Navigating the Repository
What is a digital repository?
Digital Repositories offer a convenient infrastructure to store, manage, re-use and curate digital materials for new research, education, and learning.
What is a collection?
The collections are groups of items donated by Swift Boat Sailors themselves as well as a special collection of newspaper articles from Stars & Stripes, a military newspaper that covered the time-period of the Civil War through today. The collections are labeled by the name of the donator.
How do you browse through a collection?
The best way to view all items in a collection is to click on “Browse Collections” in the navigation bar on the far left of your screen. This will bring up the list of collections available. (Please note there may be more than one page of collections.) Once you have chosen the collection you would like to view, please click on “View the items in the …collection” to display all items. Click once on the item itself to view the metadata associated with the item. Click once more on the item in the metadata to bring up a larger view of the item itself. When you are finished viewing the item, click twice on the back arrow in your browser bar to get back to the original collection.
What is an exhibit?
An exhibit is a public display of an item or items of interest. Our exhibits are designed to highlight particular aspects of Swift Boats (Patrol Craft Fast) and/or Swift Boat Sailors during their service in the Vietnam War from 1965-1970.
How do you browse through an exhibit?
The best way to view an exhibit is to click on “Browse Exhibits” in the navigation bar on the far left of your screen. This will bring up the list of exhibits available. (Please note there may be more than one page of collections.) The exhibits are designed in different ways to best display the items and information. Click on images inside of the exhibit to display metadata for that item. Click twice on the back arrow in your browser bar to get back to the exhibit. (Items in slideshows can be located by selecting “Browse Items” and conducting a search using tags or search descriptions.)
What is an item?
An item is a single donated material such as an audio clip, an image, a video, etc. Each item comes with a set of metadata to give additional information about the item.
How do you browse through the items?
The best way to view an item is to click on “Browse Items” in the navigation bar on the far left of your screen. This will bring up the list of items available. (Please note there is more than one page of items.) Click once on the item itself to view the metadata associated with the item. Click once more on the item in the metadata to bring up a larger view of the item itself. When you are finished viewing the item, click twice on the back arrow in your browser bar to get back to the original page of items.
What is metadata?
We use Dublin Core, an initiative to create a digital "library card catalog" for the Web. We use up-to 15 metadata (descriptive data) elements that offer expanded cataloging information and improved document indexing for search engine programs. Examples of metadata used on our site include Title, Subject, Description, Creator, Source, Publisher, Date, Contributor, Rights, Format and Type.
What is a tag?
A tag is a descriptive and searchable term associated with an item. For example, searching for the tag Qui Nhon will give you a list of every item that is associated with the term Qui Nhon.
How do you cite an item?
Click once on the item itself to view the metadata associated with the item. Use the information provided at the bottom of the metadata marked “Citation”.
What type of permission do I need to use an item?
Each item has different terms of use. The three most common types of permission to use an item are Public Domain (free to use the item in any manner); Permission to use with proper credit to the owner of the item; and use of item only after obtaining permission from the owner of the item (contact information will be given in this circumstance). Click on the item itself to view the metadata associated with the item. Terms of use are located in the metadata under “Rights”.
How do I add audio, images, text, videos, etc. to the site?
Please contact Suzanne Edwards at SueEdwards@live.com if you would like to add content to the site.