Step 1: The Main Page

This is the main page of the MuseumFinland portal. The primary search functionality of MusemFinland is based on the multi-facet search paradigm.

In multi-facet search, the content being searched is classified along multiple hierarchical views, and the search proceeds by selecting constraints on these views. In MuseumFinland, the museum items have been classified according to nine (9) different views, such as Artifact types (Esinetyyppi), Materials (Materiaali), and Manufacturers (Valmistaja).

The links in each view are the possible selectable constraints on the current level of the hierarchy (in the case of this main page, the top level). After each link the number is shown in parentheses indicating the number of hits in the result set if that category is selected as a further constraint. All selections leading to the empty result set have been prefiltered from the view! (This default option can be changed if the used wants to view all category choices.)

Having all the facets and their top level visible on the main page gives a new user a beneficial overview of what the collections of the portal actually contain, and hint at possible avenues of searching.

Now, let's say you are interested in various aspects of items used in Europe, but don't yet know more specifically which aspects. Click on Europe in the Place of Usage (Käyttöpaikka) Facet.