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A pop-up is technically doable, of course. But since the very first thing at the top of every EAD finding aid is the title and brief description of the collection, along with the repository name, I'm not sure how that popup with that information could convey it any more clearly. Also, many users routinely block pop-ups in their browsers since the majority of pop-ups are advertisements. Regarding the large finding aids, I know some institutions provide collapsible/expandable TOCs as well as TOCs that are persistent (i.e. the TOC in the left pane doesn't move when you scroll the body of the finding aid in the right pane). Both those techniques might help users not get lost. At the moment, we haven't implemented either of the above techniques, but at the end of every c01 we do have a link "Back to TOC" which at least helps them get back to where they started. We also display the name of our repository at the top of the finding aid not just as text but as a link, so they can always get from the finding aid to our home page for more information. Michele ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michele Combs Manuscripts Librarian Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave. Syracuse, NY 13244 315-443-9758 [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -----Original Message----- From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kathryn L. Staley Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 9:23 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: google search/finding aids We're having a challenge with cyber patrons coming to our finding aids through google searches and being confused as to what they have reached. We also have some very large finding aids (100+ pp.) in which researchers loose themselves. How have other institutions tailored their ead style sheets, etc. to be more user-friendly within these contexts. A colleague (w/o any EAD experience) suggested creating a pop-up window with a message similar to "you have accessed the description of a manuscript collection, Collection 124. Speculation Land Co. Records" and provide an abstract of it. Has anyone attempted something similar and if so, how well did it work? Thank you, Kathy -- ----------- Kathryn L. Staley Archivist, Special Collections Belk Library and Information Commons Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 828-262-6724 | 828-262-2553 (fax)