The main window of the Ariadne Java applet is divide into three parts:

• Visualisation of the Search Session - the top half of the window shows a number of cards, each representing one screen from the library catalogue system.

  It is divided into three horizontal coloured bands. The top band is used for cards representing high-level library functions, the middle level typically shows lists of records resulting from browsing and searching, and the bottom level shows accesses to individual records. The cards are positioned automatically by the applet, according to a set of rules, but you can move items up or down simply by holding the mouse down and dragging them to a new position.

  Each card shows the command from the library catalogue, a thumbnail image representing the screen in the catalogue, and a horizontal bar showing if any annotations have been added to the card. If you click the mouse on the thumbnail image, a pop-up window appears showing the text of the catalogue screen full-size.

• Annotation Area - this allows you to add annotations to any of the cards. Select the horizontal bar on the bottom of the card, then type in your annotation. You can use the 'Clear Note' command to clear any existing annotation. Your annotation is automatically stored when you select another annotation, or save the search file.

• Button Panel - contains a number of buttons:
  • Fold - allows you to fold a number of cards away, to be replaced by a single card labelled 'FOLDED'. This command is useful if you want to hide the less interesting parts of the search session, focusing instead on the more pertinent areas. To use the fold command you must first select the first and last of the cards to be folded.

  • Unfold - reverses a Fold operation. You must first select the card to be unfolded (i.e. one labelled 'FOLDED').

  • Open - presents you with a list of search files available on the web server. Select a file and hit the 'Open' button to read it in and display it.

  • Save - allows you to save a search file on the web server. You must have a username and password to use this command. You can choose to save just the annotations you have made to the search, or the entire search file including the annotations.

  • Clear Note - clears the contents of the annotation area.

  • Email - allows you to send an email message to another user, regarding the current search file (see 'The Email Window' below). As with the Save command, you need to have a username and password to use this command.

  • Go To Page - this command is only available if the current search session is from the Ruskin Library web catalogue. It allows you to jump directly to the web page corresponding to the currently selected card. Select the card you want to jump to, hit the 'Goto Page' button, and the page from the Ruskin Library catalogue should appear in your web browser. NOTE: The web browser may ignore this command. Netscape 3 ignores it unless you still have the page containing the applet, i.e. this page, displayed.

  • Close - closes the Ariadne Java Applet.

This window lets you compose an email message to send to another user. You can use the simple address book, described below, to quickly fill in the 'To:' and 'Cc:' fields from your own personal address book.

The URL of the current search is automatically included, so the recipient of the message can easily view the search (using a single mouse click with a web-aware mailer). Menu commands also allow you to insert the text or annotation of the currently selected card.

The Address Book Window

The address book allows you to keep your own personal collection of email addresses to quickly fill in the fields in the Email Window.

The left pane of the window shows a list of people and groups in your address book. Select the name of the person(s) or group(s) you want to email, then hit the 'OK' button.

To add a new person or group to the address book, hit 'Clear' to make sure the right pane is empty. Then enter the real name of the person or group in the 'Name:' field, and the email address in the 'Email:' field. Finally hit the 'Add' button. You can add any number of email addresses in the 'Email:' field, one on each line, to create a group of people to email.

To update an address, select it in the left pane, edit the 'Name:' or 'Email:' fields, and hit the 'Update' button. You can delete addresses by selecting them in the left pane and hitting the 'Delete' button.

Your address book is automatically updated when you hit the 'OK' button. (Selecting 'Cancel' discards any changes).