Their Own Words

Browser Compatibility

This website has been optimized for use with current versions of Netscape (7.0), Internet Explorer (6.0) and Safari (1.0). Older versions of these browsers may not support the full functionality of the website or CONTENTdm. In addition, certain features in CONTENTdm (e.g. the Prev and Next Page feature) do not display correctly depending on browser and operating system, no matter the version. If you are having difficulty viewing any of the webpages, updating your browser may be the quickest solution. To do so, please visit the appropriate website:

Browse the Collection

Use the browse option for viewing items without specifying search criteria. Results are presented in alphabetical order by author and then title or in chronological order from oldest to newest. By following these links, you will also have access to biographical and contextual information about the authors and their works.

Search the Collection

Use Search:

If you have specific search criteria.
If you want to browse by type of material (e.g. book, pamphlet, letter, diary)

The search fields can only be used one-at-a-time. You CANNOT search multiple fields at once. The search fields make use of boolean operators (eg. AND, OR, NOT) to further refine search results. For a more complete explanation of Boolean operators and Boolean searches, please visit the following site (page will open in a new window): http://library.albany.edu/internet/boolean.html.

Search Results

Search results are presented in alphabetical order, by title. Results may be viewed up to four different ways.

Grid—displays five fields and allows user to re-sort results by clicking on any column header.
Thumbnails—displays a thumbnail image and the item title.
Bibliographic—displays text from up to five fields without images.
Titles—displays only item titles.

Click on a letter to link to the definition of that element:

Figure 1 - Search Results image

A. Global Navigation Bar
Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.

B. Search Results
Displays the number of items in the collection(s) that match your search criteria.

C. View Options
Use the buttons labeled Grid, Thumbnails, Bibliographic and Titles to view your search results. Each option presents a different view of the results.

Grid view shows five fields.

Thumbnail view displays larger thumbnail images along with the item title.

Bibliographic view is simply a text based view of item titles and metadata.

Titles view displays only the titles of items.

D. Check Boxes
This is related to the My Favorites feature in CONTENTdm, which has been disabled for Their Own Words.

E. Select All, Clear All, Add Selected Items to Favorites
These are related to the My Favorites feature in CONTENTdm, which has been disabled for Their Own Words.

F. Prev and Next Page
If your search produces more results than can be displayed on a single page, click Next or Previous to view other results pages. This feature does not work in Netscape browsers.

G. Page Navigation
If your search produces more results than can be displayed on one page, click the hyperlinked page numbers to view other results pages.

Compatibility | Browse | Search | Search Results | Viewing Items | My Favorites

Viewing Books, Pamphlets, Letter Collections, and Diaries

Books, pamphlets and other hierarchical documents are displayed in viewers that provide additional navigation appropriate to the item being viewed.

Click on a letter to link to a definition of that element:

Figure 2 - Book image

A. Global Navigation
Global navigation for searching, browsing, and working with items in collections.
B. Doc Description/Item Description
View descriptive information about the complete book, pamphlet, letter collection or diary.

C. Page Description
View descriptive information about a single page.

D. Page & Text
If a transcription of the page is available, you can view the page image and a transcript of the page side-by-side. The side-by-side view of the page image and text will open in a new browser window.

E. Back to Search Results
Click Back to Search Results to return to the results page.

F. Search this Document
You can search for words within a document. Type search words in the text box and click Search. An asterisk appears next to each page within the document that contains the word you searched for.

G. Add Doc to Favorites
These are related to the My Favorites feature in CONTENTdm, which has been disabled for Their Own Words.

H. Add Page to Favorites
This is related to the My Favorites feature in CONTENTdm, which has been disabled for Their Own Words.

I. Prev Page and Next Page
Go to the previous or next page within the document.

J. Document Navigation
Use the links in this section to navigate to specific pages or sides within the book, pamphlet, letter or diary. Materials with an explicit hierarchy are arranged according to the original organization. Letter collections are arranged on a per letter, chronological basis.

K. Zoom and Pan

Zoom and pan options may be available when viewing some items in the James Buchanan Resource Center.

Click zoom in or out to magnify or reduce the view. The zoom percentage is displayed in the text box.

Click the arrows to move left, right, up, or down within an image if the zoom feature puts the entire image out of view.

Click the page icons to view an image at 100 percent, view the entire image, or view the image within the page width.

Additionally, when the zoom and pan toolbar is visible you can click within the image to zoom in and center the view.

Compatibility | Browse | Search | Search Results | Viewing Items | My Favorites

My Favorites

The My Favorites feature in CONTENTdm has been disabled for Their Own Words.

Page created: October 14, 2003