Featured Collections: FAQs

What are they?

Featured Collections spotlight library resources that are relevant: for specific courses, to an exhibit (past or present), for highlighting all or part of a Special Research Collection , or to draw attention to campus events or national monthly observances. But, the possibilities are endless.

For example, a collection titled “The Beatles” (based on the popular rock band) might contain records for physical items, and digital and electronic resources. This might include: biographies, sheet music, digital video of live performances, digital audio of studio recording sessions, and song and record album holdings.

Where are they?

Featured Collections are part of our Discover catalog. A quick way to get to there is by clicking on the Advanced Search link on the libraries homepage.

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In Discover, you will find a Featured Collections link in the top menu.

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This link will take you to the Feature Collections Lobby page.

You may also come across a featured collection when viewing the record for an item that is in a featured collection.

The item's full record, will have a "Collection" shortcut.

Clicking on "Collection", or scrolling to the bottom of the record, will bring you to a link for the featured collection, and a Virtual Browse window to view “More from the same Collection”.

It’s also possible that a direct link or QR code for a featured collection could be shared in a Canvas course, a presentation, or on a webpage.

How are permalinks and QR codes created?

Save a permalink by opening a featured collection, and then copying and pasting the URL. That URL will work as long as the collection is active.

Create a QR code by opening a featured collection, then look to the top right for the blue button with a QR code. Click that button.

This will open a popup window that has both QR code and Copy Link options.

If you need a copy of the URL, click on "Copy Link". This will save the link to your clipboard. If you need the QR code, right-click on the image of the QR code and save, or copy, the image. Either can be shared: in presentations, on fliers, on webpages, or anywhere you need a direct path back to the featured collection. 

How can Featured Collections be used in Canvas?

The most straightforward way is to paste the URL or QR code onto a page, which would allow the user to link out directly to the featured collection.

There is also a way to embed the collection into a Canvas page so the users would not have to leave Canvas. To do this first navigate to the course where you’d like to add a featured collection, and go to "Pages". Click on "+ Page" on the top right.

This will open a page with a rich text formatting box. At the bottom right of the box, you will need to change the box to an HTML editor by clicking on “</>”.

Enter the following code (swapping the appropriate permalink where it says “FEATURED COLLECTION URL”)

<p><iframe src="FEATURED COLLECTION URL" width="1055" height="664"></iframe></p>

Then click Save.

The final product will be an interactive Featured Collection home page in the Canvas page. Anything you select here, will open in the Canvas page.

For more details on linking and embedding library resources in Canvas see the Guide to Library Resources in Canvas.

How do I create a Featured Collection?

Anyone can request a Featured Collection. Please just provide the required details in the Featured Collection Request Form.