The folder hierarchy determines the structure of the item display.Before you begin scanning, decide how you would like your collection to display on the Montana History PortalIf, before scanning, you already have created the folder hierarchy that will determine how the collection’s items are presented, you can quickly and efficiently save the item and begin creating your collection.
Examples:
- If you have a book, do you want the book presented as collective pages from the first page until the last or rather presented still in its entirety but with divisions by chapters?
- If you have a newspaper collection from 1909-1911, would you want the newspaper displayed by one item per published date or have the newspaper displayed with divisions of years or further into volumes?
These are important decisions because as soon as you scan an item, you will need to save it on your computer. Where you save the item and how it is titled will determine how the item displays on the portal.
Document: any object that is not yet digital. For example, a photograph, a book, a newspaper, a yearbook, a page from a diary, an entire diary, etc. that has not yet been scannedDigital file: a document that has been scanned or digitized and converted into a computer saved file and is made up of a set of picture elements (pixels). Digital files for the Portal are saved as TIFF file types.Digitization: The process of converting analog information into digital formatFolder: Just like real world folders, folders on your hard drive store files. These files can be documents, programs, scripts, and any other kind of computer files you can think of. Folders can also store other folders.Collection folder: the folder where all of a Portal collection’s digital files and folder hierarchy are saved. This folder is named the same as the Portal Collection (e.g. Montana Yearbook Collection)Folder hierarchy: how the parent and child folders are structuredParent folder: a folder created within a collection folder that identifies a document whose digital files are stored within. May house child foldersChild folder: Child folders are stored in parent folders and can house other child folders and digital items
Above: An example of a folder hierarchy created for the Montana Yearbook Collection. The digital files are from the 1956 Yearbook child folder of the Waine county Yearbooks parent folder within the Montana Yearbook Collection collection folder.
Example 1: One-level of hierarchy (one parent folder; no child folders)Document: Edward Hennerford’s 1912 diary
Example 2: Multiple levels of hierarchy (a combination of parent and child folders) Document: Esther Webley’s 1939 field notes (compiled monthly).
- If a single-level is the best for the document (e.g. as a book, a diary, a photo album, etc.), there is no need for a more in-depth folder structure.
- If your documents would best be displayed with divisions (e.g. a newspaper, a collection of diaries or yearbooks, etc), create a multiple-level folder hierarchy that has a combination of parent and child folders.
If there was a Portal collection being created called the Montana Yearbook Collection, the collection folder would be titled Montana Yearbook Collection and would be the first folder created. This folder will house all parent folders, child folders, and digital files.If the 1956-1960 Waine County yearbooks were being digitized for the Montana Yearbook Collection, it could be decided to display the yearbooks so a specific year could be searched for quickly. The yearbook folder hierarchy would then be set up with the by opening the Montana Yearbook Collection folder and creating inside it a parent folder titled Waine County Yearbooks. Then, in the Waine County Yearbooks folder, child folders named 1956 Yearbook, 1957 Yearbook, etc. would be created. Within these child folders, the digital files would be saved.The image below on the left is the folder hierarchy with saved digital files and the image on the right is the display column of the yearbooks on the Portal.
Note: This section of the guide only pertains to digital files that will be saved as TIFF files. Therefore, this is relevant for text and image documents but not audio files (audio files are saved in the WAV format).
Once you have scanned a document according to the Portal’s technical requirements, select to save the created digital file.A similar screen as in the below example will open:
The item in this example that has been scanned is page 13 of the 1956 Waine County yearbook from the Montana Yearbook Collection (the first twelve pages have already been scanned and saved in this example).
- The file name will be Page013. In accordance with Portal technical requirements, the file type has been selected as a TIFF file.
- After naming the file and selecting the type, save it to the correct folder.
- In this instance, the file named Page013 is saved to the child folder 1956 Yearbook of the parent folder Waine County Yearbooks which is saved in the collection-titled folder Montana Yearbook Collection.
- Select Save.
- You can now navigate to your folder hierarchy and view the digital file.