Every item contributed to the Nikkei Album tells a story, but it's the collections in Nikkei Album that weave together the rich narratives of the Nikkei experience.
Here are some creative ways that you can use the Nikkei Album tools to make collections:
- Collaborate with distant relatives to share family photos and create an on-line geneology.
- Use film clips from the World War II era to create lesson plans and activities for use in the classroom.
- Select artworks from the Nikkei Album and curate your own virtual museum.
- Share family recipes.
- Present community and organizational histories.
Any registered user can create a Nikkei Album collection. You make a basic collection simply by logging in, gathering together several of your own contributed items, and giving the group its own title and description.
But don't stop there! Nikkei Album's collecting tools let you build rich narratives by linking, sequencing, and describing separate items. You can even build collections that incorporate items from other Nikkei Album contributors, adding your own information to give new and different meanings to those original stories and images.
Follow these basic steps to create a Nikkei Album collection:
Log in to the Nikkei Album
In order to create a collection, you'll need an account. It's easy, free, and it only takes a minute to sign up! If you already have an account, you just need to log in.
Create your collection
You can make a collection quickly by flagging items as you browse or search in the Nikkei Album. Follow the on-screen instructions and use the "Add to new or existing collection" button to group them into a collection - it's that easy! Then, use the Nikkei Album editorial tools to add information and choose how you'd like your collection to display.
Get started by browsing or searching for items in the Nikkei Album.
Alternately, you can use the "create content" menu to build a collection, giving it a title and description before you then gather and flag the items you'd like to collect. If you've ever contributed an item to Nikkei Album, this process will be very familiar, but experience in contributing items is not required!
Get started by selecting "Collection" at the "create content" menu.
Edit your collection
Whichever way you create a collection, it isn't truly complete until you fine-tune the details. Nikkei Album gives you many of the same editing tools available when you contribute items. You can add descriptive tags, set notifications, and choose to license your collection using the Creative Commons. In addition, you can add your own titles and descriptions to the items in your collection; specify how the collection will be displayed; put the items into display sequence; and choose a signature image for the collection.
Read some brief guidelines on how best to edit your Nikkei Album collection.
Publish your collection
When you first create a Nikkei Album collection, it is unpublished – that is, no one else has access to it, and it does not appear in anyone else's browse or search results, or tag displays. Once you've edited the collection details and you're satisfied with the results, you publish your collection; only then does it become visible to other Nikkei Album users.
Learn more about how to publish or unpublish a Nikkei Album collection.