Collections

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Collections

VDX databases are arranged in Collections of information. They are used to describe all resources that end users can search and link to through VDX. Collections present end users with a clear and consistent guide of what is available.

Collection records are flexible and can be used in a number of ways. They can describe:

•The home institution's OPAC

•Other OPACs

•Abstracting and Indexing services such as CSA databases

•Aggregator services such as Ebsco or SwetsNet

•Websites that may be useful to users, but are not searchable through VDX

•Electronic journals

Collections are used to group a number of Collections together in a hierarchy, for example:

•A geographical area of OPACs

•A subject based hierarchy

They can also be used to group a number of database records together so a user can search a number of databases simultaneously.

To View the Details of a Collection

A Search Profile may contain an unlimited number of Collections. You can view the details of a Collection if you are a registered user. To view a list of the individual Collections contained in a Search Profile:

1.Click on the Collections: hypertext link on the Standard Search screen.

2.In the Searchable Collections list click on a Collection link to display the details.

3.Click on Close Detail when finished.

Parent and Children: if hierarchical grouping is configured, when you open the pop-up screen there may also be links to a Parent record or Children. At the top of the screen a link listed under Parent means that the current record you are viewing belongs to ‘greater’ organization in the hierarchy. Children mean that the current record you are viewing is the ‘greater’ record that contains one or more ‘lesser’ records. Note that you can click to view these links even though you may not have permission to use a parent or child record for searching purposes.

Other Collections - Under this heading there are more Collections you can link to though they are not directly searchable through the Web Admin portal. They have been made available to users, by the system administrator setting up a link to the collection through EARL.