Pangur docsThe library workspace
The Library screen is where you browse a project's items. This page describes how the screen is laid out, what the toolbar does, and how to move around a project from the keyboard with the Go palette.
The Library screen is where you browse the items in a project. Every project has its own library, so the screen always shows the project named in the sidebar's project menu. It opens at /p/<project>/library, and because Pangur for Mac shows the same screens in its main window, everything on this page applies there as well.
Layout of the workspace
On a wide screen the workspace has three columns. The Collections sidebar on the left chooses what the list shows. The item list sits in the middle, with its toolbar above it. The item pane on the right shows whichever item you have selected.
On a narrow screen, such as a phone browser, the list fills the screen, an item replaces it when you open one, and Back returns you to the list. On a wide screen you can drag the edge between the list and the item pane to change their widths, or focus that edge and press the left and right arrow keys. The browser remembers the width you chose.
Above the list are tabs for the project's perspectives. Library is the flat list described on this page. Catalogue is the archival tree described in The catalogue, and any arrangements you have made follow it.
The Collections sidebar
The Collections sidebar lists the project's collections. A collection groups library items much like a folder does, with two differences: one item can be in several collections at once, and removing an item from a collection leaves it in the library. Collections can be nested inside one another.
Under Library views the sidebar offers two fixed views. All items shows every item in the project and is the default. Recently added shows every item sorted by the date it was added, newest first. Note that Recently added is a sort order rather than a collection, so you cannot add items to it.
Choosing a collection in the tree shows only the items filed in it. Hide collections folds the sidebar away and Show collections brings it back. Creating, renaming, moving and deleting collections is described in Work with items and collections.
If the project's owner has scoped the project to one collection, the sidebar and the toolbar's collection filter are hidden. The library is then showing only that collection to assistants and the command line, so there is nothing to choose between.
The toolbar
The toolbar above the list holds the controls for the current view.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Collection filter | Chooses a collection without opening the sidebar. Filter collections… narrows the list of collections; Manage collections… opens the sidebar. |
| Search in this view… | Searches the items in the current view by their details. The menu beside it (Search in) limits the search to one field or opens Advanced search…. See Search and filter your library. |
| Filter by item type | Shows only items of the types you tick. |
| Filter by tag | Shows only items that carry one tag. |
| Sort by | Changes the order of the list. |
| Read these in this order | Opens the reading room on the current list, in the order shown. |
| Toggle row density | Switches the list between comfortable and compact rows. The choice is remembered in that browser. |
| Add an item (+) | Opens the dialog for adding a reference by hand. Other ways of adding works are in Find and add a work. |
In Pangur for Mac the toolbar also offers Import media from Photos and Record an interview or lecture (see Pangur for Mac).
Each active search field, type, tag or advanced-search condition appears as a chip under the toolbar. Removing a chip drops that filter.
The list shows 50 items to a page. A counter such as "1–50 of 312" sits beside Previous page and Next page.
Addresses and the back button
The library keeps the whole state of the view in its address: the collection, the open item, the search, the filters, the sort and the page. This means you can bookmark a filtered view, send its link to someone with access to the project, or use the browser's back button to return to the view you had before.
The item pane
The item pane shows one item in four tabs.
- Read shows the item's copies and opens the one you choose. See Read a source and Manage copies and parts.
- About shows the item's details, its linked records and its notes. When the item has notes, the tab's label counts them ("About · 2 notes").
- Study gathers the item's References, Connections, Analysis, Outputs and Arrangements.
- Transcribe appears only for items that can have page images, which are manuscripts, letters, maps, artworks, books with an ESTC number, and any item that already has images. See Transcribe a manuscript.
If you open an item without choosing a tab, the pane opens on Read when the item has something to read and on About otherwise.
The pane's header holds Edit item, Cite this item, Share this item and the More for this item menu, all of which are described in Work with items and collections.
Messages you may see in the library
A Library sync banner with a count such as "1,200 of 3,400" appears while Pangur builds its own copy of the project's item details, usually just after a large import. Search and browsing work from that copy, so results are incomplete until the count finishes.
Your library is being read is about something different: Pangur's reading of the full text of your files, which Ask and passage search depend on (see How Pangur reads your sources).
Nothing here. Pangur is disappointed, but only slightly. means that the current view, search or filter matches no items.
Changes made elsewhere, for example in Pangur for Mac, by an assistant or from the command line, appear in the list without a reload. The web client checks the library's version regularly and refreshes the list when it changes.
Viewers and the library
In an organisation's project (a feature that is not offered on every account), a member with the viewer role sees the same library but cannot change it. Controls that would change an item, such as Edit item, are disabled and say that viewers can read, ask and export. What each role can do is set out in Project members and roles.
The Go palette
The Go palette takes you to any screen of the app, or to anything in the current project by name, from the keyboard. Press ⌘K on a Mac or Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux on any screen to open it, and press the same keys again or Escape to close it.
The palette's field reads Go to, or search this project…. As you type, Pangur narrows the list of Destinations (Library, Ask, Analysis, Write, Project settings, Settings and so on), and from the second character it also searches the current project by title across library items, drafts, research, conversations, corpora and exhibitions. Use the up and down arrow keys to choose an entry and Enter to open it. If nothing matches, the palette says so.
One other shortcut works on every screen: ⌘\ (Ctrl+\) folds or shows the app's main sidebar. The rest are listed in Keyboard shortcuts.
Save from your browser
Pangur's browser extension saves the article, book, record or video on the page you are reading into a project, together with its PDF. This page covers installing and signing in, how the extension reads a page, and what happens to the file.
Search and filter your library
The library's search and filters find items by their bibliographic details. This page explains what the search field matches, how to search one field or build an advanced search, how the type and tag filters work, and how to sort the list.