Flash
Demo
Flash
DemoBrowse the collection catalog by viewing available search properties the pull-down menu shown under "Browse Search". Selecting a search property will display the available search terms for that property as shown below.
Select desired term(s) for searching by checking the box(es) next to the term(s). As terms are selected, they are added to the Selected Term List on the right. You can highlight terms in the list and click the left blue arrow button to remove just that term (or choose "Clear All" to start a new search).
Click the Search button when the desired terms have been selected. You may need to refine your search depending on results. If no results are retrieved - broaden your search by removing the most specific terms, for example.
The Smart Search option will automatically create the appropriate Boolean search for the selected terms! Text search, described below, can be combined with selecting terms from the catalog. In the screen shot below, the Smart Search will perform the following Boolean search: (grade level = middle school) AND (item type = short answer) AND (content = Earth/Space)
Search Type: Note in the screen shot above, next to the Search button, there are options to select a search type. The smart search (default) creates the most appropriate boolean search automatically from the selected search terms and is the recommended search type unless you have a specific reason to use the And search type, described next. The rules for the smart search: Uses boolean OR for all terms from the same property and uses the boolean AND for all terms from different properties.
Example 1: selected search terms - middle school (grade level), high school (grade level). Since middle school and high school are both (grade level) and therefore from the same property, the smart search will implement the boolean OR (middle school OR high school)
Example 2: selected search terms - middle school (grade level), high school (grade level), earth/space (content area). The smart search will implement a boolean OR between middle and high school since both are grade levels and implement the boolean AND between the grade levels and content area: (middle school or high school) and earth/space
And Search: The AND search is a special case. It implements a boolean AND between all terms listed. This is useful when you want to find media or items that contain both or all the terms in the same media or item. For example, suppose you chose the words "church" and "window" from the keyword property of an architecture image collection. In comparison, the smart search would normally implement the boolean OR and find all images with either keyword "church" or keyword "window". The AND search will find all images that have both keywords for the same image - meaning it will find only images of church windows.
to add text to the search term list as shown next.
Text searching rules:
Flash Demo
If the desired descriptive data is not displayed, use the "customize" option in the Action pull-down menu to select and view desired data.
Short Cut Buttons: Three of the most frequently used actions in the pull-down menu are also available as Short Cut buttons. The buttons are, from left to right, 1. "save selected to work window", 2. (middle button) open selected as test, and 3. open selected as score guide.
To remove media or test items form the Work Window, select the items or media and select ”Remove Selected Items” from the “Action” pull-down menu.
Flash DemoAllows search results to be dynamically sorted by up to four hierarchical levels.
Select the Sort option from the Action Pull-down menu. The following mini-window will be displayed. You can sort on up to 4 levels in a hierarchical fashion. Once you have designated your desired sort order, press the Update Sort button (lower right of sort mini-window) to initiate the sort. You can resort any time. The sort order stays in effect until you change it again.
Flash
DemoYou can use this window to show or hide information.
Choose the Customize option to open the Customize 'mini-window'. When the Customize mini-window is open, it displays the displayable properties and appears as shown below. Click the checkbox next to properties you wish to have displayed. Click the Update button in the lower right of the mini-window to implement the changes.
Opens the currently displayed items in a new window, suitable for printing. From this new window, choose print. To print selected items as a test or score guide, use the "Open Selected as.." option and print from Word or a browser as described next.
Test in Browser: This is the recommended option for saving items to a user's computer. Opening selected assessment items as test in browser will display the selected items in a new Browser window. From this new window, choose the "save as" option and save the file. (Make sure you remember where you saved the file). This option will also download to the user's computer, any linked images and store these in a folder in the same directory as where you directed the file to be saved. Once the file is saved, open it from within a word processor for futher editing. Browser files do NOT page intelligently. You will likely want to edit the page breaks in a word processor (using print previews) to have it page break as desired. Once you have edited the file, save it as a .doc file (or word processor file). You may also wish to edit the items to include more writing space, personalized instructions and page numbers perhaps.
Score Guide in Browser: This is the recommended option for saving assessmemt items with answers to a user's computer. Follow the details as listed above in Test in Browser. The score guides for some performance assessments are found within a pdf document. If this is the case, the link to the document is included but the pdf document must be opened and printed separately. Check your score guides and for constructed response items, if no html version of rubrics and scored student work are automatically included, open the link to the pdf score guide and print that as needed.
Test in Word 98+: Opens the currently selected items into the browser-version of Word. Users must have Word 98 or greater, or you will see strange html coding in the resulting document. You can edit and print this document from the browser-version but it cannot page intelligently. You may find that tables are split and other undesirable things. If you need better formatting, save the file first. Then start the main program of Word, open the document and then use the page preview and format to your needs. This option does NOT download linked images or other linked media. If you want to download the images and other media to your computer, rather than access them over the internet, use the browser option described above. This option works best for quit edits and quit printing where page breaks and other more polished formatting not needed.
Score Guide in Word 98+: Opens the currently selected items and answers into the browser-version of Word. Users must have Word 98 or greater, or you will see strange html coding in the resulting document. You can edit and print this document from the browser-version but it cannot page intelligently. You may find that tables are split and other undesirable things. If you need better formatting, save the file first. Then start the main program of Word, open the document and then use the page preview and format to your needs. This option does NOT download linked images or other linked media. If you want to download the images and other media to your computer, rather than access them over the internet, use the browser option described above. This option works best for quit edits and quit printing where page breaks and other more polished formatting not needed.
Flash DemoThe Work Window is like a "shopping cart" for storing media or test items of interest while performing other searches. The work window items can also be saved for permanent storage by entering a title and clicking the "Save" button. The work window is erased when the browser is closed or the user logs out.
The Work Window looks and operates similar to the search results window, with a few additional functions.
Flash Demo
Saved presentations contain only partial information – the item identifier (item ID) and the sort order. When online slideshows or tests are given, the system gets the item id and retrieves the original media or item from the bank.
Some functions are available in the presentation window for manipulating presentations - such as deleting media or items. The best way to manipulate tests and slide shows is to move the saved presentation back to the work window (click the add to work window icon) which will retrieve the entire metadata and make it available for viewing, sorting etc.. Note: If the work window is not empty, the media or items will get appended to the work window. Once desired changed made, save the work window by either replacing existing presentation or save with a new name.
Presentation Window – only showing partial information
Entire search results, selected items from the search results, or items in the work window can be printed and/or saved to a file on the user's machine for further editing.
For printing or saving items, the user can choose to open all or selected items as a printable view, test or score guide. The printable view will allow for printing from within any viewing option.
Opening selected items as a test (in Actions pull-down menu, or short-cut button) will move the items into a new browser window. Choose the "save as" option from this new window and save the selected items to the user's computer for further editing and printing. Opening selected items as a score guide will include answers. If rubrics and scored samples are available for the item in the "rubrics" or "scored samples" links, these will be automatically included. If there is no information in these links, the user can access the rubrics and scored samples through the original pdf files link to the original modules, events, or tasks. The user will need to print these out separately. They do not automatically load into the score guide.
It is common for a user to want to save both test and score guide for the same set of selected items. First open items as test in browser window and choose "save as" option. Give the items a useful name. Then repeat the process but using the open items as score guide and give the name of the test and include score guide or some other change to indicate its the score guide for the other file saved as test.
When the file is saved from the browser, any images will be included in a separate folder in the same directory as where the file is saved. However, when the file is saved from browser-version of Word, the images are NOT saved to the user's computer.
Note: Printing from the browser-based Word does not intelligently handle paging. In order to carefully format the paging, and include page numbers, save the file. Then open the file in the full Word Processor and examine the print previews to make adjustments as desired.
1. Where can I find the correct answers to multiple choice questions? In items view, this information is displayed above the item itself. In slide view, where you are looking at each item, one by one, this information is displayed to the left of the item. If the answer property is not visible, you may need to open choose the "customize" option from the Actions pull-down menu, click the checkbox next to the answer property, and then press the Update button. This will then make the answer property visible.
2. How do I view score guides and rubrics? For constructed response items (including performance assessments such as events (1 class period) and tasks (multiple class periods), there may be rubrics and/or scored samples of student work. If these are included, you will find a link to click to display in the properties list. Use the customize mini-window to make sure these properties are visible. If you click the links to the score guides and rubrics, these will open in new windows, of which you can move and re-size to examine the item. These are also links to original modules and score guides available as PDF files. If no html rubrics and score guides are available, click on the PDF links to see those files. Print those as needed. Often, the pdf Score guides include additional teacher instructions.
For constructed response items, the rubrics and scored samples are available by clicking on the "rubric" link or "Scored samples" link. This will display the information in a new window. If the properties are not visible, select the "customize" option from the pull-down Actions menu and click the checkbox next to these properties to display. If still no property displays, it means there are no rubrics or scored samples available directly as an html file. In that case, you can always access the original rubrics and score guides which are available as Adobe PDF files from a link to the original module and score guide. If the pdf files property is not visible, choose the customize option from the pull-down menu and place a check next to the property. This will display the link, such that you can click on it and get the pdf document.
For performance assessment items such as events (1 class period) and tasks (multiple class periods), the rubrics and score guides are located as Adobe pdf files with a link to the original score guide.
3. Can I view items in different windows so that I can compare? Yes. In table view, the item can be opened in a new window (instead of the current window) by clicking and holding the right mouse button on the link in the first column of the table (usually the Item#) and then choosing to have the browser open the item in a new window. This window will stay open until you close it. You can minimize it to get it off the screen, but it will not be removed from your computer memory until you close the window. If you do this a lot, you will have many windows and the screen can get cluttered. Be sure to close windows when you are through.
4. What is the easiest way to edit items? Assuming items of interest have been found and selected using the search options, the recommended best option is to open the selected items in a new browser window. There is a shortcut button, or an action in the pull-down action menu that will open selected items in a new browser window. From the new browser window, choose the "save as" option and save the file to a location on your computer. Saving from the browser will also download any images and store in a separate folder, in the same directory as where you stored the file. Open this file in your word processor for further edited. Note that the most common edits will be to adjust for proper page breaks, add personalized instructions, and add additional writing space. Certainly you can add more items or move them around.
5. What is Printable View option in the Action menu? Printable View provides a way to print the currently displayed view in a way that removes unnecessary information and mirrors the view the user is currently in (such as table view, items view, or slide view.) The items are first opened into a new window that is ready to print. Choose to print from that new window. Again, the display conforms to whichever view the user is in when the option is accessed. Table view will display as a list, but not include all the data. The slide view will display one item, etc..
6. Browser Requirements? MetaCat makes use of Javascript. Required browsers are Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, Netscape 6.0 or higher, or any version of Mozilla. Items stored in MetaCat can include file formats which require plugins to display properly, such as Macromedia's Flash or Adobe Acrobat reader for PDF files.