Woodrow Wilson eLibrary User Guide

Updated 2006-12-05

1. Browsing the eLibrary

The simplest way to find documents in the eLibrary is by chosing one of the two Browse methods on the eLibrary Search page. Browse all documents by date displays all of the documents (including images) that are online, whereas Browse all images displays only images. Once you've chosen a Browse method, you can click on the Submit button to bring up the Search Results page.

2. Quick Search

The Quick Search form on the eLibrary Search page provides you with some basic options that you can use to narrow down the list of documents displayed in the Search Results page. All of the search criteria are optional, so you only need to specify as many parameters as you wish. The Quick Search form contains the following options:

• Keyword lets you type in one or more keywords that the documents must contain. You can do a phrase search by placing a phrase or words you wish to appear together inside of quotation marks.
• Year provides you with two text boxes to enter years into, setting a date range you wish to search for documents within. Select the option to Include undated documents if you wish to.
• Correspondent allows you to limit the search to documents where the sender and/or the recipient is one of the selected names.

Once you've set the options for the search, just click on the Submit button to bring up the Search Results page.

3. Advanced Search

If you need a wider variety of options than are available in the Quick Search form, use this form to search through the eLibrary. All of the search criteria are optional, so you only need to specify as many parameters as you wish. The Advanced Search form contains the following options:

• Keyword lets you type in one or more keywords that the documents must contain. You can do a phrase search by placing a phrase or words you wish to appear together inside of quotation marks.
• Date provides you with two text fields to set the time range for the origin of the documents you wish to search. The input format for both fields is MM/DD/YYYY (e.g., 02/14/1919). You must put in a value for both fields. Select the option to Include undated documents if you wish to.
• Topic contains several topics that pertain to the subject matter of various documents. Select one or more topics to limit the search to those topics. To select multiple topics, just hold down the Ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac) key as you click on each topic.
• Correspondent/Author allows you to limit the document search to those people who are senders, recipients, authors, or a combination thereof. Above the list of names are three checkboxes. Checking Letters to searches for letters that were written to the selected people. Checking Letters from searches for letters that were written by the selected people. Checking Documents by searches for any type of document written by the selected people. To select multiple names in the list, just hold down the Ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac) key as you click on each name. You can also type a name directly into the text field below the names list if you can't find your intended person in the list.
• Collections contains several different collections of documents. Select one or more collections to limit the search to those collections. To select multiple collections, just hold down the Ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac) key as you click on each collection.
• Images provides you with a check box you can select if you wish to exclude images from your search.
• Last Updated lets you limit the search to documents that were updated or added to the eLibrary since the date that you specify. Just check the checkbox and type in a date, formatted as MM/DD/YYYY.

When you're done setting all of the options for the advanced search, click on the Submit button to bring up the Search Results page (continue reading for more information).

4. Search Results

After choosing to browse through the eLibrary or search for documents via specified criteria, you will be presented with the Search Results page. At the top of the page is an overview of the criteria used to perform the search and the number of matching results returned from the search operation.

In the center of the page is the results list. Once you've located a document title that interests you, click on the document in the results list to bring it up in the Document Display page (continue reading for more information).

Below the results list on the left-hand side is the pager. You can jump to any logical page in the results list by clicking on one of the page numbers. On the right-hand side is an indicator for which logical page you are currently viewing and how many pages are available in all.

5. Document Display

Viewing the Document 

Once you have found a document you wish to display, whether by browsing through the eLibrary or by searching, click on the document in the Search Results page to bring it up in the Document Display page. In the center of the page is the document frame, which scrolls independently of the surrounding Web page. Within the document frame, there are several useful features available to you:

• Links

  The eLibrary text content is enriched with links to further information about people, places, and related documents. When such information is present, and link is displayed in the document. When selected, a popup to the additional information is presented. Just close the window when you’re done reading it to return to the Document Display page.

• Rollovers

  When abbreviated or shortened names of people, places, and other references appear in the document, you can usually hover your mouse cursor over the name to see the full name pop up in a tooltip.

Below the bottom-right corner of the document frame are Back and Next links. You can use them to navigate through the your search results list or the list of documents you were previously browsing.

Printing and Downloading 

If you wish to print the document that you’re currently viewing, just click on the Print button below the bottom-left corner of the document frame. A popup window will appear containing a print-friendly version of the document. Click on the Print link at the top to display your Web browser’s Print dialog box.

You can also download the document as an HTML page.

Viewing the Original as a PDF File 

All of the documents in the eLibrary are viewable as scans of the original documents in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To view an original document scan, click on the View Original link below the document frame. A popup window will appear containing the PDF file. To download the Adobe Acrobat Reader, visit this Web site.