SDA User Manual 2-13-2013 Final

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Stalin Digital Archive User Guide

Yale University Press Confidential 1

Digital Publishing

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 .......................................................................................... 163.3.2 Image Viewer Panel ..................................................................................................... 173.3.3 Text Viewer Panel........................................................................................................ 183.3.4 Document Info Panel ................................................................................................... 19

4.0 MySDA ................................................................................................................................... 214.1 MySDA Home .................................................................................................................... 214.2 Notifications ........................................................................................................................ 214.3 Research Interests ............................................................................................................... 21

4.3.1 Joining a Research Interest .......................................................................................... 224.3.2 Creating a New Research Interest ................................................................................ 22

4.4 Discussion Forums .............................................................................................................. 234.4.1 The Discussion Boards Page ........................................................................................ 234.4.3 Participating in a topic thread ...................................................................................... 244.4.4 Creating a new topic thread ......................................................................................... 25

4.5 Library................................................................................................................................. 25


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4.5.1 Saving a document ....................................................................................................... 254.6 Community Pages ............................................................................................................... 27

4.6.1 My Profile .................................................................................................................... 274.6.2 Research Interests ........................................................................................................ 27

4.7 My Annotations .................................................................................................................. 284.8 My Tags .............................................................................................................................. 284.9 Saved Searches.................................................................................................................... 28

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 and

Political History (RGASPI). The primary source material represented by these images andrecords include documents relating to Joseph Stalins personal biography, his work in

government, and his conduct of foreign affairs. RGASPIs method of organizing this material in

the 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 this

archives content and organization, it is therefore necessary to review the physical archives

organizational system.

1.1.1 Fond

Thefondis 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 to

materials about Joseph Stalin; it contains approximately 40,000 unique documents. Yale

University Press (YUP) and RGASPI have chosen to include only selected documentsfrom this section of the physical archive, for a total of 28,000 unique documents

comprising 404,000 scanned page images. Currently less than 3% of the archive has

been uploaded into the archive database. The database will be continuously updatedwith newly scanned files. Users can check the status of updates in the News & Updates

section of the website.

1.1.2 OpisEach fond in RGASPIs collection contains a number ofopisi, the functional equivalent

of 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 some

combination of those two categories. YUP and RGASPI have chosen to concentrate on

making available a subset of opisi in Fond 558 containing the most noteworthy

documents. 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 a

complete 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, each delo corresponds to an individual folder

within 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 contain

pages 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 558

listed 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 the

latter category, the SDAs editors have preserved the distinction between individual

documents 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 RGASPI

with digitized volumes from its acclaimed Annals of Communism(AOC) series. Unlike thecontent from RGASPI, the AOC material does not include scanned page images. Instead, it

includes the full text of the original print publication, including the English translations of

primary 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 editorial

commentary. 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 volume

transcriptions, YUP has also included these materials as standalone documents to


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augment discoverability. (NOTE: All of these documents exist in translation.) For

example, 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 pages

are 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.

Furthermore, a user with an institutional subscription must log in to her personal MySDAaccount before she can open documents in the document viewer. Since the suite of tag,

bookmark, and annotation tools available within the archive have been integrated directly into

the Document Viewer, a user must log in to an individual account in order to view and interact

with a document.

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 access

to the archive as long as she is logged in to the subscribing institutions network. When a user at

a 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 below

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 requested a free trial access and you still do not see this accessmessage, please log in to your institutional VPN or relocate to another computer within your institution'snetwork.

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

In addition to the Access text, a user with an institutional subscription will see a Log Inbutton and a Register button in the top right corner of the screen. First time users must create a

profile before they are able to log in and access the Document Viewer and 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.4) An automated email with a username, password, and a link for a one-time login will

be sent to the users email address. Open this email and click on the one-time login

link.
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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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 a

more 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 by

default in the center panel of the screen. Enter a keyword into the textbox in the left-hand

panel 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 to

the 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 specific

document 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 publication

date.

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 recipient

searches (i.e., searches constrained to author and recipient fields will return both English

and Russian matches regardless of the language of the search term.)

Fi ure 2 the Search In dro -down

Search in drop-down

menu


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Users can also conduct a faceted search by using the filters in the left-hand panel (Figure

3a).

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. Users

can 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 and

English.

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

Search

Filter

Options


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After entering all desired constraints to the search parameters, click on the Search

button 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 document

results list. This search results panel will provide basic bibliographic information about

each 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 indicate

how many documents have been found and how many pages are in the list (Figure 4).

The Date Range filter

allows users to constraina search by a specific

date 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 information

appearing in a separate column. Users can customize which bibliographic fields appear in

the 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 screen

with the relevant documents thumbnail and bibliographic data.

Figure 4 List View

Results List

Navigation Tool


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Detail View displays both the thumbnail image and a range of bibliographic metadata

for each document in the results list. Clicking on the hyperlinked tags or subjects will

conduct 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 bibliographic

data for each document in the results list (Figure 7). Click on More Info beneath adocuments thumbnail image for a more detailed presentation of the documents

bibliographic information.

ViewOptions

Menu

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 by

Options


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Open a document by clicking the Open button (which appears in both the search results

list 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 a

time.

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 the

appropriate 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 to

Library

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 working

with documents. The Browse function is analogous to browsing the stacks of a library, while the

Search 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 the

left-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 of

these tags will populate the center panel of the screen with the corresponding list of

documents.

Editors Picks: Provides a list of documents selected by SDA editors. This list will be

updated regularly to highlight new, important, newsworthy, or otherwise notable

content.

BrowsingCategories

Figure 10 Browse (list view)


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Collections: Provides access to documents as organized in the RGASPI and Annals of

Communism collections.

Names: Provides a list of names (including people, organizations, and institutions) from

archive documents, and populates the result list with documents written either by or to

a 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 of

documents.

Subjects: Provides a list of subjects from an alphabetized list. Selecting a subject will

populate the center panel with the corresponding list of documents.

Namescategory is

selected

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 text

viewer panel, and the document info panel (Figure 12). Users can open documents in the Viewer

via 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 add

public or private commentary in the form of tags and annotations.

Please note that a user must log in to her personal MySDA account before she can open adocument in the Document Viewer. Furthermore, only one document can be open in the Viewer

at any given time. However, the next stage of website development will allow users to open and

view two documents in the Viewer simultaneously.

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; export a documents academic citation in various formats;

export all private and/or public annotations associated with a document; and adjust the

view 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 the

translation. Users can turn the document info panel on or off via the i toggle on the

right side of the toolbar (Figure 12).

Document Info Panel i toggle

The Image

Viewer Panel

The Text Viewer

PanelThe Document

Info Panel

Figure 12 The Document Viewer


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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 the

document. 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 by

clicking 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 of

an image.

The Image Viewer Toolbar

Expand to Full Screen

Figure 13 the Image Viewer


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A modified image viewer toolbar appears when users view an image in full-screen. The

full-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 as

in a slideshow. Buttons on the left side of the toolbar allow users to pan around an

image; zoom in on an image by drawing a rectangle over a particular section; or zoom

in/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 the

bookmark, 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 open

document (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. The

buttons 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.

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 particular

section 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 can

remove highlighting by re-selecting a portion of the text that has been highlighted,

and clicking on the Highlight button.

Figure 14 The Full-Screen Toolbar


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3.3.4 Document Info Panel

The Document Info Panel displays all bibliographic information associated with an open

document (Figure 16). It also permits users to review user-generated content such as

tags, annotations, bookmarks, and discussions related to the open document.

The different sections of the document info panel are:

Figure 15 The Text Viewer

The Text Viewer Toolbar

Figure 16 The Document Info Panel


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Keyword Search Box: Allows users to conduct a full-text keyword search of an open

documents 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 public

tags created by other users.

Annotations: Displays private and public annotations associated with an open

document. Users can edit or delete their own private or public annotations, but theycannot edit or delete public annotations created by others users. Users can also

report inappropriate annotations to the SDA Administrator by clicking on the

Report button.

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 open

document. Users can edit or delete their own private bookmarks, but they cannotedit or delete public bookmarks created by the SDA Editorial staff. Users can share

private bookmarks by clicking on the chain icon and copying the accompanying

URL. 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 a

current document. Click the Start Discussion button to create a new thread

referencing 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 viewed

documents; manage a personal library of saved documents, tags, annotations, and searches;and participate in discussion boards and shared Research Interests (Figure 17). See Section

2.1 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 SDA

members. Notifications cover such topics as additions to the digitized archive, newdiscussion topics for Research Interest Groups, and other updates related to a users personal

account 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 mousing

over 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 which

participating users can discuss relevant topics and documents. Users must join a Research

Interest before they can participate in its forum.

Each Research Interest has its own group page. To access this page, click on the title of the

relevant Research Interest on the Research Interests home page. A Research Interest grouppage contains a group description, recent discussions, recently shared documents, recent

public 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 areas

of interest. Each Discussion Forum consists of a set of topics related to the central theme of

the 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 on

All 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 and

Down 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 the

page (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 not

associated with any specific Research Interest. Any registered user can participate in or

create 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 first

belong 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 report

inappropriate posts to the SDA administrator by clicking on the Report Post link in the

bottom-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. Personal

Folders 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 related

Research Interest groups. To access the MySDA library, go to the MySDA homepage and

click 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 and

the 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 new

folder 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 individual

folders (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 the

document list by using the View Options and Sort by drop-down menus on the right

side 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 Research

Interest group page and click the Share Document button under the Recently SharedDocuments header (Figure 23). Publicly shared documents can be accessed by any

member 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 annotations

created 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 selects

private, 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 to

the 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 Annotations

tab, available in the MySDA left-hand navigation panel. This page allows users to sort

annotations 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, available

in the MySDA left-hand navigation panel. The My Tags page displays a list of tags created

by 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 arrow

before 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 a

document 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 tag

Immigration appears.

Figure 24 My Tags


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or rename their searches via the Create button in the Search Name column; or delete

searches 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 email

to the SDA Support Team at [email protected].