Browsing is a good way to access documents if you don't have a specific idea of what you're looking for. There are several ways to browse the repository, by year, funders, division, and author.
To browse the repository either select “Browse” from the menu at the top of the screen. Then choose which property you wish to browse by eg. "year".
You will be presented with a list of possible values, select one of these, and you will be given a list of references to datasets in the repository (if any) which match this value. To access a dataset, simply click on its reference in the display.
The repository offers two levels of searching, simple and advanced. They are similar, but the advanced form lets you perform a finer-grained search using more fields. Access the simple search through the front page. To perform an advanced search, click on “Search” in the menu at the top of the screen.
These are used to search fields like abstract or author. These are the fields where there is a text entry area, and a popup menu just to the right of it. Type your search terms into the box, e.g patient care. You can decide how the system will use your search terms by selecting one of the options from the popup menu just to the right of the input box.
The system will search for records in which any of the title, abstract or keywords fields contain both the word ``patient'' and ``care''.
The system will search for any record with either the term ``patient'' or ``care,'' in any of the title, abstract or keywords fields.
With these you can select one or more values from the list of managing organisational units. If no value in the list is selected, the system will ignore this field (i.e. it will retrieve records with any managing organisational unit.)
In cases where each individual record may have more than one managing organisational units, you can also change search behaviour by selecting ``Any of these'' or ``All of these'' from the popup menu on the right of the list.
If this is selected, any record which has any of the values you select will be retrieved.
If you select this option, a record must have all the values you choose associated with it to be retrieved.
When you're searching the date field, you can specify a single year or range of years that you're interested in:
You will not need to register a separate account for this service but can login using your University of Birmingham account.
You might want to add personal details to your user profile through the form available through clicking on “Profile” in the grey menu. This same form is used to change user details at a later stage.
If you are trying to deposit your thesis and your University of Birmingham account has expired, you can send us a copy via a dedicated form and we will deposit it for you. Please ensure you complete all the requested information in the form.
You can start the upload of a dataset without having to submit it immediately. Dataset uploads that you have started but not yet deposited are in your workspace which is the first thing you see after logging in.
If your workspace is empty, which will be the case when you first visit the page, you will see a button ``New Item'' This button will add a fresh, empty record to your workarea and allow you to start editing it.
If there are datasets in your workarea, you will see them listed with some option buttons. The title will be shown in the list, or ’UNSPECIFIED’ if you haven't yet given it a title. The option buttons are described below:
If you click on this button, that dataset will be removed from your workspace and discarded completely. You will be asked for confirmation first, so don't worry about accidentally clicking on it.
If you click this button, you will be able to edit and deposit that dataset.
If you're satisfied that you've completed uploading the dataset and associated information as you had intended, then you can and click on this button to deposit it in the repository.
The depositing process is described in detail in our guides available at https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/library/thesis/deposit The depositing process is divided into a number of stages. You can move between these stages by using the ``Back'' and ``Next'' buttons at the bottom of each screen. This should be familiar to those accustomed to using the ``wizard'' style of interface popular on many modern operating systems.
Don't worry about losing information you've entered when you press the ``Back'' button on a form: The system will store everything you've entered when you press it. However, you should not use your browser's ``back'' button when you are depositing papers.