You can attach supplemental PDF files to your EAD collection guides, in cases where you have longer collection inventories and other descriptive information that is not encoded in EAD. It's easy!

For an example of what this looks like, check out the "Additional collection guides" (within "Related resources") links at: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt9s2042mx.

The steps include:

Prepare Supplemental PDF Files

Any full-text within your PDFs will be searchable within the OAC—meaning they will appear in OAC search results when users hit on any words within. 

Not sure if your PDF has full-text? Open it in a PDF reader. If you can copy and paste text to another document, or conduct a search using CTRL + F, it should be searchable in the OAC.

In order to ensure users have some context for the PDF, we suggest adding some preliminary information on the first page of the PDF. For example:

  • Collection title associated with the inventory/box list/container list/etc.
  • Collection number
  • Name of your repository
  • Contact information for your repository, for reference questions

Save the PDF file, and note the exact filename (e.g., "ms104.pdf") -- you will need this for the next step.

Compatibility with assistive technologies

When preparing supplemental PDF files, please ensure that they are web-accessible. PDFs posted to OAC must be accessible to people who use screen readers because of reduced or no vision.

The following software-specific guides will help you to create PDFs that work better assistive technology:

Serving readers with slow internet connections

The file size and structure of your PDF document also impact accessibility. Large file sizes, for instance, making it more challenging for readers with slow internet connections to access your content.

The following resources can help you to drastically reduce file size and slash the amount of time it takes for a PDF to load or download:

You can test how quickly your PDFs render using the developer tools in your browser to simulate a slow connection.

Attach the Supplemental PDF Files to Collection Guides

You can upload and attach supplemental PDF files on "self-serve" basis through the OAC Dashboard. 

  • Navigate to "Manage Collection Guides"
  • Under the list of your collection guides, browse or search for the EAD or RecordEXPRESS guide that you'd like to update
  • Select the guide
  • Click the Attach PDFs button
  • On the resulting page, you can attach one or more supplemental PDFs:
    • In the "Title" field, provide a descriptive heading for the PDF
    • Specify the numerical order in which the PDF should appear (e.g., "1" for the first PDF, if there are multiple files)
    • Use the Browse button to select and upload the PDF file
  • Use the Delete button to delete the entire entry for a supplemental PDF file.
  • Once completed, click the Save Changes button.

Update and Replace Published Supplemental PDF Files

Once a supplemental PDF file has been published, you can continuously revise and publish the updated results on a "self-serve" basis through the OAC Dashboard:

  • Navigate to "Manage Collection Guides"
  • Under the list of your collection guides, browse or search for the RecordEXPRESS guide, with PDFs that you'd like to update and replace
  • Select the guide
  • Click the Attach PDFs button
  • On the resulting page, use the Browse button to select and upload your updated PDF file, and click Update to save the changes