SDA User Guide

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Stalin Digital Archive User Guide

Contents

1.0 What does this archive contain? ............................................................................................... 21.1 RGASPI Materials (Bibliographic Records, Scanned Page Images).................................... 2

1.1.1 Fond ............................................................................................................................... 21.1.2 Opis ................................................................................................................................ 21.1.3 Delo ................................................................................................................................ 31.1.4 Document ....................................................................................................................... 3

1.2 Annals of Communism Materials ......................................................................................... 31.2.1 Annals of Communism Volumes ................................................................................... 31.2.2 Annals of CommunismDocuments ............................................................................... 3

2.0 Accessing the Archive .............................................................................................................. 52.1 Logging in with an institutional subscription ....................................................................... 5

3.0 What can I do in this archive?................................................................................................... 63.1 Search Content ...................................................................................................................... 6

3.1.1 Performing a Search ....................................................................................................... 63.1.2 Working with Search Results......................................................................................... 9

3.2. Browse ............................................................................................................................... 143.3 Document Viewer ............................................................................................................... 16

3.3.1 Document Viewer Toolbar .......................................................................................... 173.3.2 Image Viewer Panel ..................................................................................................... 173.3.3 Text Viewer Panel........................................................................................................ 183.3.4 Document Info Panel ................................................................................................... 19

4.0 MySDA ................................................................................................................................... 224.1 MySDA Home .................................................................................................................... 224.2 Notifications ........................................................................................................................ 224.3 Research Interests ............................................................................................................... 22

4.3.1 Joining a Research Interest .......................................................................................... 234.3.2 Creating a New Research Interest ................................................................................ 23

4.4 Discussion Forums .............................................................................................................. 244.4.1 The Discussion Boards Page ........................................................................................ 244.4.3 Participating in a topic thread ...................................................................................... 254.4.4 Creating a new topic thread ......................................................................................... 26

4.5 Library................................................................................................................................. 26


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4.5.1 Saving a document ....................................................................................................... 264.6 Community Pages ............................................................................................................... 28

4.6.1 My Profile .................................................................................................................... 284.6.2 Research Interests ........................................................................................................ 28

4.7 My Annotations .................................................................................................................. 294.8 My Tags .............................................................................................................................. 294.9 Saved Searches.................................................................................................................... 29

1.0 What does this archive contain?

1.1 RGASPI Materials (Bibliographic Records, Scanned Page Images)

The Stalin Digital Archive (SDA) consists primarily of scanned page images and correspondingbibliographic records written in Russian created by the Russian State Archive of Social andPolitical History (RGASPI). The primary source material represented by these images andrecords include documents relating to Joseph Stalins personal biography, his work ingovernment, and his conduct of foreign affairs. RGASPIs method of organizing this material inthe physical archive is a hierarchical system of nesting folders, and this structure has informedboth the selection of material for the SDA and its ultimate presentation. To understand thisarchives content and organization, it is therefore necessary to review the physical archivesorganizational system.

1.1.1 Fond

Thefond is the highest-level organizational structure in RGASPIs physical collection.Functionally, each fond is like a filing cabinet that contains several drawers filled withfolders. Within RGASPIs collection, Fond 558 is the filing cabinet dedicated tomaterials about Joseph Stalin; it contains approximately 40,000 unique documents. YaleUniversity Press (YUP) and RGASPI have chosen to include only selected documentsfrom this section of the physical archive, for a total of 28,000 unique documentscomprising 404,000 scanned page images. Currently less than 3% of the archive hasbeen uploaded into the archive database. The database will be continuously updatedwith newly scanned files. Users can check the status of updates in the News & Updatessection of the website.

1.1.2 OpisEach fond in RGASPIs collection contains a number ofopisi, the functional equivalentof a filing cabinets drawers (to extend the analogy introduced above). Each opis in Fond558 organizes the materials about Joseph Stalin based on content, chronology, or somecombination of those two categories. YUP and RGASPI have chosen to concentrate onmaking available a subset of opisi in Fond 558 containing the most noteworthydocuments. These opisi are:


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Opis 1: Documents written by Stalin from 18891952. Opis 2: Documents written by Stalin from 19111944. Opis 3: Over 300 books from Stalin's personal library with his marginalia. Opis 4: Stalin's biographical materials. Opis 11: Stalin's correspondence and 188 maps with Stalin's hand-written markings.

This Opis covers the period from 1917 to 1952.Although the digitization process is not yet complete, the SDA will soon contain acomplete set of bibliographic records and scanned images for these opisi, excluding onlymaterials classified by the Russian state government.

1.1.3 Delo

Extending the analogy introduced above, eachdelocorresponds to an individual folderwithin the filing cabinets (fonds) drawers (opisi). As is true of all folders in general,some dela contain loose pages with no further organizing structure and some containpages collected into discrete documents. This structure has been carried over from

RGASPIs organizational structure into the SDA, just like the fond and opisi divisions;the editors have included all declassified dela contained in the five opisi from Fond 558listed above.

1.1.4 Document

As mentioned above, some dela contain loose pages with no further organizing structurewhile others contain pages collected into discrete documents. When a delo falls into thelatter category, the SDAs editors have preserved the distinction between individualdocuments present in RGASPIs organizational structure. The SDA contains alldeclassified documents within dela located inside those five opisi from Fond 558.

1.2 Annals of Communism MaterialsYale University Press is supplementing the primary source materials provided by RGASPIwith digitized volumes from its acclaimed Annals of Communism(AOC) series. Unlike thecontent from RGASPI, the AOC material does not include scanned page images. Instead, itincludes the full text of the original print publication, including the English translations ofprimary source documents.

1.2.1 Annals of Communism Volumes

YUP has digitized the twenty-five volumes of the AOC series, which combinestranslations of primary source material from a variety of archival sources with editorialcommentary. A majority of these books include material about Joseph Stalin while a few

others deal instead with Russian and Soviet history more broadly. These volumes are bestseen as a supplement to the archival material from RGASPI, providing additional contentfrom other archival sources along with some context via the authors explanatory text.

1.2.2 Annals of CommunismDocumentsWhile all primary documents in the AOC series appear within their respective volumetranscriptions, YUP has also included these materials as standalone documents to


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augment discoverability. (NOTE: All of these documents exist in translation.) Forexample, users can also find a 1942 letter from Molotov to Stalin that appears in an AOCvolume via a bibliographic record indicating that specific documents author (Molotov),recipient (Stalin), and date (1942) outside its context within an existing AOC volume.


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2.0 Accessing the ArchiveThe SDA is accessible via institutional subscription. The Search, Browse, and Resource pagesare available to all users who visit the site. However, users must have an institutionalsubscription to access the Document Viewer and MySDA sections of the site.

A user with an institutional subscription can open documents in the document viewer;print/download documents from the document viewer; and export citations from the documentviewer. However, that user must log in to her personal MySDA account before she can accessthe suite of tools related to user-generated content. These include bookmarks, tags, annotations,discussions, and the ability to save documents to personal or public folders.

2.1 Logging in with an institutional subscription

If a user belongs to an institution that subscribes to the SDA, then she will have automatic accessto the archive as long as she is logged in to the subscribing institutions network. When a user ata subscribing institution goes to the SDA website(www.stalindigitalarchive.com), she will seethe text Access provided by [Institution Name] written in the center of the header (See the

images below for examples of this text).

Screenshot 1: SDA Header with Institutional Access

Screenshot 2: SDA Header with Institutional Access - Detail

If you are sure that your institution has access to the SDA and you still do not see this accessmessage, please log in to your institutional Virtual Private Network (VPN) or relocate to anothercomputer within your institution's network.

If you would like to request institutional trial access to the site, please send an [email protected] fill out the information request formathttp://www.yalebooks.com/sda/.

In addition to the Access text, a user with an institutional subscription will see a Log In

button and a Register button in the top right corner of the screen. First time users must create aprofile before they are able to access the bookmarks, tags and annotations within the DocumentViewer and all of the MySDA functionality. To create a new SDA account:

1) Click the Register button in the top right corner of the screen.2) Fill out the required fields in the resulting Create a New Profile page (Figure 1).3) Click on the Save and Continue button at the bottom of the screen.
http://www.stalindigitalarchive.com/http://www.stalindigitalarchive.com/http://www.stalindigitalarchive.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.yalebooks.com/sda/http://www.yalebooks.com/sda/http://www.yalebooks.com/sda/http://www.yalebooks.com/sda/mailto:[email protected]://www.stalindigitalarchive.com/


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4) An automated email with a username, password, and a link for a one-time login willbe sent to the users email address. Open this email and click on the one-time loginlink.

5) Reset the password, and fill out any other relevant profile information.

After creating a valid MySDA profile, users can log in to the SDA at any time, as long as they

are within the network of their subscribing institution.

3.0 What can I do in this archive?

3.1 Search Content

The SDAs search tool allows for a simple keyword search of all archival content, as well as amore refined search based on specific bibliographic constraints.

3.1.1 Performing a Search

The search page is accessible via the Search tab in the top navigation bar. When a usernavigates to the search page, a list of the archives 50 most-viewed documents appears bydefault in the center panel of the screen. Enter a keyword into the textbox in the left-handpanel to conduct a basic keyword search of the archives contents. Users can limit thissearch to a specific bibliographic constraint by using the Search in drop-down menu(Figure 2). Users can also employ Boolean search operators. (For a brief introduction tothe Boolean operators used on the SDA site, seehttp://sphinxsearch.com/docs/manual-2.0.1.html#extended-syntax.)

Figure 1 the Create a New Profile page
http://sphinxsearch.com/docs/manual-2.0.1.html#extended-syntaxhttp://sphinxsearch.com/docs/manual-2.0.1.html#extended-syntaxhttp://sphinxsearch.com/docs/manual-2.0.1.html#extended-syntaxhttp://sphinxsearch.com/docs/manual-2.0.1.html#extended-syntaxhttp://sphinxsearch.com/docs/manual-2.0.1.html#extended-syntaxhttp://sphinxsearch.com/docs/manual-2.0.1.html#extended-syntax


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A list of the possible Search in options and their definitions follow:

All: The search term can appear in any context (unconstrained).Annotations: The search term can only appear in user-generated annotations

associated with a document.Authors: The search term can only appear in a document authors name.ID#: The search term can only appear in a documents archival identification number.

NOTE: Users should employ the following format when searching for a specificdocument by archival identification number, paying special attention to add a

single space after each comma:

f.558, op.11, d.1, doc.1

Please note that the search tool is not case-sensitive.

Publication dates: The search term can only appear in a documents publicationdate.

Recipients: The search term can only appear in a document recipients name.Subjects: The search term can only appear in a documents subject designations.Tags: The search term can only appear in user-generated tags associated with a

document.Text: The search term can only appear in a documents full-text transcription or

translation, if available.Titles: The search term can only appear in a documents title.

Please note that all searches are language-specific, except for author and recipientsearches (i.e., searches constrained to author and recipient fields will return both Englishand Russian matches regardless of the language of the search term.)

Fi ure 2 the Search In dro -down

Search in drop-downmenu


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Users can also conduct afaceted search by using the filters in the left-hand panel (Figure3a).

A list of possible search filters and their definitions follow:

Collections: Filters results to specific collections in the SDA. These include: titles inthe YUPs Annals of Communism series; translated primary documents containedin the Annals of Communism series; and RGASPIs primary documents. Userscan further constrain RGASPI documents by fond, opis, and delo.

Keyword: Adds additional keywords to the search parameters.Names: Filters results using names of document authors and recipients. The list of

names contained within the archive has been alphabetized in both Russian andEnglish.

Date: Filters results by specific date or date range (Figure 3b).Subjects: Filters results based on subject designation. Currently, these subject

designations are only in Russian.Tags: Filters results based on user-generated tags.

Figure 3a Search Filter Options

SearchFilter

Options


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After entering all desired constraints to the search parameters, click on the Searchbutton to conduct the search.

NOTE: Users can also re-conduct recent searches and saved searches via theappropriate tabs at the bottom of the left-hand panel (Please see Figure 9 for an

illustration of how to save a search).

3.1.2 Working with Search Results

After conducting a search, the center panel of the screen will populate with the documentresults list. This search results panel will provide basic bibliographic information abouteach individual search result, including title, author, recipient, ID#, etc. If the results listconsists of multiple pages, a navigation tool in the top panel of the screen will indicatehow many documents have been found and how many pages are in the list (Figure 4).

The Date Range filterallows users to constrain

a search by a specificdate or date range.

Figure 3b The Date Range Search Filter


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Users can adjust the view of the search results list by toggling between the three ViewAs buttons, located in the top panel. The three view options are List View, Detail View,and Thumbnail View.

The default view for the search results panel is List View. In this view, the resultingdocuments appear in a sortable grid, with each piece of bibliographic informationappearing in a separate column. Users can customize which bibliographic fields appear inthe grid by selecting the View Options menu above the results list (Figure 5). Clicking onthe row of one of the titles will populate the Preview panel on the far right of the screenwith the relevant documents thumbnail and bibliographic data.

Figure 4 List View

Results ListNavigation Tool


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Detail View displays both the thumbnail image and a range of bibliographic metadatafor each document in the results list. Clicking on the hyperlinked tags or subjects willconduct a search that uses the selected item as the primary search constraint (Figure 6).

Thumbnail View displays the thumbnail image and a limited amount of bibliographicdata for each document in the results list (Figure 7). Click on More Info beneath adocuments thumbnail image for a more detailed presentation of the documentsbibliographic information.

ViewOptionsMenu

Figure 5 The View Options Menu

Figure 6 Detail View


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Users can re-sort the results list in any view by using the Sort by drop-down menu(Figure 8). In List View, users can also sort the results alphabetically or reverse-alphabetically in both English and Russian by clicking on the header of any column.

Figure 7 Thumbnail View

Figure 8 The Sort by Menu

Sort byOptions


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Open a document by clicking the Open button (which appears in both the search resultslist and in the right-hand preview panel), the thumbnail image, or the title of thedocument. Please note that the document viewer will only display one document at atime.

Users can generate academic citations for search results by using the Export Citation

button in the top panel; check the box to the left of the desired title(s) and click onExport. Users can also save one or more documents to their library by selecting theappropriate checkboxes and clicking on the Save to My Documents button. Finally,users can save a set of search parameters for future use by clicking on the Save Searchbutton in the top panel (Figure 9).

Save a search

Figure 9 Saving and Exporting

Save Documents toLibrary

Export Document Citations


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3.2. Browse

The Browse page allows users to explore the sites contents by categories reflectingbibliographic information about documents, or by information about how site users are workingwith documents. The Browse function is analogous to browsing the stacks of a library, while theSearch function is analogous to looking for a specific book in a card catalogue.

Navigate to the Browse page by clicking the Browse tab below the site banner. The center paneldisplays the 50 most-viewed documents by default. A list of browsing categories appears in theleft-hand panel (Figure 10).

The browsing categories are:

Most-Viewed: Provides a result list of the SDAs most popular documents based onusage statistics.

Most-Searched Terms: Provides a list of popular search terms based on usage statistics.

Selecting one of these search terms will populate the center panel of the screen with thecorresponding list of documents.

Popular Tags: Provides a list of popular tags based on usage statistics. Selecting one ofthese tags will populate the center panel of the screen with the corresponding list ofdocuments.

Editors Picks: Provides a list of documents selected by SDA editors. This list will beupdated regularly to highlight new, important, newsworthy, or otherwise notablecontent.

BrowsingCategories

Figure 10 Browse (list view)


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Collections: Provides access to documents as organized in the RGASPI and Annals ofCommunism collections.

Names: Provides a list of names (including people, organizations, and institutions) fromarchive documents, and populates the result list with documents written either by or toa person or entity (Figure 11). These names are available in both English and Russian.

Timeline: Provides a list of relevant time periods between the years 1890 and 1991.Selecting a time period will populate the center panel with the corresponding list ofdocuments.

Subjects: Provides a list of subjects from an alphabetized list. Selecting a subject willpopulate the center panel with the corresponding list of documents.

Namescategory isselected

Figure 11 Browsing by Name


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3.3 Document Viewer

The Document Viewer displays the text and images that are associated with each document inthe archive. This content is divided into three primary sections: the image viewer panel, the textviewer panel, and the document info panel (Figure 12). Users can open documents in the Viewervia the Search, Browse, or MySDA sections of the site. In addition to displaying all bibliographic

data and content associated with a document, the Viewer also allows users to customizedocuments with personal bookmarks and highlighting.It also enables users to review and addpublic or private commentary in the form of tags and annotations; save documents to personal orpublic folders; export citations on documents; and print or download up to 10 pages at a time ofdocuments with appropriate print permissions.

Please note that users must have institutional access in order to open documents in the DocumentViewer. Furthermore, users must log in to their personal MySDA accounts before they canaccess the bookmark, tag, annotation, save, and discussion features. Currently, only onedocument can be open in the Viewer at any given time. However, the next stage of websitedevelopment will allow users to open and view two documents in the Viewer simultaneously.

Figure 12 the Document Viewer


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3.3.1 Document Viewer Toolbar

The Document Viewer toolbar appears at the top of the screen and enables users to viewand interact with documents in a number of ways. Users can save a document to a

personal or public folder; print or download up to 10 pages at a time of a document withappropriate print permissions; export a documents academic citation in various formats;export all private and/or public annotations associated with a document; and adjust theview setting to image only, text only, or image and text. If a particular document has botha transcription and a translation, then a user can choose to view both, or just thetranslation. Users can turn the document info panel on or off via the i toggle on theright side of the toolbar (Figure 12).

3.3.2 Image Viewer Panel

The image viewer panel displays images associated with an open document (Figure 13).This panel will be closed by default if the document does not contain any images. The

buttons available on the image viewer panel toolbar are:

Up/down arrows: Allows users to page backwards and forwards through documentswith multiple images/pages.

Page Count: Shows the total number of images/pages contained within thedocument. Users can jump to a page by typing a page number into the text box.

Pan Button (arrow and compass): Allows users to pan around the image byclicking and dragging.

Zoom Rectangle Button (arrow and box): Allows users to zoom in on an image by

drawing a rectangle over a particular section.Plus/Minus Buttons: Allows users to zoom in and out of an image.

Up/Down/Right/Left Arrows: Allows users to pan around an image.

Reset Size Button: Resets an image to its original size/zoom settings.

Bookmark Button: Allows users to create a private bookmark referencing an image.

Tag Button: Allows users to create public or private tags referencing an image.

Annotation Button: Allows users to create public or private annotations referencingan image.

Expand Button (just below toolbar): Allows users to view a full-screen version ofan image.


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A modified image viewer toolbar appears when users view an image in full-screen. Thefull-screen toolbar features a pair of left and right buttons, which allow users to movebetween images, as well as a play button, which allows users to cycle through images asin a slideshow. Buttons on the left side of the toolbar allow users to pan around animage; zoom in on an image by drawing a rectangle over a particular section; or zoomin/out of an image by clicking on +or - (Figure 14). To bookmark, tag, or annotate animage, exit out of full screen mode by clicking on the appropriate button, and click on thebookmark, tag, or annotation button in the image viewer toolbar.

3.3.3 Text Viewer Panel

The text viewer panel displays the transcription and translation, if available, of an opendocument (Figure 15). It can appear either alone or alongside the image viewer panel.Please note that, in order to create a bookmark, tag, or annotation in the text viewer panel,users must first select a portion of the text, and then click on the appropriate button. Thebuttons available on the Text Viewer Panel toolbar are:

Font Size Decrease Button: Decreases the size of the font in the text viewer.

Font Size Increase Button: Increases the size of the font in the text viewer.

Expand to Full Screen

Figure 13 the Image Viewer

Figure 14 The Full-Screen Toolbar


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Bookmark Button: Allows users to create a private bookmark referencing aparticular section of the text.

Tag Button: Allows users to create public or private tags referencing a particularsection of the text.

Annotation Button:Allows users to create public or private annotations referencinga particular section of the text.

Highlight Button: Allows users to highlight specific passages of the text. Users canremove highlighting by re-selecting a portion of the text that has been highlighted,and clicking on the Highlight button.

3.3.4 Document Info Panel

The Document Info Panel displays all bibliographic information associated with an opendocument (Figure 16). It also permits users to review user-generated content such astags, annotations, bookmarks, and discussions related to the open document. Please notethat a user must first log in to her personal MySDA account before she can access theuser-generated content in the Document Info Panel.

Figure 15 The Text Viewer

The Text Viewer Toolbar


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The different sections of the document info panel are:

Keyword Search Box: Allows users to conduct a full-text keyword search of an opendocuments content, including text and annotations. Conduct a keyword search byentering a term into the textbox at the top of the document info panel.

Document Details: Displays a documents bibliographic information, including title,author, date, archival ID number, etc.

User Ratings: Displays a documents collective user rating, from one to five stars.

Tags: Displays private and public tags associated with an open document. Users canedit or delete their own private or public tags, but they cannot edit or delete publictags created by other users.

Annotations: Displays private and public annotations associated with an opendocument. Users can edit or delete their own private or public annotations, but theycannot edit or delete public annotations created by others users. Users can alsoreport inappropriate annotations to the SDA Administrator by clicking on theReport button.

Figure 16 The Document Info Panel


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NOTE: Certain annotations will contain a green SDA Editor Approved iconabove their content. These annotations were either written or approved by one

of the archives editorial board members.

Bookmarks:Displays private and public bookmarks associated with an opendocument. Users can edit or delete their own private bookmarks, but they cannot

edit or delete public bookmarks created by the SDA Editorial staff. Users can shareprivate bookmarks by clicking on the chain icon and copying the accompanyingURL. Please note that only SDA Editorial Board members can create publicbookmarks.

NOTE: Clicking on any bookmark, tag or annotation in the document info panelwill take the user directly to the relevant section of the document. Similarly,clicking on a bookmark, tag or annotation icon in a texts margins will open

that bookmark, tag or annotation in the document info panel.

Discussions: Displays the three most recent discussion board threads related to acurrent document. Click the Start Discussion button to create a new threadreferencing the open document.


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4.0 MySDA

MySDA is the sites center for personalized content and community interaction, and is accessiblevia the MySDA tab at the top of the screen.

4.1 MySDA Home

The MySDA homepage allows users to view notifications; access recently vieweddocuments; manage a personal library of saved documents, tags, annotations, and searches;and participate in discussion boards and shared Research Interests (Figure 17). See Section2.1 for more information on how to create a MySDA account.

4.2 Notifications

The Notifications area of MySDA displays updates from both administrators and fellow SDAmembers. Notifications cover such topics as additions to the digitized archive, newdiscussion topics for Research Interest Groups, and other updates related to a users personalaccount and/or the general functionality of the site.

4.3 Research Interests

Research Interests are the foundation of the Stalin Digital Archives community features. Alist of all available Research Interests is available via the MySDA homepage or by mousingover the MySDA tab at the top of the screen and clicking on Research Interests.

Figure 17 The MySDA Homepage


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Research Interests are thematically organized groups that enable scholars to share documentsand participate in discussions. Each Research Interest has a corresponding forum in whichparticipating users can discuss relevant topics and documents. Users must join a ResearchInterest before they can participate in its forum.

Each Research Interest has its own group page. To access this page, click on the title of therelevant Research Interest on the Research Interests home page. A Research Interest grouppage contains a group description, recent discussions, recently shared documents, recentpublic annotations and tags, and a list of current members.

4.3.1 Joining a Research Interest

Any user can join any Research Interest group. To join a research interest:1. Click on the MySDA tab at the top of the screen.2. Click on the Community Pages tab in the left-hand navigation panel.3. Select Research Interests.4. Click the Join button to the right of the appropriate Research Interest (Figure18).

Users can also join a Research Interest from that Research Interests group page.

4.3.2 Creating a New Research Interest

Any user can create a new Research Interest. To create a new Research Interest:

1. Click on the MySDA tab at the top of the screen.2. Click on the Community Pages tab in the left-hand navigation panel.3. Select Research Interests.

Figure 18 The Research Interests Homepage

Join a ResearchInterest


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4. Click on the Create New Research Interest button at the top of the ResearchInterests homepage.

5. Enter the group name and description, and click Create Group.NOTE: A user cannot edit or delete a Research Interest once it has been created.

4.4 Discussion Forums

Discussion Forums allow users to communicate about specific documents, themes, and areasof interest. Each Discussion Forum consists of a set of topics related to the central theme ofthe forum. Each topic has a list of individual posts ordered chronologically from oldest tonewest.

To access the Discussion Forums, select the MySDA tab at the top of the screen and click onAll Discussions in the Discussion Boards section of the left-hand navigation panel. Userscan also mouse over the MySDA tab at the top of the screen and click on Forums.

4.4.1 The Discussion Boards Page

The Discussion Boards homepage displays a list of current forums, sortable by title ornumber of topics. A list of recent topics is available on the right side of the screen.Navigate to a forum by scrolling through the Discussion Forum list using the Up andDown arrow buttons on the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Users can conduct akeyword search of all forums, topics and posts by using the Search tool at the top of thepage (Figure 19).

Figure 19 the Discussion Boards Homepage


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There are two types of discussion forums: General Forums and Research Interest Forums.General Forums appear on the top part of the Discussion Forums list and are notassociated with any specific Research Interest. Any registered user can participate in orcreate a General Forum. To create a General Forum, click on the Create New Forum,

button and provide a name and description.

NOTE: Every Research Interest has a corresponding forum. A user must firstbelong to a Research Interest before participating in its discussion forum.

4.4.3 Participating in a topic thread

Users can participate in a discussion topic by creating a post on a topic thread. To find atopic:

1. Click on the MySDA tab at the top of the screen.2. Click on the All Discussions tab in the left-hand navigation panel.3. Select a Discussion Forum.4. Select a topic to display all of that topics posts.

To create a new a post, click on Reply to this topic and type a reply into the textbox.Click on Link to Document to attach a document from a personal library to the post.Finally, click on Post to add the reply to the topic thread. Users can delete their ownposts, but they cannot delete posts created by other users. Users can also reportinappropriate posts to the SDA administrator by clicking on the Report Post link in thebottom-right corner of each post (Figure 20).

Figure 20 A Topic Thread


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4.4.4 Creating a new topic thread

1. Click on the MySDA tab at the top of the screen.2. Click on the All Discussions tab in the left-hand navigation panel.3. Select a Discussion Forum.4. Click on Start New Topic.

NOTE: When creating a new topic, a user must add a new topic title and openingmessage.

4.5 Library

The MySDA Library enables users to save and share documents from the archive. PersonalFolders enable users to view and manage documents they have saved for their own personalresearch. Public Folders allow users to share documents with other members of relatedResearch Interest groups. To access the MySDA library, go to the MySDA homepage andclick on the Personal Folders or Public Folders tab in the Library section of the left-handnavigation panel.

4.5.1 Saving a document

Users can save a document to the MySDA library from both the search results page andthe document viewer. To save a document from the search results page:

1. Conduct a search, and select the checkbox next to the appropriate document(s).2.

Click on the Save button in the top pane.3. Select an existing personal or public folder to which to save the document(s).Users can also save the document(s) to a new folder by using the Create newfolder option.

4. Click the Save button at the bottom of the dialogue box (Figure 21).

Figure 21 Saving Documents


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To save a document from the Document Viewer:

1. Open a document in the Viewer and click the Save button in the documentviewer toolbar.

2.

Follow steps 3 and 4 as outlined above.

4.5.2 Managing and Sharing Documents in the MySDA Library

In the Library section of MySDA, users can create new folders, rename existing folders,create and edit folder descriptions, sort folders by various criteria, and delete individualfolders (and the documents contained within).

Click on a personal or public folders title to view the list of documents contained within(Figure 22). Clicking on the title of a document will open it in the viewer. Buttons at the

top of the folders screen allow users to export academic citations or user-generatedannotations on selected documents; copy or move documents from one folder to another;or remove a document from the current folder. Users can also adjust the view of thedocument list by using the View Options and Sort by drop-down menus on the rightside of the screen.

NOTE: Users cannot copy, move, or delete documents contained in a public folder.

To share a saved document from a personal folder with a public folder, go to a ResearchInterest group page and click the Share Document button under the Recently SharedDocuments header (Figure 23). Publicly shared documents can be accessed by anymember of the appropriate Research Interest group.

Figure 22 My Library


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NOTE: Users must belong to a Research Interest before they can share a documentwithin that Research Interests public folder.

4.6 Community Pages

Community Pages display information about individual users to the SDA community.

4.6.1 My Profile

The My Profile page displays a users public profile, and is accessible via the MySDAleft-hand navigation panel. The My Profile page displays basic biographical information(e.g. name, email address, academic institution, about me, etc.) as well as site usageinformation (e.g. Research Interest groups to which a user belongs, tags and annotationscreated by a user, etc. ).

To edit the My Profile page:1. Click the Manage Account button in the top right-hand corner of the screen.2. Click the Edit tab.3. Update the relevant profile fields.4. Click Apply at the bottom of the screen.

NOTE: Users can set their email address to public or private. When a user selectsprivate, his or her email address is hidden from all other users on the site.

4.6.2 Research Interests

The Research Interest page shows a list of all the Research Interest groups available tothe SDA community. See Section 4.3 to learn more about Research Interests.

Figure 23 Sharing Documents

Share Document Button


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4.7 My Annotations

Users can organize and manage their private and public annotations via the My Annotationstab, available in the MySDA left-hand navigation panel. This page allows users to sortannotations by document title, date shared, or date created; export selected annotations to a

text file or browser tab; edit annotations; and delete annotations.

4.8 My Tags

Users can organize and manage their personal and public tags via the My Tags tab, availablein the MySDA left-hand navigation panel. The My Tags page displays a list of tags createdby the user (Figure 24). The number in parentheses that follows each tag indicates howmany times the user has applied that tag throughout the archive. Clicking on the grey arrowbefore a tag name will reveal the other tags with which the initial tag shares a document.

Users can rename tags by clicking the Rename Tag button at the top of the screen,

selecting the desired tag from a drop-down menu, entering a new name, and clickingApply.

Click on the tag name to see a list of documents in which a tag appears. Click on the title of adocument in the resulting list to open the document in the viewer and to highlight theappropriate tag in the document info panel.

4.9 Saved Searches

Users can access a list of saved searches via the Saved Searches tab in the MySDA left-handnavigation panel. Users can sort these searches by name, criteria, or date of last usage; name

The tags Green_Passages and Yezhovappear in the same document in which the tagImmigration appears.

Figure 24 My Tags


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or rename their searches via the Create button in the Search Name column; or deletesearches by clicking the Remove button.

Thank you for your interest in the Stalin Digital Archive. If you have any questions or concerns

about the User Manual, the website, or anything else related to the archive, please send an emailto the SDA Support Team at [email protected].