PA Photos and Documents

How can the collection be accessed?

• Access to the collection is available for free, without the need for a library card or other form of authentication
• The primary access point for the repository is through the POWER Library PaPD Discovery page:
  • https://powerlibrary.org/collections/
    • The site can also be reached by visiting https://powerlibrary.org/ and clicking on the PA Photos & Documents link in the header

How does “browsing” work?

• Browsing the PaPD collection enables the user to select an institution, subject, or time period and then see all of the items contained within those categories
• It’s an excellent starting off point for people new to the collection and/or trying to find specific types of information

• To browse the PaPD collection, navigate to the POWER Library PaPD Discovery page:  https://powerlibrary.org/collections/ 
  • From the View By: menu, select either:
    • Institution – which will list all contributing institutions alphabetically
      • Click the Expand icon to then see each institution’s individual collections
    • Subject – which will display a list of major regional/Commonwealth subjects, as well as other timely topics
      • Click the Expand icon to then see each subject’s individual collections
    • Time Period – which will display significant Commonwealth time periods
      • Click the Expand icon to then see each time period’s individual collections

How does “searching” work?

• Unlike browsing, searching allows a user to search for specific keywords, subjects, locations, time periods, etc.
• The best place to start searching is within the Islandora repository itself, though limited searching can be done from the POWER Library PaPD Discovery page

• To do a Basic Search in the PaPD collection, navigate to the POWER Library PaPD Discovery page:  https://powerlibrary.org/collections/ 
  • Locate the Search All Collections box and enter a basic keyword and click the SEARCH button
• If you are already in the Islandora repository, locate the SEARCH box in the upper-right side of the page and enter a basic keyword and press enter

• Advanced Searching is only possible within the PaPD Islandora repository: https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/
  • From the Home page of the repository, click the Advanced Search link below and to the right of the main Search box
  • From any other page within the repository, locate and click on the Hamburger (Menu) button at the top-left of the page
    • From the Advanced Search dropdown menu, select the type of field you would like to search and click the Add Field button
      • Available fields include:
        • Subject
        • Location Covered
        • Original Format
        • Date
        • Time Period Covered
        • Language
        • Contributing Institution
        • Title
    • In the search box for that field, enter in your keyword(s)
    • Repeat the process if you would like to add additional fields; otherwise click the Search button to complete your search

• Search Strategies – Boolean Operators, Wild Cards, and Quotation Marks
  • PaPD searching allows for the use of Boolean Operators, Wild Cards, and Quotation Marks as search strategies:
    • Boolean Operators
      • And - Use between terms to find items with all of the terms
      • Or - Use between terms to find items with any of the terms
      • Not - Use between terms to find items excluding the terms
    • Wild Cards
      • * * - Use for unknown or vague dates
      • *1964* – Searches everything in 1964
      • *196* – Searches everything in the 1960s
    • Quotation Marks
      • “ ” – Use to search for an exact phrase

How does “filtering” work?

• Once a search has been conducted, various filters exist to help refine the results further
  • Available filters include:
    • Subject
    • Location Covered
    • Original Format
    • Date
    • Language
    • Contributing Institution

• To Filter search results:
  • From the search results screen, click the Filter button located at the top right of the results
  • From the Filter slide-out menu, check the boxes next to the desired filters you wish to apply
    • Filters can be applied one at a time, or multiple used at once
  • Click the Apply Filters button
    • If zero items are returned in the filtered search, locate the list of active filters at the top of the screen and begin eliminating filters one by one until the desired results appear