The California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) offers researchers, rail fans and the public a search interface to its many separate collections using the Andornot Discovery Interface, at https://csrm.andornot.com

The collections include historic photographs, railroad menus, employee timetables, maps and technical drawings, books and other publications, archival finding aids, and more.

CSRM previously had a separate search interface to each database, without features users have come to expect, such as spelling corrections, search suggestions, and relevancy-ranked results. Now users can search the combined collection and find related records across all these sources with ease.

Search results are presented in both a list view for quick scanning of metadata and a gallery view (shown above) for a more visual appearance, with the option to expand records for complete information, stream videos, open PDFs with search words pre-highlighted, save and share records on social media, and other features that make the site a pleasure to use.

Behind the scenes, most of the data is managed in a series of Inmagic DB/TextWorks databases. CSRM creates archival finding aids  which are contributed to the Online Archive of California, and their audio visual materials are uploaded to the Internet Archive. Andornot developed procedures to regularly harvest resources from these two sources, as well as to index the contents of the DB/TextWorks databases.

The graphic design of the site uses the standard layout of the Andornot Discovery Interface, customized to match the main CSRM website for a seamless transition from one to the other.

The site is hosted by Andornot as part of our Managed Hosting Service.

The law library of the Law Society of New Brunswick has just upgraded their library catalogue public search interface to one powered by our Andornot Discovery Interface.

Available in both English and French at https://www.nblawlib-bib.ca, the catalogue allows lawyers around the province to search holdings in each main city where the society has a library collection, and to filter their results by date, subject, author, language and type of material. Additional features such as spelling corrections, search suggestions and relevancy-ranked results help connect users to resources quickly and accurately.

Behind the search interface, library staff use Inmagic DB/TextWorks to manage their data.

The site is hosted by Andornot as part of our Managed Hosting service.

Contact us for help managing and searching your legal collections, libraries and other information resources.

The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives has both a new name, the ArQuives, and a new search engine for their collections, at https://arquives.andornot.com

Since 1973, The ArQuives has been acquiring and preserving material documenting LGBTQ2+ history. They provide public access to information and materials, in any medium, by and about LGBTQ2+ people, primarily produced in or concerning Canada.

Last year the ArQuives approached Andornot to work with them on a grant application to improve their 15 separate databases and create a public search interface. There was no consistency in field naming, and most of the databases only had basic query and edit screens and no reports.

A major concern for staff was that the records should eventually conform to appropriate descriptive standards for each type of material. After analysing the databases we were able to consolidate the 15 databases into 7, with the bulk of the records being added to the descriptions database from our Andornot Starter Kit for Archives.

Creating a public digital space was an important goal for The ArQuives team, as they work toward making their collection as accessible as possible to LGBTQ2+ communities throughout Canada and internationally.

To meet this goal, Andornot developed and hosts an instance of our Andornot Discovery Interface for the ArQuives, featuring their extensive library, archive, and artifact collections. Books, periodicals, audio and visual collections, posters, photographs, artwork, artifacts, personal, and organizational records are all available online to inspire and inform.

Features such as spelling corrections, relevancy-ranked results and the ability to quickly narrow results by Name, Place, Material Type, Decade, Archival Description Level and other key facets help users find resources quickly. The nearly 4,000 images of artifacts, artworks, book covers, buttons and more add visual appeal to the site, as well as quickly illustrate archival holdings.

More Information

The ArQuives has more information on this project from their perspective in this news post on their website. After reading that, be sure to check out our various blog posts discussing options for cleaning up your databases or ask us to help you.

Learn more about Andornot's solutions for Archives and Museums, our Andornot Discovery Interface search engine, and our managed hosting service, then contact us to discuss your project!

The Canadian Medical Association publishes policies and briefs on a wide range of health topics, representing the position of the CMA's members.

This database has long been available online, but is now powered by our Andornot Discovery Interface.

The new site is available at https://policybase.cma.ca and is hosted by Andornot within our Managed Hosting service.

The site offers users the features they expect from a modern search engine: spelling corrections, "did you mean" search suggestions, relevancy ranked results powered by sophisticated algorithms, and facets such as topic, year, and type of policy to quickly and easily refine a search.

Policies are available as PDFs linked from search results, and the full text of each PDF is indexed and searchable too. If any search words are found in the full text, a snippet of the relevant passage showing the words in context is displayed in search results. The user may then click a single button to open the policy in their browser with their search words pre-highlighted, where ever they may appear in the document. This feature saves the user from having to download, open and search all over again within the PDF for the relevant passage.

The site is available in English and French - not only the user interface, but all the metadata and PDFs too - allowing users to search and fully interact with the site in either language.

Policies are managed in a DB/TextWorks database by CMA Library staff. 

Updating the CMA PolicyBase was long overdue. We needed to update the interface and functionality to make it more user friendly. While it seemed like an overwhelming task, Jonathan guided us through each step of the process.  We're really pleased with the end result, so much so that we're now converting other databases to the Andornot Discovery Interface.

-- Debbie Ayotte, Associate Director, Policy Research & Support, Canadian Medical Association

A separate Physician Workforce Survey search engine is available at https://surveys.cma.ca and is also powered by our Andornot Discovery Interface and hosted by Andornot.

Contact Andornot for information management and search solutions for your medical and other collections.

For some reason, DB/TextWorks menu screens are a little used feature. We often meet clients with many databases, but without a convenient way of seeing and accessing them all at a glance. Adding a menu screen to DB/TextWorks is quick and easy to do, but makes using your databases so much easier.

The screenshot above shows the menu screen from our Andornot Library Kit, with links to each of the many databases it includes. The one below shows one from one of our clients' systems.

What is a Menu Screen?

Like a Query Screen or Report Form in a DB/TextWorks database, a Menu Screen is a screen layout you create using the WYSIWYG designer in DB/TextWorks. You would usually add to it links to each of your databases, for searching or data entry. You might also add your organization's name or logo, contact or support info for anyone who might be using the system, a brief description of each database, etc.

Having links to all your databases on a single screen saves time and helps new users find their way around your collection of databases without having to hunt for them in folders on disk. It also allows you to specify, in each link to a database, which query screen and reports to load for that database. 

One way to create menu screens is to have different menu screens for different kinds of users. For example, in an archives or museum that relies on volunteers to help with data entry, you could have a menu screen for volunteers that only lists the Accessions database, and pre-loads a simpler query screen and data entry form designed specifically for volunteers. A more extensive menu could provide the archivist or curator with links to all databases, pre-loading the more sophisticated query and edit screens for their use.

Unlike a Query Screen or Report Form, the menu screen isn't stored in any one database, but rather as a separate file on disk (with a .tbm or .cbm extension). You would usually store it in the same folder as all your database files.

How do I create a Menu Screen?

1. Open DB/TextWorks but don't open a database.
2. Select Menu Screens > Design from the main menu.
3. Choose "Create a New Menu Screen File."
4. Browse to the folder where your databases are stored to save the menu screen in the same location, and give it a name.
5. In the WYSIWYG Menu Screen Designer, you may now add links to textbases, your organization's name or logo, and other information. Use the examples above for ideas, or come up with your own design.
6. To add links to textbases, choose Edit > Add > Textbase box.
7. In the Textbase Properties Dialogue, select the textbase to link to, then on the Initial Elements tab, pre-select the query screen and forms to use by default. Note that these override the default screens and forms set in the textbase, and that in either case, users may still change to other screens and forms once they are in the database.
8. On the Initial Action tab, be sure to select which window to open. For example, if your link is one such as "Search the Database", select a Query Window. If your link is "Add a New Record", select Edit New Record as the window to open.
9. Save your new menu screen when your design is complete.
10. If you ever create more than one menu screen, you can even add links from one to another on each of them.

How do I use a Menu Screen?

1. On each PC that has DB/TextWorks, open DB/TextWorks but don't open a database.
2. Select Menu Screens > Select from the main menu.
3. Choose "Use the Menu Screen in a File", then browse to and select the Menu Screen file (ending with .tbm or .cbm) that you created earlier, usually stored in the same folder as your databases.
4. Close and re-start DB/TextWorks and your menu screen will now automatically load, ready for use.

See this blog post from earlier this week about two other helpful but little used features of DB/TextWorks: Sets and Record Skeletons.