ADDIT How-To's

ADDIT is a tool to 'plug' notes to elements of the MPI archive and draw relations between those elements. It is an application on top of the web applications which give you access to the archive, like the imdi-browser or Annex. In order to use ADDIT you have to be familiar with at least one of those tools and you must have a login account for MPI archive resources.

What does ADDIT?

The tool allows you to add so-called 'webnotes' to specific elements of the MPI archive. Those webnotes might consist of a mere comment or a binary relation between two (or more) different elements. If you or someone else has attached a webnote to an element, it'll get marked permanently. To see which webnotes there are for such a marked element, open ADDIT at the element and you'll get a list of all (public) webnotes which belong to that element with the option to add more.

How to call ADDIT?

ADDIT is only available on specific web applications and for specific elements of the archive. Currently you can attach webnotes to and draw relations between:

• matches of imdi-search
• elements of imdi-files within the imdi-browser
• annotations within ANNEX
• lexical elements within LEXUS

The default way to open ADDIT at an element is to press the SHIFT-key (SHIFT+ALT for Linux) together with a click on one of the mouse buttons. Yet applications may differ from that. On LEXUS there is special button for ADDIT. For imdi-search there is an option in the context menu (which opens with the right mouse button).

NOTE:

Webnotes are shown in small popup windows. You must thus enable popups! Further, for proper functioning, ADDIT needs that the browser opens a new page in a new window, NOT a new tab. You can set both in the browser preferences.

How to attach a webnote?

After ADDIT is called, you'll see a list of all webnotes and relations attached to that element. At the end of the list there is the option to add one.

What's in a webnote?

A webnote always contains at least the reference to the element it belongs to. In the simplest case you would type in just some text as comment. However you can also add further references and/or draw relations.

What's the purpose of adding further references?

There are two kinds of references on a webnote: so-called 'subject' references and 'object' references. The idea is that, if you draw a relation, it'll be FROM the 'subject' TO the 'object'. The terms 'subject' and 'object' are used within RDF, a web standard to encode relations. You can add as many references as you want. If you specify add least one object reference you get a binary RELATION (from the subject reference with which you opened ADDIT). In that case you can choose the TYPE of that relation. If you don't like the offered types, you can specify a new one. That new type will be added permanently to the existing choices and will be visible for others too. Currently a type consists merely of a name and a description. In further versions, types may consist also of reference to a relation defined elsewhere.

How to add a reference?

After clicking on one of the 'add' buttons, you'll offered two possibilities to enter a reference:

• Typing in an URL, e.g. http://www.mpi.nl or copy and paste it from somewhere.

• Getting a specific ADDIT reference: You leave the popup window as it is and open on another browser window by an appropriate MPI web application the element you're interested in. If you than call ADDIT from that element again, it won't open a second ADDIT-popup, but the reference will be taken over automatically into the existing one, and you'll have that reference added to your webnote.

What webnotes are there already?

From the popup-window there is a link to a table. This will show all existing (public) webnotes.

CAUTION

ADDIT is still in a test phase. Its appearance and way of usage still may change. So far all webnotes are public. Yet also in later versions there won't be high security settings like encryption etc, so don't use ADDIT to remember your credit card number!