed in a viewer that provides additional navigation appropriate to the item being viewed.

Figure 9: Compound Object Viewer
Figure 9: Compound Object Viewer

  1. Global Navigation
    Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.
  2. Back to Results
    Click Back to Results to return to the results list.
  3. View Description
    Select document description or page description from the drop-down menu and click go to view metadata for the whole document, or one page, if applicable.
  4. Add Document to Favorites/Add Item to Favorites
    Add the complete document or item to My Favorites.
  5. Add Page to Favorites/Add Side to Favorites
    Add the current page or side to My Favorites.
  6. Reference URL
    Click Reference URL to open a window that contains the URL of the item being viewed. Copy the URL within the text box and paste it into citations and other references. See also Citing Items from the Collections.
  7. Previous/Next
    Click Previous or Next to view other items in the results list.
  8. Previous Page and Next Page
    Go to the previous or next page within the document or item.
  9. Image Toolbar
    Use these operations to navigate the image. See Image Toolbar for more information.

Changing Preferences

Use the drop-down lists to change the appearance of the browse and search results and My Favorites pages. Changing settings in the My Favorites section also affect Slideshow and Compare. Preferences will need to be re-set after each time you delete or clear cookies from your browser.

In the Results Preferences section you can change:

  • How the results are viewed.
  • How the results are sorted.
  • How many results are displayed per page.

In the My Favorites Preferences section you can change:

  • The background color and the link colors.
  • How many columns are displayed.
  • Whether to delete My Favorites and cookies.

Each letter below corresponds to a definition of that element.

Figure 10: Preferences
Figure 10: Preferences

  1. Global Navigation
    Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.
  2. View Options
    Use the drop-down list to choose how your results are displayed.
    • Grid — Displays up to five fields or four fields and a thumbnail image.
    • Thumbnails — Displays a thumbnail image and the item title.
    • Bibliographic — Displays text from up to five fields without images.
    • Titles — Displays only item titles.
    • Hierarchical — Displays search results sorted in groupings. The fields that you select to sort by in preferences are the fields that are shown in this results view.
  3. Sort Order
    Use the drop-down lists to determine the sort order for your search results. Search results are displayed in sort order even if the fields you choose to sort by are not visible in the results view. Only Dublin Core metadata elements are available to determine sort order. See the Metadata Elements Summary page for information about how the fields in each collection are mapped to Dublin Core elements.
  4. Results per Page
    Choose the number of results to view per page. The results options vary, depending of the type of view that is selected.
  5. Restore Defaults (Results View)
    Click Restore Defaults to restore defaults. The default view is grid, sorted by title, with 20 results displayed per page.
  6. Apply Changes (Results View)
    Click Apply Changes after changing the view options, sort order, results per page, and/or restoring defaults.
  7. Color Swatch
    Click any of the colors to change the background color and its corresponding text color and link color for My Favorites, Slideshow, and Compare.
  8. Columns per Page
    Choose the number of columns to display in My Favorites. If you choose a larger number, you may need to scroll horizontally to see all items.
  9. Remove Favorites
    Click the check box to delete your cookie and remove all items in My Favorites. See Removing Favorites and Cookies below for more information.
  10. Restore Defaults (My Favorites View)
    Click Restore Defaults to restore defaults for My Favorites, Slideshow, and Compare. The default background color is white with black text and blue links and 3 columns per page.
  11. Apply Changes (My Favorites View)
    Click Apply Changes after changing the color or columns per page, removing favorites, or restoring defaults.

Removing Favorites and Cookies:

If My Favorites does not load as expected, it may be a problem with your Web browser cookie. You can delete your cookies through your Web browser or you can easily delete the My Favorites cookie by selecting the check box in My Favorites preferences. Selecting the check box deletes all items saved in My Favorites.

My Favorites

Using My Favorites requires cookies. If your Web browser settings do not allow cookies to be saved on your computer, you will not be able to use My Favorites without changing your Web browser's settings.

Any media file within CONTENTdm can be added to your CONTENTdm Favorites for viewing, e-mailing, saving to your local machine, or posting to Web sites. When you view collections in CONTENTdm, click My Favorites to review or edit your personal favorites.

For assistance importing items from My Favorites into a PowerPoint presentation, see our help page on The ContentDM PowerPoint Plug-in

Items can be added to My Favorites when you search or browse a CONTENTdm collection. The option to add an item to your Favorites is available any time you view a list of items or an individual item.

To Add Individual Items to My Favorites:

When you open an item to view it, the link to add items to My Favorites appears in the upper and lower left corners of the page. When you open a compound object to view it, links to add either the entire compound object or the page that you are viewing are in the upper middle of the page.

  1. Click Add to Favorites. The item and the item description are added to My Favorites. When viewing compound objects, add single pages or add the entire compound object to My Favorites.
  2. Click Back to Results to return to browsing or searching.

To Add Multiple Items to My Favorites:

  1. From the browse or search results view, place a check in the check boxes to the left of the desired items, or click Select All.
  2. Click Add to Favorites.

Only the items on the current Web page may be added to My Favorites. For example, you cannot select items on one results page and move to another page to select more items before adding to My Favorites.

Using and Managing My Favorites

Once you have added items to My Favorites, you can view images as slideshows, compare images, delete selected items, or change the order of items within your Favorites page. These functions are located on the left side of the My Favorites page. Using these options does not affect the collection itself.

Up to 100 items may be saved to your Favorites. For each item that has been added to My Favorites, a thumbnail image is displayed. Click the thumbnail image to access the corresponding item.

To View as Slideshow:

The slideshow section is located at the top of the left side of the My Favorites page.

  1. From the left toolbar of the My Favorites page, click Slideshow. The slideshow viewer opens.
  2. Click Next or Previous to move through the images in your slideshow.
  3. To view the item metadata, click Metadata.
  4. To compare two images side by side, click Compare.
  5. To jump to a specific item, use the drop-down list.
  6. Close the slideshow viewer to return to My Favorites.

Note: Only images (such as GIF, JPEG) can be viewed in the slideshow. Compound objects, audio, video, and some types of full resolution files cannot be viewed in the slideshow.

To Compare Images:

The compare view can be accessed from My Favorites or the slideshow view.

  1. Use the drop-down lists in the Compare section to specify items you want to compare.
  2. Click Compare. The comparison window opens.

To compare other items once the comparison window is open, use the drop-down lists at the top of the comparison window to select the corresponding item number. You can also use the previous and next links within the comparison window to select new items to compare.

Note: Only images (such as GIF, JPEG) can be viewed in the compare mode. Compound objects, audio, video, and some types of full resolution files cannot be viewed in the comparison view. If an item cannot be viewed in the compare mode, item numbers are grayed-out.

To Remove Images from My Favorites:

  1. From the Remove drop-down list, select the number of the image you wish to remove. To remove multiple items, use your mouse to select items from the drop-down list while pressing the Ctrl key until all desired items have been selected. To remove all items from My Favorites select All from the bottom of the drop-down list.
  2. Click Remove. A confirmation message appears.
  3. Click OK. This action removes the image from My Favorites but does not remove any images from collections.

To Change the Display Order:

  1. From the first drop-down list, select the number that corresponds to the image you wish to move.
  2. In the second drop-down list, select the number of the new position where you want to move the image.
  3. Click Move.

Publishing and Saving My Favorites

My Favorites can be saved or published for course lectures, posting to web sites, or e-mailing. As long as the CONTENTdm server is accessible to the recipient, the items contained on a published page may be viewed by simply clicking on the thumbnails.

To Save as Web Page:

The Save As Web Page option is located on the left side of the My Favorites page.

  1. In the Save As Web Page section of the My Favorites page, type a Title for the new web page in the text box. If you do not enter a name the file will be saved with the default name "My Favorites".
  2. Click Create. A new browser window will open.

    3. Figure 11: My Favorites
    Figure 11: My Favorites Saved as Web Page

  3. From the File menu in the web browser toolbar, click Save As....
  4. In the Save Web Page dialog box, confirm the File Name name of the web page you are creating, and set the "Save as Type" box to Web Page, HTML only as the file type. Select a location to save the file.

Repeat these steps with different sets of saved Favorites to create and save multiple Favorites pages.

Figure 12: Save as dialog box
Figure 12: Internet Explorer "Save as" dialog box

Import My Favorites into a PowerPoint Presentation

To import images from My Favorites to PowerPoint, use the PowerPoint Plug-in.

To Replace Existing Favorites:

To edit a Favorites Web page you have published or to resave a published page as your Favorites you must replace your existing My Favorites with the published page. To do this:

  1. Open the published Web page.
  2. Click the Make Favorites button located at the top of the published page. Any existing items saved in My Favorites will be overwritten and replaced with the current page.

Clicking Make Favorites stores all of the items shown on the page in CONTENTdm Favorites for the creator or the recipient (provided the CONTENTdm Server is accessible to the recipient). Items can be compared, moved, or removed using the tools on the CONTENTdm My Favorites page.

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