JHC Accessing & Using the Digital Library & Archives

Accessing & Using the Digital Library & Archives

To gain access to the Digital Library & Archives, create a free guest account by filling out this form and selecting the box at the bottom that reads "I want JHC DLA access, please". You can also join our mailing list using this form. Then return to the digital collections website and login with your newly created account credentials.

On the Digital Library & Archives homepage, there is a list of “collection buckets.”
These collection buckets represent either a single, large collection or a theme with several smaller collections residing within.
When you select a collection bucket with multiple collections residing within, you will be brought to a landing page for that bucket that includes links to the finding aids for the individual collections within, and links to “suggested topics.” If you want to see only one collection within a collection bucket, you may select the suggested topic for that collection.
To search across collections with a collection bucket, use the search or advanced search options at the top of the collection bucket landing page.
For collection buckets that represent one collection, you will find a link to the finding aid and can search the collection using the search or advanced search options at the top of the landing page.
Digital Library & Archives collections have been organized online to imitate the physical collection. After selecting an image you will be brought to the image viewer screen. To the right of the image there will be a content sidebar with pages in ascending order. You can click though these pages to view the digital folder in the same order as the physical folder.
If you do a keyword search, the pages that have the keyword will be highlighted in the content bar.

There are multiple search options available to researchers.
From the homepage, or from the landing page of any collection, you can do a general search using the search box at the top of the homepage.
From the homepage, or from the landing page of any bucket or collection, you can also do an advanced search by collection, box or folder number, subject or keyword.
From the homepage, you can select a suggested topic and search within that topic.
From within a search results page, you can narrow your search using search facets and add or remove collections to your search on the left-hand side of the screen, and delete search parameters on the top of the screen.
When searching more than one collection, you can sort by collection name, number, box number or folder number; order these by relevance, and change your layout options (listed as “display options”).

For more assistance on searching the Digital Library and Archives see our Search Tips!

Web 2.0 Functions: you can tag and comment on images. For example, if you know who is in an unidentified photograph, you can add those names as tags and/or include them in a comment, on the image view screen.
Reference URL: for citation purposes, you can select the reference URL option in the image view screen, and a URL will be generated to copy and paste.
Print/Download: You may print or download a document.
“View image and text” allows you to view the OCR text and image side by side.

When citing from collections, please include the following information:

Identification of item
Date (if known)
Collection name
Collection number
Box number
Folder number
Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA

For more information, please review our citation guide.

Updated 06/14/2023