Advanced Search of THDL

Quick Links, with Details on Each Below

Search Images Search Immersive Resources Search Audio/Video Browse Music - AudioOnly Search Places

Search for Tibetan Terms Search for People, Projects and Organizations Search Links and Bibliographies Locate Mailing List to Search Locate Discussion Forum to Search

The Resources search page gives access to the full range of individual objects within THDL apart from how they are used within any specific context in combination with other resources. Each individual and minute building block – whether audio, video, visual, three-dimensional, cartographic, text or other – is registered and described within THDL as an individual object with its own cataloging data. This allows users to search these building blocks piece by piece for their own value, wholly apart from the constructions that have been fashioned out of them. We aim at an integrated searching facility allowing a single search to range across all of these different repositories and finished presentations, so that onen counld search simultaneously against the gazeteer, Web pages, dictionary, image database and so forth. We are also working to use the Gazetteer to index all repositories by place, so that one could automatically assemble materials pertinent to a given place.

However, at present we are only offering the ability to search the individual repositories one by one – i.e. search for an image, a map, a text and so forth. Please click on the type of media in which you are interested and it will lead to the corresponding search page.

Integrated searching across THDL is at present limited. The one thing that is possible is an search of Web pages in THDL using a Google-based mechanism. However this will not cover all THDL pages on all servers, nor will it search individual databases such as the image, audio-video and other databases. However it is a useful way to search quickly for a subject of Web page. This search box is available at the top of all THDL pages.

Here are some good tips on how to effectively use Google to maximize its utility.

The image collections have at present over 27,000 images. This is currently under intensive development, and at present only only a few fields from the image cataloging system are currently being shown in the public as we edit the underlying data.

The immersive resources collections in THDL includes three dimensional objects, 360 degree panaromas, and fully immersive three dimensional reconstructions of architecture and landscapes. At present we simply provide a browsable index.

The audio-video collection are integrated together, with individual titles often having both audio and video versions. These include a variety of socil enactnments, academic lectures, poetry and fiction readings, oral histories, interviews, musical performances and other subjects.

A special note should be made of the audio-only music database database. It only contains audio versions of songs, and is no longer complete. However it has a customized interface for music absent in the general audio-video collections, and hence we are provisionally continuing to provide it as an alternative way to access audio recordings of music.

THDL possesses many Transcripts of audio-video titles, but at present one can only search on the audio-video titles to find transcripts, but full text searching of the transcripts will only be implemented in 2004.

The maps and places collections currently consists of easy to use interactive maps, as well as more complex GIS databases that can generate digital maps. For searching, we currently an evolving Gazetteer, which functions as an index of place names.

The Tibetan dictionary resources allow for easy searching for Tibetan terms and their documentation.

The Community Roster enables searching for descriptive entries on People, Projects and Organizations

The Links repository facilitates searching for Web sites by providing a browsable and searchable archive of annotated records of Web sites.

Email lists and Discussion Forums within THDL are all maintained in searchable archives. However, one needs to consult the individual mailing list or discussion forum to conduct a search, and at present it is not possible to simultaneously search the entire archives for all lists and all forums.