Here at British Online Archives (BOA), we have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to improve the user experience of our website. A major part of this process has been the creation of a brand new “Themes” landing page. This will soon replace our “Series” landing page.
What is the “Themes” page?
The “Themes” page will group our primary source collections along thematic lines. We believe that this development will enhance the user experience and boost discoverability. Through careful reflection upon our collection holdings and strengths, and in dialogue with academics, we have chosen eleven key “Themes”:
- Colonialism and Empire
- Culture and Society
- Economics
- International Relations
- Media and Communications
- Medicine
- Philosophy and Religion
- Political and Social Movements
- Science and Technology
- Slavery and Abolition
- War, Security, and Intelligence
How will this change benefit my institution?
The “Themes” page has been developed in order to enrich the user experience of our website. Grouping our many primary source collections under key historical themes will make searching for, and navigating them, much easier. To aid discoverability, “Themes” will also be introduced as an additional search filter on our main collections page.
What will happen to the “Series” page?
Eventually, the “Series” page will be removed. There will, however, be a period of overlap. Institutions will therefore have sufficient time to adjust to the change. In due course, a dedicated “Sales” page will be introduced. Here, our collections will be bundled together should institutions wish to purchase several of them along thematic lines.
When will this change take place?
We plan to introduce our “Themes” page on 15 April. We will reach out to you again when this occurs.
How will this change affect my institution?
If your institution uses Series-level URLs as part of its bibliographic discovery system, you can continue to use these for the time being. We will be in touch again to let you know when we plan to remove these completely. Rest assured, access to your BOA collections will not be affected in any way.
Will our collection level URLs be affected?
No, there will be no changes whatsoever to any of our collection level URLs.
Where can I find out more about this change?
If you require any further information or have any questions regarding this process, please email us at info@britishonlinearchives.digital.