Add finding aids
Use the Project Client Add Finding Aid wizard to add archival finding aids encoded using Encoded Archival Description (EAD). The Project Client processes the EAD and enables you to:
- Define a metadata mapping for the EAD tags.
- Select options for displaying the EAD as a compound object.
- Select a custom Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) file to govern the display of the Full Finding Aid view.
- Select a custom thumbnail.
- Manage an archival copy of the EAD by using the Archival File Manager.
When added to a Project Client project, the finding aid is converted to HTML and processed as a compound object. After you upload it to the server and it is approved and indexed, end users can search the full text of the finding aid and see highlighted search results.
Preparing to add finding aids
Before adding finding aids, configure your collection for optimal use by designating a full text search metadata field into which the full text of the finding aid will be copied. Please see Edit field properties for more information. For granular metadata mapping, map collection fields to Qualified Dublin Core.
After your collection is configured, use the following tips to create a finding aid file that can be processed by CONTENTdm.
- Ensure the EAD is a valid XML document.
- Ensure the EAD is encoded using UTF-8 or ANSI
- Use absolute URLS. If the EAD refers to a file or site on the Web, use the complete URL instead of a relative path.
- Change or delete links to local files. If the EAD refers to a local file, remove the link to the local file or make the file available on a Web server and include the absolute URL.
To understand how the finding aid files are processed, see Processing.
Using the Add Finding Aid wizard
After you have configured your collection and created your finding aid using the tips above, you can use the Add Finding Aid wizard to add the file to your project.
- From the Add menu, click Finding Aid. The Add Finding Aid wizard displays.
- Click Browse to select the finding aid file. Click OK.
- (Optional) Choose the thumbnail to display for the finding aid.
- Select Use default thumbnail to use the CONTENTdm default finding aid thumbnail.
- Select Use custom thumbnail for this finding aid to use a customized thumbnail image for this finding aid. Click Browse to select an image file from to use as the thumbnail.
- Click Next. A progress screen displays while the finding aid is processed by a web service. The Map Metadata Fields screen displays.
- Map the finding aid tags to collection metadata fields.
- This mapping applies to the compound object-level metadata only. Page-level metadata is not mapped.
- On the left of the mapping interface, the wizard displays the tags found in your finding aid, while the right side displays a drop-down list of the collection’s metadata fields. Use the drop-down list to select a collection metadata field for the EAD tags you want mapped in your collection metadata. See Available tags for metadata mapping for a list of the tags that can be mapped.
- You can map multiple tags to the same field. Data from all the mapped EAD tags is added to the designated field separated by a semicolon.
- The wizard displays a default mapping the first time you import a finding aid into your project. If you change the default mapping, the wizard will remember your settings for subsequent imports. The default mapping provided is intended only as a guide.
- If any of the Dublin Core fields used in the default map do not exist in the CONTENTdm collection, the EAD field is mapped to None.
- The EAD tags are not included in the extracted data added to the metadata record for the finding aid, only the data from within the tags is displayed.
- Click Next. The Formatting screen displays.
- Choose the page structure for the finding aid when it is converted to and displayed as a compound object.
- Display options are divided between the Description and the Contents List sections of the finding aid. The Description displays the data within andtags. The Contents List displays the data within the tag
- When selecting the page structure for the EAD compound object, you have several options:
Description display options
-
Display as a single compound object page (default)
This option generates a single compound object page using the data contained in the tags listed below:
- Break into sections and display as separate pages
This option generates multiple compound object pages using the data contained in the tags listed below:
Contents list display options
- Display as a single compound object page (default)
This option generates a single compound object page from the Contents List that contains the following data:
- Break into sections and display as separate pages
This option generates multiple compound object pages from the Contents List. One page is created for each level-one tag:
- Click Advanced to select formatting for the full view of the finding aid. The Project Settings Manager displays the Processing Settings page.
- The default CONTENTdm XSL file is selected by default. You can choose a custom XSL file to customize the display of the full finding aid. Under the Finding Aid section, click Use a Custom XSL File.
- Browse to select the XSL file that you want to use and click Open.
- Click OK to continue.
- Click Next. The Confirm Settings screen displays.
- Review the settings and then click Finish. A progress screen displays as the finding aid is processed. When complete, a summary screen displays the summary and any errors or warning.
- Click Close. The finding aid is added to the project spreadsheet.
Note: You can edit both compound-object and page-level metadata for a finding aid from the project spreadsheet. Pay particular attention to the page-level titles used for the finding aid and the contents list sections. You may prefer to modify the Title field in the metadata for each section so that it displays properly for end users.
Processing
The following processing details provide guidelines for understanding how to work with EAD files in CONTENTdm.
| If the EAD | CONTENTdm will |
|---|---|
| Includes references to an external .XSD or .DTD file | If the externally referenced XSD or DTD is available, the finding aid will be processed using it. If the externally referenced XSD or DTD is not available, the finding aid will be processed using the publicly available Library of Congress EAD XSD. If the Library of Congress EAD XSD is not available, EAD processing will fail. |
| Includes references to local (internal) files | If the reference to the local file is between the <xml> and <ead> tags, it will be removed and the EAD will be processed without using the referenced file. If the reference to the local file is within the <ead></ead>, EAD processing will fail. |
| Includes references to image files | If the reference to the image file uses an absolute path, the image will display in both the compound object pages and the full finding aid view. If the reference to the image file is to a local file or uses a relative path, the image will not display. |
| Contains badly formed XML | If the EAD XML is badly formed, it will not process. |
| Uses encoding other than UTF-8 | If the EAD file uses encoding other than UTF-8 or ANSI. If your finding aid uses ISO encoding, save the file using UTF-8 and change the encoding to UTF-8. |
| Contains namespace encoding | If namespace information is encoded between the <xml> and <ead> tags, it will be ignored and the EAD will process. If namespace information is encoded within the tags, the EAD processing will fail. |
Supported values for
The following values for are supported and displayed. If a finding aid uses a value other than the values defined below, it may not display properly.
- carton
- box
- folder
- reel
- frame
- oversize
- reel-frame
- volume
- map-case
- box-folder
- page
- folio
- othertype
Available tags for metadata mapping
When processing an EAD file, the following tags will be available for mapping, if they are in the finding aid being processed. EAD tags that are not included in this list are not currently available for mapping.
Editing finding aid compound objects
You can edit both compound object and page level metadata for a finding aid. The structure of a finding aid compound object is not editable, but page names can be edited in the Project Client.
For more information about editing finding aids, see Editing compound objects.
Working with stylesheets
In order to process an EAD finding aid, CONTENTdm uses three default stylesheets:
- description_default.xsl: Generates the description section of the finding aid.
- contentslist_default.xsl: Generates the contents list section of the finding aid.
- fullfindingaid_default.xsl: Generates the full finding aid view.
These files are located within the CONTENTdm Project Client\EAD directory.
Editing the default stylesheets
If the default stylesheets do not adequately render your finding aids, you can edit them to make adjustments needed for your EAD files.
- Copy the default files to another location on your local system.
- Before editing the default files, make a back-up copy of the originals so you can revert to the defaults if needed.
- Open the .xsl file you want to edit using an XML editor of your choice.
- Make the desired changes.
- Save the edited files to their original location in CONTENTdm Project Client\EAD directory.
Note: The files must retain their original names in order for EAD processing to work correctly in the Project Client.
Using CONTENTdm alternate stylesheets
Not all EAD finding aids will display correctly using the default style. To support different EAD finding aids, alternate stylesheets are provided below. These stylesheets may be used in lieu of the default stylesheets.
This set of stylesheets supports the display of the tag
- Download and save the alternate stylesheet(s) to your machine.
Note: The alternate description and contentslist stylesheets are designed to work together. For best results, use both of them.
- Save the stylesheets in the CONTENTdm Project Client\EAD directory.
- Rename the default stylesheets in that folder so you can use them again if needed.
- Rename the alternate stylesheets with the corresponding default filename(s):
- description_default.xsl
- contentslist_default.xsl
- fullfindingaid_default.xsl
The next time you import an EAD in Project Client, these alternate stylesheets will be used for finding aid processing.
More alternate stylesheets will be made available in the future.
Using locally customized EAD stylesheets
If you prefer to use customized stylesheets, you may replace the default stylesheets with your own customized files.
Note: OCLC does not guarantee future compatibility when you use your own customized stylesheets. The CONTENTdm Website does not support custom stylesheets.
- Before replacing the default files, make a back-up copy of the originals so you can revert to the defaults if needed.
- Move your replacement files into the CONTENTdm Project Client\EAD directory.
- Name your replacement files as follows:
- description_default.xsl
- contentslist_default.xsl
- fullfindingaid_default.xsl
- Test your stylesheets by importing an EAD using the Add Finding Aid wizard in Project Client.
- Upload the finding aid to the server for approval and indexing.
- View the finding aid to determine if the custom stylesheets are satisfactory.
Creating locally customized stylesheets from the EAD Cookbook
If you are replacing the default stylesheets with stylesheets from the EAD Cookbook, please take note of the following changes that you will need to make to the Cookbook files in order to use them with CONTENTdm.
- Using an XML editor, open the stylesheet from the EAD Cookbook that you want to use with CONTENTdm.
- Edit the dsc file (dsc1.xsl - dsc15.xsl), by adding the following template above the
"" tag.
< > - Save the changes to the file(s).
- Before replacing the default files, make a back-up copy of the originals so you can revert to the defaults if needed.
- Move your replacement files into the CONTENTdm Project Client\EAD directory.
- Name your replacement files as follows:
- description_default.xsl
- contentslist_default.xsl
- fullfindingaid_default.xsl
- Test your stylesheets by importing an EAD using the Add Finding Aid wizard in Project Client.
- Upload the finding aid to the server for approval and indexing.
- View the finding aid to determine if the custom stylesheets are satisfactory.