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BOA's Website Structure

The BOA website is divided into the following categories:

• Themes
• Collections
• Volumes
• Documents
• Images

Beginning with themes, the categories cover increasingly specific subject areas or time periods as you move from themes, to collections, to volumes, to documents, and finally, to images. 

Themes

A theme contains multiple collections that relate to a broad, overarching subject. The collections in a theme will therefore be complementary, given their affiliation and relevance to the same general subject area. Collections are organised in this way to make them easier to find and understand.

For example, the theme International Relations contains the collections Establishing the Post-War International Order, 1944­­–1961 and Paris Peace Conference and Beyond, 1919–1939. Themes are similar to areas within a library, where multiple bookshelves will focus on a broad, overarching topic.  

Themes are made up of collections.

Collections

A collection contains material organised into volumes and documents relating to a narrower, more specific subject area or time period than the overall theme (i.e., Establishing the Post-War International Order, 1944–1961). 

Each collection is designed in the same format. It has its own highlights, insights, downloads, and key data. Highlights are key documents from the collection, specially selected by the editorial team due to their significance. Insights provide historical context. The downloads tab includes collection marketing materials, such as a collection summary, a flyer, and sample images. Some collections also include a downloadable list of archival references. Finally, key data includes the description of the collection and information regarding the contributor/s, creator, publisher, rights, date range, identifier, licence, and so on.

Collections are made up of volumes.

Volumes

Within a collection, materials are split into volumes to make the content easier to navigate. A volume contains documents grouped thematically, chronologically, or by archival reference. For example, British Government Information and Propaganda, 1939–2009 is organised thematically and has volumes such as Immigration and Race, 1940–2006 and Political Economy and Trade, 1938–1996. The Sphere, 1900–1964 is organised chronologically, with volumes such as The Sphere, 1900 and The Sphere, 1901 etc. Alternatively, volumes can be based on archival references, such as Records of the Board of Trade, 1945–1961 and Records of the Cabinet Office, 1943–1961. These are volumes within the collection Establishing the Post-War International Order, 1944–1961.

Volumes are made up of documents.

Documents

A document is composed of scans of primary sources. A document can be thought of as a folder made up of multiple images (i.e., CAB 79/48/10 is a document in the Records of the Cabinet Office, 1943–1961 volume, which belongs to the Establishing the Post-War International Order, 1944–1961 collection). 

Documents are made up of images.

Images

An image is a single page within a document and is a scan of a primary source. (i.e., Image 1 is the first page of the document CAB 79/48/10). Images are like single pages in books.