[Audio]

This video is a short guide on how to search the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture online for things you might be interested in!

We will be covering three methods of searching for content – searching our digitised media for content you can view online, using the map for content near you, and using the search bar for any content on a subject.

 

[Searching our digitised media]

This method of searching will allow you to view content from our collection that has been digitised and made available online. Some of the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture is still held in copyright and so isn’t available to the public unless specifically requested – this method of searching will filter that out. Most of our digital media is photographs, although we have some audio.

[Demonstrate] Start on the homepage. Click on ‘Containing Digital images’, ‘Containing Digital Audio’ or ‘Containing other digital media’, depending on what you are interested in. This has now created a filter where only materials available to view online can be seen.

From this page, you have a few options. You can scroll manually through the collection [demonstrate], you can filter by pre-made subjects [demonstrate] or geographical location [demonstrate], or you can search a term at the top.

 

[Using the Map]

If you’re interested in seeing everything we have in the Leeds Archive of Vernacular pinpointed to a specific location, it’s best to use the map.

Start on homepage.

Click on ‘Explore Geographic Locations.’

You will see that this page has a map centred on the UK – most of the content in the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture was collected in the United Kingdom, and within that largely in England.

Zooming on the map will allow you to focus on particular parts of the country – the closer you zoom into the map, the more defined the pointers become. [Demonstrate]

Clicking on a pointer will take you through to that item in our collection where you can learn more about it. [Demonstrate]

You can also filter the map if you are interested in finding particular sorts of content – you can filter for audio, sound recordings, content only collected as part of the Survey of English Dialects, and the entire collection. [Demonstrate]

 

[Using the Search Bar]

If you’re interested in researching a particular topic and want to search our entire collection – both the material online and the items still held in our archives – this is the best method of exploring!

Start on the homepage, and enter your search term into the top search bar. Today’s we’re going to look at what materials we have in the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture on cheesemaking.

You can see that this search has brought up everything in the collection on cheesemaking, whether it is digitally available or not and including images, audio, studies and dissertations.

If you find some images or audio that you’re particularly interested in and want to see if there is any more from the same occasion, the best way to do this is to click on the image [demonstrate], and then select ‘In this Collection’. [demonstrate]. This will bring up the archive filing system, which will allow you to navigate based on how the archive has been organised. The item you are on will be open, allowing you to see what other items there are in that folder.

Any items with a blue camera symbol or white arrow in a blue circle are available to view online.

 

 

I hope you have found this guide to searching the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture usefulwe’d love to know what you find in our collections and why it’s important to you!