Help
The following provides guidance on how to use the Digitised Manuscripts site.
Home Page
Using the search panel at the bottom of the Home page, the user can search for relevant
collection items based not only upon keywords, but also via item references and a date range. The
date range slider control enables the user to restrict or expand the scope within a start
and end date. To control the scope, use the sliders to change the start and end years within the central
text fields. Alternatively, for greater control, the user can type the exact start and end years directly
into the text fields.
A selection of highlights is shown on the Home page. You may view any of these manuscripts by clicking on
the corresponding image or caption. A different set of highlights is shown each time the Home page is displayed.
About Page
The About page shows information relating to the content of the Digitised Manuscripts site. On the About page the
complete set of highlighted manuscripts is displayed.
Browse Page
The Browse page offers the user the ability to browse the collection items by Manuscripts, Titles, Authors and
Scribes (where applicable). To view a specific index, please click on the appropriate tab.
Manuscripts Tab
The Manuscripts tab lists all digitised collection items in alphabetical order by reference. You may re-order
the list in reverse order by selecting ‘Descending’ in the drop down field to the top right. A total of all the
digitised items available is displayed in the top left corner.
For each collection item the reference, date range and title are displayed. If you click on the reference the
full details will be displayed. By clicking on the spyglass icon 
next to
the reference, the first image for the corresponding item will be displayed in the viewer.
At the bottom of the tab, you will see the list navigation control, an example of which is shown below.
<< Previous 1 2 3 4 … Next >>
Clicking on each section has the following result.
| << | Display first page in list. |
| Previous | Display previous page in list. |
| 1 2 3 4 | Display corresponding page number in list. |
| ... | Display further page numbers in list. |
| Next | Display next page in list. |
| >> | Display last page in list. |
Authors Tab
The Authors tab lists named authors starting with the initial letter selected. By clicking on a different tab, it is
possible to select a different initial letter.
The authors are displayed in ascending alphabetical order by default. You may re-order the list in reverse order by
selecting ‘Descending’ in the drop down field to the top right. A total of all the texts by authors with the specified
initial letter is displayed in the top left corner.
The total number of texts attributed to each author is displayed in brackets after each name. If you click on the title
the full details of the corresponding item will be displayed. By clicking on the spyglass icon
next to the title, the first image for the corresponding item will be displayed
in the viewer.
If there are more authors than will fit on the web page, you will see the list navigation control at the bottom of the
tab. For more information, see the Manuscripts tab section.
Scribes Tab
The Scribes tab lists named scribes starting with the initial letter selected. By clicking on a different tab, it is
possible to select a different initial letter.
The scribes are displayed in ascending alphabetical order by default. You may re-order the list in reverse order by
selecting ‘Descending’ in the drop down field to the top right. A total of all the texts by scribes with the
specified initial letter is displayed in the top left corner.
The total number of works attributed to each scribe is displayed in brackets after the name. For each related collection
item, the reference, date and title are displayed. If you click on the reference the full details of the corresponding
item will be displayed. By clicking on the spyglass icon next to the reference,
the first image for the corresponding item will be displayed in the viewer.
If there are more scribes than will fit on the web page, you will see the list navigation control at the bottom of the
tab. For more information, see the Manuscripts tab section.
Titles Tab
The Titles tab lists all texts starting with the initial letter selected. By clicking on a different tab, it is
possible to select a different initial letter.
The titles are displayed in ascending alphabetical order by default. You may re-order the list in reverse order by
selecting ‘Descending’ in the drop down field to the top right. A total of all the titles with the specified initial
letter is displayed in the top left corner.
For items whose titles are in both Latin and Greek, the alphabetic tabs can be displayed in either script to enable
all titles to be browsed. To switch between the two scripts, select the appropriate value in the drop down field.
For each text, the reference and title are displayed. If you click on the reference, the full details of the
corresponding collection item will be displayed. By clicking on the spyglass icon
next to the reference, the first image for the corresponding item will be displayed in the viewer.
If there are more titles than will fit on the web page, you will see the list navigation control at the bottom of the
tab. For more information, see the Manuscripts tab section.
Search Page
The Search page employs more precise parameters than the simple keyword search. Users can specify values to match the
following fields.
- Manuscript reference – enter either the full item reference or the short numeric form.
- Keyword – enter one or more keywords to match any of the metadata fields.
- Date range – restrict or expand the scope of your search by using the two slider controls.
- Title – enter any keywords to be matched against the item or text title.
- Author/Scribe – enter any keywords to match against the names of the authors and scribes.
- Provenance/Acquisition – enter any keywords to match against both the provenance (ownership) and acquisition fields.
- Bibliography – enter any keywords to match against the bibliography (publication notes) field.
Brief Results Page
The Brief Results page shows all the matching collection items from the most recent search. The results are always
shown at the item level. each matching item, the reference, title, date range, authors and thumbnail of the first
page are shown. If you click on either the thumbnail or the reference, the corresponding full item page will be displayed.
The following features on the Brief Results page should be noted.
- At the top of the page, a list of the search parameters entered and the number of results displayed are shown
after ‘You searched for…’.
- The number of results listed per page can be changed using the values listed after
‘Results per page:’.
- The order in which the results are displayed can be changed by selecting one of the fields listed after
‘Sort by:’.
- The current search parameters can be amended by clicking on the ‘Refine Search’ link to return
to the original search screen with the previous values still in place. This works for all search types except Quick
Search, as it is always present on the Brief Results page and will retain the original search parameters by default.
- The Print link enables the user to print the current Brief Results page to the nominated printer.
Please note that each individual page of results must be printed separately.
- If there are more matches than will fit on the web page, you will see the list navigation control at both the
top and bottom of the tab. For more information, see the Manuscripts tab section.
Full Manuscript Page
The Full Manuscript page shows all the metadata for the selected collection item, including all its associated texts.
The key metadata is shown at the top of the page: Reference; Date; Title; Content. Below the thumbnails are displayed
additional data: Languages; Physical Description; Ownership; Bibliography.
For each text within the item its reference, title and thumbnail of the first page are displayed. By clicking on the
thumbnail you can open the Image Viewer at the first page of the relevant text.
The following features on the Full Manuscript page should be noted.
- By clicking on the ‘bindings’ link you can view the front cover, back cover and spine of the
manuscript.
- If you wish to navigate through each item listed in the search results without returning to the Brief Results page,
click on the ‘next MS’ and ‘last MS’ links. However, if you wish to return to the
search results, click on the ‘Return to results’ link.
- To bookmark the page for future reference, click on ‘Show link URL’. This will reveal a hidden
field with the full URL of the current page, which can be used to create a new bookmark. Please note that this URL
is different from that displayed in the main browser address field, and it should be used for accurate bookmarking
of the current page.