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Frequently Asked Questions | Search Guides & Videos | Glossary

Frequently Asked Questions

Get quick answers to common questions on collections, searching and more.

Collections

I’ve worked with a particular collection in the Ohio History Connection Archives/Library–why doesn’t it show up on Ohio Memory?
- Digitization is a time-consuming and costly process, so we have only digitized a fraction of our collections. Materials are selected for inclusion based on their historical significance, scanning potential, complementary value, and ownership and copyright.
How are collections organized?
- Ohio Memory contains dozens of subcollections, featuring the work of a single creator (Albert J. Ewing Collection), materials around a central theme (Gay Ohio History Initiative Collection), or items from a single contributor (Seneca County Digital Library). Visit Collections for a brief overview of contents and significance for each subcollection on Ohio Memory.
What is the Ohio Memory Collection on Ohio Memory?
- Ohio Memory began in 2000 as a digital repository containing contributions from hundreds of cultural heritage institutions around the state. A lot of content has been added to the site since then, but most of the original contributions can be seen here, representing a variety of topics, time periods and institutions.

Searching

Why aren’t my search terms always highlighted on the images?
- Materials uploaded as PDFs do not display highlighted terms the same way that materials uploaded as TIFFs do.
- Your search terms must be exact matches for red highlights on images to appear, including punctuation. Partial matches may still show up in your search results and are displayed and highlighted in the full-text transcript but not on the image itself.
- Handwritten materials often include transcriptions, but due to the nature of these materials, highlighting can only be displayed in the full-text transcript.
Where does Ohio Memory search for my term(s)?
- Unless you limit your search term to a single field (i.e. Title, Place, etc.), matches are identified across all fields of an item’s metadata record, and full-text transcript, if available.

Search Guides & Videos

Learn how to browse, search, navigate and understand Ohio Memory records. Don’t have time for a video? Check out the corresponding guide.

Glossary

Understand terms used across Ohio Memory to support research and better searches.

Compound object – Two or more files bound together structurally so that they are presented as a single record on Ohio Memory (e.g front and back of a single photograph, newspaper, yearbook, etc.)
Format – Describes type of item that the original material is
- Books – Published materials like books, yearbooks, ledgers, etc.
- Government publication – Any publication from a municipal, state, federal or foreign government, which may be in print, microform or digital format
- Manuscripts – Any handwritten or typewritten materials that are unpublished
- Newspapers – Newspaper material
- Objects – Three-dimensional objects like tables, chairs, weapons, etc.
- Picture – Photographs or any primarily visual material
- Sound recordings – Audio files
- Video recordings – Video files
IIIF Manifest – A link to structured metadata that can be used in applications or websites that accept the manifest link. For example, you can use the URL in the Universal Viewer to see the image and its metadata in a different presentation environment. For more information on how IIIF manifests can be used, see How To Use IIIF Resources and Image Viewers.
Metadata – Structured information that describes, explains, locates or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use or manage an information resource
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) – Identification of printed characters using computer software to make printed materials full-text searchable
Single object – Single file to represent one item (e.g. one-page document, photograph, poster)