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Finding Aids Collections Help

Software Requirements | Searching | Advanced Search | Viewing Search Results | Viewing a Finding Aid | Tools & Actions Menus | Collectus

 

NEW! Check out the downloadable and printable Quick Start Guide for Searching and Working with Finding Aids (PDF)

For access to all available finding aids from Virginia institutions including UVA, please visit Virginia Heritage at: http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/

The Finding Aids in the Repository may also be searched alongside the other digital collections in a cross-collection search.

Software Requirements

Please review these software recommendations carefully. Some browsers and operating systems support features of the Digital Collections to varying degrees.

Authentication: Many items in the Digital Collections are restricted to the UVa community - users must be on Grounds, or authenticated through UVa Anywhere. The Finding Aids are all publicly accessible.

Recommended Minimum Browser Versions: (Some features may not work on other browsers or versions)

• Windows XP or 2000: Internet Explorer 6.0, Netscape 7.2, Mozilla 1.7, or Firefox 1.0.
• Macintosh OS X: Firefox 1.5.

Required Java for use of the ImageViewer and Digital Object Collector Tool:

• Windows:
  • Windows XP or Windows 2000 operating system.
  • Java 2, version J2SE 1.4.2 (aka JRE 1.4.2) OR LATER, including Java Web Start (Download and run the free installer from Sun at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html -- Click on "Download J2SE JRE."). If your system has earlier versions of Java installed, any earlier versions must be uninstalled and the machine rebooted first before a new installation can take place).
• Macintosh:
  • Mac OSX 10.4.4 has proven the be the most reliable in supporting the Digital Collections tools.
  • Java 2, version J2SE 1.4.2 (aka JRE 1.4.2) is required. To run this version of Java, OS X 10.3.4 or later is required. According to Apple, All Macintoshes with OS X 10.3.4 or later come with Java 2, version J2SE 1.4.2 (aka JRE 1.4.2) already installed. For improved compatibility, Apple has released their own updaters/installers with varying names for varying versions of the OS.
  • If you have OS X 10.3.4 or later and have NO Java versions on your Macintosh:
    • Download and run the free updater/installer for Java 2, version J2SE 1.4.1 (aka JRE 1.4.1) from Apple at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120274
  • If you have OS X version 10.3.4 or later and need to UPDATE your Java version to the REQUIRED Java 2, version J2SE 1.4.2 (aka JRE 1.4.2), including Java Web Start:
    • Download and run the free updater/installer from Apple at http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/javaupdate142.html.
  • If you have OS X 10.3.9, Apple has reported that there may be issues with Java that require an update.
    • Download and run the free updater/installer from Apple at http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/javaupdateformacosx1039.html
  • If you have OS X version 10.4 ("Tiger") or higher and want to ensure that you are running the correct version of Java:
    • Java 2, version J2SE 1.4.2 (aka JRE 1.4.2), including Java Web Start (Download and run the free updater/installer from Apple at http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/java131and142release2.html).
      • NOTE: For OS X version 10.4 ("Tiger"), Java 2, version J2SE 5.0 release 1 is available at http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/java2se50release1.htm. This version is NOT required for use of the Digital Library.
  The ImageViewer will not work with the online Digital Collections and you cannot add images into personal collections using the Collector Tool without the proper Java and browser configuration.

Basic Search

• Enter a single word or multiple words into the search box.
• Check "All Words" if you want the search to only identify results where all of the words are present.
• Check "Any Words" is you want the search to return results with any of the words.
• Do not enter phrases in quotation marks.
• Ignore all punctuation, e.g., "Carr's" will be searched as "Carrs".
• The search is not case sensitive; proper upper and lower case are not necessary.

Advanced Search

• Enter a single word or multiple words into the search box.
• Do not enter phrases in quotation marks.
• Ignore all punctuation, e.g., "Carr's" will be searched as "Carrs".
• The search is not case sensitive; proper upper and lower case are not necessary.
• Use the default "anywhere" to search across all categories of data, or use the drop-down box to limit the search to the title of the finding aid or collection.
  
• You may also combine up to three searches by selecting the functions "and" (must include) or "or" (either/or) to further broaden or narrow your query.
• For proximity searching, enter a word or words and specify a proximity relationship: near, not near, followed by, or not followed by.
• Select the number of matches to be displayed on each page of the search results.
• It is not necessary use to all the boxes.

Viewing Search Results

The sidebar on the right shows the search terms used to generate the result set and the total number of hits. On the all results tab, you will find the list of finding aids that matched your search term(s), grouped by title. Clicking on an item in this list will take you to the finding aid.

Viewing a Finding Aid

A Finding Aid or Guide is an annotated inventory of rare and archival primary source materials: manuscripts, papers, pictures, etc. These guides have a standard format and include the following sections, where they exist, for the collection being described.

• The Administrative Information section makes explicit the access and use policies for the described collection, the preferred citation, and information about the provenance of the collection being described.
• The Descriptive Summary provides a summary of the collection as a whole—the accession number, title, date of the items contained in it, the physical extent of the collection (e.g. number of items, or boxes, or linear feet), and the language in which the collection is written.
• The Scope and Content Information section describes the collection in detail. The information typically found within a Scope and Content section includes the dates of the items included in the collection, the types of items included (letters, journals, photographs, etc.), the physical condition of the items, and a description of the intellectual content of the collection.
• The Biographical/Historical Information section describes the creator of the collection. The creator may be a person, a family, or an entity like a government or company.
• The Contents List is the actual inventory of the items in the collection. If the contents have been grouped together, you may also find a series description for that specific sub-group of items within the collection.