Help
Welcome to the Discover York Digital Library. This page explains how to browse our collections, navigate items, and get the most out of the viewer.
Browsing Collections
The Collections page lists all digitised collections held in the digital library (Discover). Each card shows the collection title, a thumbnail, and a short description.
Use the Sort by dropdown to reorder collections by title (A–Z or Z–A) or by publication date (oldest or newest first).
Click any collection card to open it and start browsing its contents.
Viewing Items
The item viewer lets you browse through the canvases (pages, images, audio, or video clips) that make up a collection. Use the arrow controls beneath the viewer to move between canvases, or jump directly to a page using the keyboard.
The panel alongside the viewer has three tabs:
- Item Information - metadata such as title, date, reference number, and description.
- Transcription - a full transcript of the content, where available.
- Annotations - any annotations attached to the current canvas.
If a collection is divided into sections, use the section list to jump between them, or navigate with the keyboard shortcuts below.
Keyboard Shortcuts
When viewing an item, keyboard shortcuts let you move quickly between canvases, switch tabs, and control the viewer - without touching the mouse. Press H at any time to show or hide the shortcuts overlay.
IIIF & Open Access
All collections in Discover York are served via the IIIF Presentation API. Each item has a IIIF manifest URL that you can use in any compatible viewer or research tool. Links to manifests are available on individual item pages.
Images are delivered through a IIIF Image API endpoint, enabling high-resolution zoom and deep-linking to specific regions.