Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is the best way to explore things in the exhibit?

A1.   To accommodate individual preferences and needs, there are 3 ways to explore the exhibit. Please read the descriptions below and select the way that best fits your needs and preferences.

-  Search : A Search link is always available in the left frame and is also available near the bottom of every main frame. Search is useful if there are specific words or phrases for which you want to search. For example, if you want to find information on a specific ship in the exhibit, then perhaps you might search for the word “ Oklahoma ,” or “ Arizona ”.

-  Navigation : Another way to navigate the exhibit is by topics. To facilitate topic browsing, the Manuscripts and Rare Books Digital History Exhibit is divided into 7 individual cases: War Begins, First Reactions, Second Wave, Striking Back, Smaller Ships, News Spreads, and Looking Back. When you click on a topic in the left frame, you will be taken to a short description of the items contained in the case and a list of the digitized items contained in that case. There are two additional categories that are also available from the left navigation frame which are Ships of the exhibit and Men of the exhibit. Here you will find a comprehensive list of links for all the the Navy ships and men represented in our digital exhibit.

-  Browse Table of Contents : A Browse link is always available in the left frame and is also available near the bottom of every exhibit main frame. The Browse link displays a main frame listing all items digitized for the exhibit, organized as a table of contents by case name and item number.

Q2. Do I have to use frames to explore the exhibit?

A2.   No. The exhibit provides a left frame to provide constant navigation tools for those whose browsers support frames. To accommodate users whose browsers do not support frames, all left frame links are provided in the main frame as well, mostly near the bottom of the main frame. If your browser does not support frames, you will only see the main frame.

Q3. Why are there two resolutions for the images in the exhibit and what are these resolutions?

A3.   Images give you a feel for what it would be like to see paper original manuscripts, books, photos, drawings, and text with special layouts. The exhibit provides 72 dpi (dots per inch) and 300 dpi versions of images for these kinds of documents. An attempt has been made to display images in the same size as the paper original, except as noted below.

72 dpi images:

• are the first version you see of any image in the exhibits
• are designed to be relatively fast loading.
• are generally legible on your monitor.
• are legible enough to determine whether you want to spend more time waiting for a 300 dpi version of the image to load onto your computer via the Web.
• are generally not wider than 6 inches on your screen, to support non-scrolled viewing on monitors as small as 13 inches diagonally, while maintaining the left navigation frame. If the paper original is wider than 6 inches, then the screen display is smaller than the paper original.

300 dpi images:

• are accessed using the link under the image named “Higher resolution image. You can also click any 72 dpi image in order to go to the 300 dpi image.
• will not support casual browsing without a high speed internet connection, (such as cable connection, or campus fiber optic connection). Note that with slower connections, including most modems, you may need to wait several minutes for a 300 dpi image to completely load onto your monitor.
• sometimes make better quality prints than 72 dpi images, because they contain more dots (however some simple images are as clear in prints from 72 dpi images as from 300 dpi images).
• are good for printing especially when you want a print that looks like a photocopy of the original because the 300 dpi images have no surrounding contextual information.
• reside alone on their web pages, you must use your browser's back button to go back to the exhibit. If you close the 300 dpi image, your browser window will close.
• provide slightly larger screen dimensions and clarity than 72 dpi images for original paper documents wider than 6 inches.
• when printed are generally not wider than 8.5 inches, nor longer than 11 inches, to support printing to 8.5 x 11 inch paper on most American printers. If the paper original is larger than 8.5 x 11 inches, then the 300 dpi image has been reduced in width to accommodate 8.5x11 inch printing.
  

Q4. Do I have to wait until images are fully loaded to use the transcription link above some images?

A4.   No. Image data is loaded onto your screen in three passes. When browsing, this allows you to have an idea of what the document looks like after the first pass (for example whether it is a photograph or a letter). You will not be able to see the details of the image until all three passes of data are loaded. When an image begins to load, the dimensions needed to display the image are reserved on that web page. This allows your screen to show all text below the image before the image makes it's first full pass at image data loading. This makes it possible for you to click on the link to the transcription immediately, without waiting for the image to finish loading. This is especially valuable if you are mainly interested in the transcribed content of a document, rather than in the look of the original. If you go to the transcription before the image finishes loading, you can scroll back up to the image when you want to examine the image further.

Q5. Why are some documents available only as text with no accompanying image of the original?

A5.   If the original is text intensive and the layout is smooth flowing text (that is, the meaning is not significantly affected by the layout), then a purely digital text edition of the original is provided. An example of this kind of document is a typed report that does not include photos, drawings, or other non-text elements.

These new digital editions are full-text searchable, whereas an image of the original typesetting would not be full-text searchable. Another advantage of a digital text edition is that the text will flow into any size window you want to use without a need for scrolling. Control of text flow allows a researcher support for the use of multiple on-screen windows, such as a window for the exhibit in a browser and another window for a word processor where research notes may be typed.

Digital editions of some documents in the exhibit may combine text and photos. In the case of such new editions, we have inserted images of the photos or other graphic elements in the place closest to the reference to that item. This luxury was not always available in the original typesetting where sometimes a picture was on a page following the reference to the subject matter, due to paper layout constraints. Examples of these combined text and photo digital editions include:
a) newspaper articles with photos and other graphic elements.
b) "Pearl Harbor! An Eyewitness Account", a magazine article with text and images.

Q6.  What are the elements of the bolded names of documents above the notes' area on document web pages?

A6.   The elements, if applicable to the individual document, are: author, title, serial, and date. Serials also have the place of publication displayed following the serial name. If, for example, there is no known author, or if the item is not a serial, then those elements are not included in this area near the top of the web page.

Q7. What is the purpose of the citation near the bottom of document pages?

A7.   The citation is provided to make it easy for researchers to gather the elements needed for referencing the document. The citation provided is for the paper version of the document. Citation formats differ according to their use (footnote, endnote, bibliography, etc.) and the style required by a publisher or teacher. You should check whether your publisher or instructor wants you to follow the Chicago Style Manual, or the APA style guidelines, or some other style guidelines. Use and style will determine the order in which the elements are presented and the punctuation you will need to use.

You may have to re-order the citation elements (like author’s first and last name, etc.) and change the punctuation for citations you copy from this exhibit.

Q8. What is a Collection Guide?

A8.   A collection guide describes the special collection to which a document belongs at a library. Looking at a collection guide can tell you more details about the collection, so that you can determine if you would like to visit the library to see more documents in that collection. A collection guide link is located near the bottom of some document pages. If there is no collection guide link after the Call Number near the bottom of the document web page, then this document does not belong to a special collection in Joyner Library at East Carolina University. The place where the original is housed is displayed between the Citation and Call Number as Location. You may want to browse Joyner Library’s East Carolina Manuscript Collection - Collection Guides to discover other manuscripts that may assist your research.

Q9.  In documents that have been converted to text, why are some words repeated in red with brackets?

A9.   The red words in brackets assist you in reading text documents by providing modern spelling, punctuation, corrected original typographical and manuscript errors, and spelling out abbreviations. This makes it possible for you to confirm that the digitizers of materials for the exhibit did not introduce any typing errors that you may find in the digitized text shown in black. It also aids your ease of reading, in case it is not obvious to you what a misspelled or abbreaviated word is in the original document. The brackets indicate information that has been added by the proofreaders of the digitized text. The black text if faithful to the source document.

Q10.  Why don't the thumbnails link to images?

A10.   The thumbnails that you see beside the case names do not link to a larger image of that thumbnail. They are there as a representation of just one of the items in that particular case.

Q11.  Why don't the images that make up the collage link to their respective photos in the exhibit?

A11.   If you click on any part of the collage you will be taken to an About the Collage page. Here you will be able to find out more about the images that were used to make up the collage, as well as links to the cases where the images reside.

Digital Collections | Manuscripts and Rare Books | Joyner Library | East Carolina University