Stories and Topics

Revision as of 17:18, 11 January 2019 by EricJohnson (talk | contribs) (copyedits)

As Miranda develops, we are integrating curated content and multimedia-driven narratives as means of navigating Miranda and learning more about the world of the Folger. These are our Topics and Stories sites.

Both sets of sites are built in a WordPress multisite template that has been made for the Folger's use, with partner Sites by Coop. The template is modular, composed of modules for different text blocks and media elements. With the multisite capabilities, we want to make it easier for Folger staff to share knowledge in a technically sustainable and simple manner, and to ensure we can maintain these sites over time.

Topics

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Topics are brief introductions to an area of the collection, and to items which can spur a user on their search. For the beta version, we are beginning with an initial set of short Topic pages on popular Shakespeare plays. We will expand the Topic pages beyond Shakespeare's works and into different aspects of the Folger's holdings, reference questions, and more.

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Stories

Stories are longer narratives that offer a thematic tour through an area of the Folger's collection and sometimes with the collections of other cultural institutions. Stories sites can be both stand-alone or complementary to physical exhibitions on the Folger's campus.

Featured Results

Featured Results is a means of promoting certain Folger content pages to the top of broad search results. Searches for "king john" or "king john shakespeare," for example, will lead to a first ranking Featured Result that is the Topic page for Shakespeare's play King John. As we build up Topic pages over time, our goal is for Featured Results to help orient users to content that may be interesting to them.

WordPress Plugin

We are in the process of completing a Miranda WordPress plugin, using the IIIF-produced Universal Viewer. Once it is installed on WordPress-powered sites, the plugin allows users to insert Miranda records with digital objects using a simple shortcode and the alphanumeric Miranda ID. We will be installing the plugin first on Topics and Stories sites, and then will release it to the public by the time the project concludes.