A Guide to Searching Insight & the Digital Library (DL) - Spring 2006  

About Insight & DL - - Searching Insight & the DL -- Creating Groups and Presentations / Slide Shows -- Self Quizzing Tool -- Exporting Images --

Using Insight and the DL for Yale Classes


Digital Collections at Yale

Several digital image collections are available to the Yale Community. For a complete list of these collections, refer to the Yale University Library Digital Collections page found here. Yale University also subscribes to as well as recommends these image databases for research. The principal arts-based institutional collection is the Visual Resources Collection, maintained by the Arts Library. A significant proportion (50,000+) of the Visual Resources Collection is digitized and it and other digital collections are available to the Yale community through the Insight client or the Library's "Digital Library" (DL) web browser. Recently, the Yale University Art Gallery contributed a signifcant number of digital images taken of their collections and can be viewed and/or cross searched independently or with the Digital Library Cross Collection search page.

WHAT IS INSIGHT?

Luna Imaging Inc.'s Insight is client-based software used to manage, access, and present digital images. Yale has many collections available through Insight including:

Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICA)
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library Insight Collection
Japanese Historical Maps Collection of the East Asian Library
Visual Resource Collection (Yale)

Yale University Art Gallery Collections
Athanasius Kircher Correspondence
Burgert Brothers Photography Collection
Catena: Digital Archive of Historic Gardens and Landscapes
David Rumsey Map Collection

Insight allows you to perform searches, create and save groups, export images, cross-search multiple collections, create a presentation, and export a presentation directly into PowerPoint or HTML. The client version is available on ITS Cluster machines as well as on all Library public workstations. If you want this functionality on your own personal computer, you will need to download the client.

HOW DO YOU ACCESS INSIGHT?

The Insight client software, which you install, allows you to perform searches, create and save groups, export images, cross-search multiple collections, create a presentation, and export a presentation directly into Powerpoint or HTML. The client version is available on ITS Cluster machines and many Yale public workstations. To download the Insight client to your personal computer, follow these instructions. For specific instructions on using the client, click here. The generic username and password for student access are: student (username) and yale22 (password).

Faculty are encouraged to request a specific user name and password for the Insight Client as it allows them to utilize advanced features including the saving of groups and presentations to the Insight server and the download of higher resolution images. To request a personal username / password, contact the Library's Web, Workstation & Digital Consulting Services Group (e-mail: lso.wsg@yale.edu) or call 432-1949.

WHAT IS THE DL?

The Digital Library, or DL, is a web-based digital asset management system originally developed by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscripts Library to support their digital collections. Other Library collections are also available through the DL, including the Visual Resources Digital Collection and the Lewis Walpole Library Digital Library Collection. Because the application was written at the Yale Library, the development effort continues with product enhancements being written by the Systems Office of the Beinecke Library as well as the Integrated Library Technology Services Group. The generic term 'Digital Library' is used to refer to any collection made available using this application. For a complete list of DL collections, click here. You may access each DL collection individually or you may cross search a specific group of collections. The Digital Library Cross-Collection Search searches the following image databases:

Visual Resources Digital Collection
Beinecke Digital Collection
Lewis Walpole Library Digital Collection
Yale Unviersity Art Gallery Collections
Art of the Book Collection
Photonegatives
Marinetti Libroni

Note that the cross-collection search is restricted to Yale affiliates only; off-campus use requires using the Proxy Server or the Yale VPN.

You may search these collections one by one or cross search all of them together. You will note that some of the same collections available through the Insight client are available through the DL, such as the Visual Resources Collection. For a comparison of the specific features of the DL, Insight and other digital asset management tools, click here. The interface to the Digital Library collections is customizable; DL collections may look different but the technology is the same. Each collection has a help screen and an "about" page; if you hit a snag, contact the department responsible for the digital collection you are searching. For more information on the DL, see the DL FAQ page.

WHAT COLLECTIONS CAN BE SEARCHED OFF-CAMPUS?

All of the Yale Digital Collections (locally-developed and subscription-based) may be accessed remotely through authorized connections. To access the following collections, you will need to log in through the Proxy server or the VPN:
Digital Library Cross Collection Search Page
Insight Collections
Visual Resource Collection
Yale Unviersity Art Gallery Collection
ARTstor
Associated Press Photo Archive

The following collections are freely available and do not require logging in through the Proxy Server or VPN:
Beinecke Digital Images Online
Manuscripts and Archives Digital Images Database (MADID)
Recommended Online Art & Architecture Image Databases

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SEARCHING INSIGHT AND THE DL

1) Insight
For a thorough overview of searching Insight, refer to the Insight help pages found here. Below is an introduction to basic search strategies.

Keyword Searching
Select "Search" located in the left-hand margin; then select "by keywords" in the white box. Enter your keyword or keyword phrase.

i. "rome AND catacombs"
ii. "psalter AND paris"
iii. "harkness AND yale"

For more complex searches, select "by data fields" and combine search terms / fields with "and/or". If you wanted to search for digital images of Picasso's paintings, this is how you would phrase your search:

i. Select...Field/Creator/Equals
ii. Enter "Picasso" and click list. Highlight his name in the list generated, e.g. "Picasso, Pablo". (In some cases, a single artist will have variant spellings / alternative names.) Then click select.
iii. Click on and; the entire data field list will appear again. If you want images only of Picasso's sculpture, select KEYWORDS
iv. Enter "sculpture" and click search.

It is important to remember that the names of and the content in particular search fields ("data fields") will vary depending on which collection(s) you use. There are far fewer data fields in the VRC collection to search with than in the AMICO collection. Many of the data fields in David Rumsey Maps Collection will not be searchable fields in the other collections. To determine what each of the data fields searches within each collection, refer to the help screens.

2) The DL

Remember: The Digital Library Cross-Collection Search searches only:
Visual Resources Digital Collection
Beinecke Digital Collection
Lewis Walpole Library Digital Collection
Art of the Book Collection
Photonegatives
Marinetti Libroni

There are many other Library Digital Collections that are not accessible through the Digital Library. For a complete listing of Library Digital Collections see the Digital Collections page.

Basic searching information:
Separate words with a single space: boat ship steamer yacht
Omit numbers, conjunctions, articles, and prepositions: La Tour Eiffel; Leonardo da Vinci

Casting the Widest Net:
Check the "ANY" or "ALL" button to select which type of WORD search to perform.

ANY will perform an "OR" search.

- If you enter "Russia" OR "Soviet" into this field, you will retrieve records that contain the term "Russia" and records that contain the term "Soviet".
- If you enter "church" OR "cathedral" OR "minster" OR "chapel", you will retrieve all records with occurrences of any of these terms.

ALL will perform an "AND" search. This is useful if you want to combine search terms.

- "Russia" AND "Soviet" will retrieve only records that contain both terms. In other words, a record with both terms in it will be retrieved.
- "church" AND "cathedral" AND "minster" AND "chapel" will retrieve only those records where all four terms occur together.
- "castle" AND "england" will retrieve only records with the occurrence of castle and England together.

PHRASE searches will search for the exact string that you enter. Include apostrophes. "O'Keeffe" versus "Okeeffe" [Okeeffe without the apostrophe will produce no results.] This type of search is useful if you know the name of a book, a painting, a place, a building, etc.

Include articles and prepositions when they are part of a phrase. Examples:
- "tale of the tub"
- "all the king's men"
- "liberty leading the people"

DISPLAYING IMAGES

Choose RESULTS DISPLAY FORMAT:
Gallery displays up to 20 thumbnail images per screen. This is the default display. Slideshow displays one image per screen. Note that you may click on each image to enlarge it; there is the "4X", "8X", and "Zoom" buttons that will enlarge the image for you. If you wish to view the most detailed view of each image (an image type called the 'SID') you must download and install the free Lizard Tech Mr. Sid Viewer plug-in. Links to the JP2 plug-ins are available here.

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CREATING GROUPS IN INSIGHT AND THE DL

1) GROUPS IN INSIGHT

a) Begin by selecting images that you want to save; single click on that image to "select" it. You will know you have selected the image as a white frame will highlight your selection. To deselect an image, click on it again; you will see the white frame disappear.

b) To view your selected images before you save them to a group, select Group / Show Selected. To save these images into a group of their own,
create a new group. To create a new group, select File / New Group. **You may also add images to an existing group; ensure that the existing group is open.

c) To add images to a group, drag and drop your images into the group window. To delete an image from the group, select it and delete it.

d) To save your group, select File / Save Group. Name your group -- do not use spaces in the name; use the underscore key. Save your group to the "Local Folder" -- select the Local Folder by double clicking on it. Insight will ask you to specify your destination file; click save.

e) Review your saved group by selecting File / Open Group / Local Folder / your_group_name.grp

f) To delete a group that you have saved, select File / Open Group / Local Folder / your_group_name.grp. Once you have opened the group
you want to delete, select File / Delete Group. Follow the prompts.

2) IN THE DL's CROSS COLLECTION SEARCH

a) To build a group for saving, click Save above each thumbnail image you would like to include in your group. Once you have saved several images, you can view your group by clicking the Group button at the top of the screen.

b) Create a Web page containing images in your Group: The group of images you have selected will now display on a separate page. To create a web page containing these images click on the Make Page button. You have two options for creating a web page of your images:

1) E-mail option: You can receive an email message containing a URL that may be entered in your browser to retrieve your group. Simply enter your email address and click the Submit button. This email will only contain a link, or pointer, back to your group in the DL. No files will be sent over email and you will need an internet connection to view your files.

2) Save to a local drive or disk option: You can create and save an HTML page containing the thumbnail image files to a local disk or drive. Click the Submit button to create an HTML page. Your group will display as a web page. To save this page to a local disk or drive, go to the "File" menu and select "Save As." Browse to choose a place to save your web page. You are saving both an HTML page and thumbnail image files to a local disk or drive. This means you will be able to view your groups page without an internet connection but you will need to be connected to the internet if you wish to view the 4x Zoom, 8x Zoom and SID images.

3) Create an image Group stored on the Server: This option can be used to save pictures in a customized group on the server. Note: You must have a login and password to save groups on the server. While browsing the site, click the Save option above images to save images in your own personal group. Once you have completed your group, and wish to save this group for later use, click the Group button a the top of the page. Modify your selections, then click Create Group. In order to create a group for later use, Log In by entering the User Name and Password provided by your TA, click Submit, then name and save your group. Once this group is created, you can access and modify it by logging in and clicking the Groups button on the Digital Collection home page.

CREATING PRESENTATIONS IN INSIGHT / SLIDE SHOWS IN THE DL

IN INSIGHT

a) To create a presentation, you must first have an image group created and saved for the presentation. You can alwayss add to or edit this group while you assemble your presentation.

b) Select File / Group and open the group for the presentation. This will launch the group workspace (the new window).

c) Once the group window is opened, select Group / Presentation. And image workspace will appear as well as a presentation window with thumbnails In the presentation workspace, you can arrange your images as you wanted them presented. Here are some helpful tips:

i) How do I show a detail of an image? To show an image and a detail of that image, you will use the copy button and the zoom tool. Select your image; click copy at the bottom of the window. You will see a copy of your image appear; navigate to the copied image using the presentation remote; using the zoom tool (magnifying glass with the + sign), enlarge the area you want view. You will see a white frame around the detail which will save the detail. You will then notice that the thumbnail of the "copied" image will have that detailed area framed and that is what will be seen when you launch the presentation.

ii) How do I show two images at once? You must link your images together. Select your left-hand image by single clicking on that thumbnail -- if this is image #4 in your presentation, the right-hand image should be in position #5 (immediately following); ensure to drag and drop the desired right hand image to this position. With image #4 hightlighted and the desired right-hand image in position #5, click link at the bottom of the screen. The second / right-hand image will then be highlighted in a purple frame.

d) To save your presentation, click Save and Close; name your presentation. Your presentation will then appear in your group window as a blue cascading window. To export your presentation into Powerpoint, click here.

SLIDESHOWS IN THE DL

Once you have saved groups in the DL or are accessing Insight Groups through the DL, a Slide Show button will appear at the top of page. For an example, refer to this "house" group.

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Self-Quizzing Tool in the DL

The DL Library includes a quizzing function. The Self Quiz function is based on the slide show feature that is available in the DL. To use the self quiz function:
Open an Insight group from the DL Insight groups page and click the Self Quiz button. To view the information associated with the image, click the Full Record button and the info will appear in a new window. Use the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the group.


Exporting Images from Insight and DL

1) FROM INSIGHT

a) You must open a presentation that has already been created and saved to a group; select "File" / "Open Group" / "Local Folder"; click on your presentation.
b) With your presentation selected, select File / Export Presentation to PowerPoint.
c) Select a resolution to view your images. Automatically, your presentation will export as an html file (a Windows dialogue box will open). Specify a destination folder and Insight will provide a name for your file, something like "pres.ppt."
d) Select Save and Insight will display the path to where the presentation was exported.
e) Test your exported presentation by clicking test exported presentation.

2) FROM THE DL

See "Creating Groups" above, section 2) IN THE DL's CROSS COLLECTION SEARCH. Then refer to the saving options.

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Using Insight and the DL for Yale Classes - Options for Faculty

There are several methods for making image sets available to students for study outside of class via Insight and/or the DL.

In the first method, create an Insight Group (see Creating Groups and Presentations above) and announce to your students that the image set(s) can be viewed either via the Insight client or the DL at: http://images.library.yale.edu/vrc/
You can also use the DL to gather together an image set and export it as a website to post to your CLASSES-v2 space for study outside of class:

a) Begin by selecting images that you want to save by clicking on the Save link at the top of the image. Once you are finished selecting your images, return
to the top of the page and select My Group. You will see all the images you just saved.
b) You can remove any of these items from your collection by clicking Remove.
c) Once you are ready to save you images to a group, click Save Image at the top of the screen. A new page will launch with some more options.
d) To create a new HTML page with links to your collected images, click the Submit button; on that page, use the browser's File/Save options to copy
the completed page to disk/diskette/desktop/etc. Your group will then be saved (including the ability to enlarge these images as well as view the cataloging
information for each image.)
e) You can create a SLIDE SHOW HTML page with links to your collected images, and then copy it to disk/diskette. To create the slide show page, provide a title and then click the Submit button.

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Contact Information/Reporting Server Problems

For further instruction on using Insight contact:
Hannah Bennett, Public Services Librarian, Arts Library

For reporting server problems:
8:30 AM - 5:00 PM (Monday-Friday):
Visual Resources Collection: 432-2440. Give a brief explanation of your problem, e.g., the Insight server is not responding to your machine. Report any error messages.

5:01 PM - 8:29 AM (Monday-Friday); 24 hrs (Sat/Sun): ITS Machine Room: 432-6506. Ask that the ITS Library Projects Group Staff Member on call be paged and give a brief explanation of the problem.

Library staff who have helped a student with a problem related to Insight, or have experienced problems themselves using Insight, are asked to supply information about the problem using this form from the Systems Office.

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