You are here: Home > Introduction > Using The TCI Library

Check out the TCI YouTube channel here. Please subscribe!

Check here for the 2024 Telephone Shows

Using The TCI Library

This page describes the basic organization of the Library and the basics of how to navigate around the site.

HINT: Click on the “Print” icon on the right to open a text copy of this page in a new window. You can then continue reading there and use this window to see the features and to try some of the techniques described without losing your place in the text.

A key to moving around in the TCI Library is understanding how to use the Menu Bar.

Menu Bar

The Menu Bar is the black bar running across the page just under the TCI Logo.  It contains grey links to site pages or other resources.  Links to the left of the vertical bar separator are on the TCI Library Site.  Links to the right are on other sites, and will open in a new window, so you don’t lose your place on the Library site.

The currently selected page is highlighted in white and bolded.  Its content is shown in the display area below and to the right of the Menu Bar.

When you mouse over another Menu Bar entry, a grey box highlights the selected entry and the text is changed to white.

A left-click makes the selected entry the current page.  The text in the Menu Bar is highlighted and bolded in white and its content is shown in the display area.

Try mousing over Introduction in the Menu Bar and select About The TCI Library.  Your left click shows the content for that page.

This is referred to as “selecting Introduction / About The TCI Library on the Menu Bar.” Hitting your browser’s “Back” button will return you to this page. 

Drop down Menus

When selected, many Menu Bar entries display more detailed information in a “drop down menu” that becomes visible below or to the right of the selected entry.  Note that when you mouse to an entry in the drop down menu, it becomes the selected entry.  Its box is highlighted in grey and the text is in white.  If available, another layer of drop down menu information is made visible.  You can see how the selected entry moves as you mouse around the menu choices.

A left-click selects the currently highlighted entry as the current page.  The top-level text in the Menu Bar is highlighted and bolded in white and the selected page is shown in the display area.

Try mousing over Search / Basic Search / Using Basic Search and left click to select it.  You now see the instructions for using the Basic Search feature.  You can use your browser’s “Back” button to return here.  You can alternatively select Introduction / Using The TCI Library to return here!

You are here:

The top line of the display area starts with the words “You are here:.”  The text immediately to the right shows the “path” you took to get to the currently displayed page.  Note that all the links in the path are clickable. They provide another tool to move around the site – to pages that are related to the one currently being viewed.  As you become more familiar with the site, you’ll find many uses for these links.

Try selecting Browse the Library / Document Repository / Catalogs, Manuals … / Western Electric.  You see the category page for WE catalogs.  If you decide you need to find a catalog for a different manufacturer, simply click on Catalogs, Manuals… in the You are here: line, and you are taken directly to the category page listing other manufacturers.

Continue on by selecting Introducton / - Browse or Search? from the Menu Bar.

New User?

Read the articles under "Introduction" in the black menu bar above.

Recent Contributors

Thanks for new documents from Ed Palazzo, Bruce Patterson, Jon Kolger, Paul Ivester, Len Hicken, Paul Fassbender, Fred Haynes, Kurt Rudolph, Wade ("Kellogg KITT"), the Connections Museum, Rick Walsh, Jeff Lamb, Jeremy Walters, Mark Cuccia, Alan David, Harry Joseph, Charlie Terry, Karl Brose, Dennis Hock, Tim Griffin, Remco Enthoven, and Steve Cichorsky.

Please send a file to add your name to this list!

Who's online

We have 355 guests online

Hints for using the TCI Library

"Menu Bar" for site navigation.
Many menu choices are hidden until you mouse over words in the black Menu Bar (above).  If you want help getting started, see the links under the word "Introduction" in the Menu Bar.
 
The user interface is oriented toward the user’s choice to either Browse or Search for information.  The Browse the Library menu entry offers many quick links to move around the Library quickly.  Try it!

Three search options.
The Library’s keyword-based searches, called Basic Search and Advanced Search, accept keywords as short as 2 characters (WE, AE, etc.) and search strings up to 255 characters.  If you get more than 1,000 items, refine your search or try the Google Search option.
 
When selected from the Menu Bar, Google only searches for files in the TCI Library.
 
Library INBOX.
The INBOX may hold some files that have been submitted but not fully processed into the Library.  These are often topics of current discussion on the TCI Email Group. Items in the INBOX are not found using Basic or advanced searches, but ARE found by a Google Search.
 
Remember to check the INBOX if you don't find something with the other searches.
 
Finding BSPs.
Many BSPs are currently only identified by BSP number. If a text search doesn’t produce a BSP, try looking in one of the many BSP index documents to find a BSP number for the product you are researching just as you would do if referencing a paper library of the BSPs. Then enter the BSP number in the search box.
 
Finding CDs and SDs.
Some related CDs and SDs are filed in different areas. Try searching for just the numeric portion of the name.  Remember to check the INBOX if you don't find something with the Basic or Advanced searches -- or use the Google search.
 
Compact Category Listing.
When browsing, to change the category listing view from normal to compact, click on Browse the Library in the black menu bar.
 
To change from compact to normal view, click on Document Repository in the drop down under Browse the Library.

 

 

Telephone Collectors International was incorporated under the laws of the state of Kansas on May 13, 1986. The goal of the organization is "to educate the public, as well as the members of the Corporation, regarding the history of telephony, the value of old telephones and related items, their collectability and preservation; to research telephone history and publish and provide literature thereon; to promote the public exhibition of old telephones and related items; and to promote common courtesies and guidelines for use by the public." Telephone Collectors International is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization, to which U.S. tax deductible contributions can be made.