HELP - general

  1. Use the Content Clips tabs

If you have successfully logged in with your user ID or email address and your password (letters all in lower case), you'll land on the Find Tab.

1. In addition to the Home Tab, Content Clips has four main tabs:
   
2. The FIND tab allows you to quickly search for resources by Topic or by Keywords. You can also limit you searching by media format.
3. On the MIX tab, you can create your own clips, sets, and activities, and search for content to mix into sets and activities.
4. On the ASSIGN tab, you can search for clips, sets, and activities and place them into a Clip Zone for later viewing on the Show tab.
5. On the SHOW tab, you can see assigned items in a simple presentation viewer (Clip Zone).

  2. SEARCH for items

1. On the MIX or ASSIGN tabs, you can search within two collections. CLICK   or   to select the collection that you want to search.
2. Select Clips Collection to find items in the published digital library created by McLean Media.
3. Select My Content to find items that you create with the Content Kit. Until you create your own clip, activity, or set, you will only have one item in My Content --- a Flash movie called Welcome to Content Clips. You can edit this clip by changing its title or description or permanently delete it from My Content.
4. You can find all items in either My Content or the Clips Collection by clicking , or you can limit your search with keywords or format checkboxes, and then click on .
5. The search is a Boolean and search, which means that if you search for bird and beak you will only find items that have both the words bird and beak in the their title, description, subject, or keywords fields.

  3. Select items in lists

To select an item in a list you want to view, click once within its row to highlight it. To select more than one item at a time, hold down the shift or option (PC) or command (Mac) key and click within the row.

  4. VIEW items in lists

To view an actual item (e.g. image, video clip, interactive, activity), double-click on its icon or thumbnail image OR single-click within the item's row in the list to first select it, and then click .

  5. Read information about individual items

To open a window to discover more information about an item in a list, single-click within the item's row in the list to select it, and then click its title. You can also just double-click its title.

  6. OPEN Sets or Personal Activities

1. To open a set or personal activity, select it in the left-hand list, and then click . You can open any any activity that you create (those in My Content) to see a list of their contents and to copy items into another set or activity. You can also open any set in the Clips Collection or My Content.
2. To close the item, click CLOSE

  7. ASSIGN items to your class Clip Zone for viewing (on Show tab)

The Assign tab is used as an easy way to organize items into a Clip Zone (container) to be displayed at a later time.

1. Find items to assign. Search in the or for items that you want to assign. Search results appear in the left-hand column. Ten items are displayed on each page. Click on the page number to go to that page.
2. Assign items to present. In the left-hand column, single-click to select the item that you want to add. To select more than one item at a time, hold down the shift or option (PC) or command (Mac) key, and click within the row. Click to place the item(s) in the Clip Zone. NOTE: when you add an item to the Clip Zone (for viewing on the Show tab), it still exists in My Content or the Clips Collection.
3. Remove items from assignment (unassign). Single-click to select the item in the right-hand column that you want to unassign. To select more than one item at a time, hold down the shift or option (PC) or command (Mac) key and click within the row. Click to take the item(s) out of the Clip Zone. Removed items remain in the Clips Collection or My Content even though it will no longer appear on the Show tab.

  8. VIEW assigned items on the Present tab

To view items assigned into a Clip Zone container, simply go to the Present tab.

NOTE: If the Present tab is empty, then items have NOT yet been placed into a Clip Zone on the Assign tab.

  9. CREATE and MIX Activities

1. Create a new activity, Click , above the MIX Zone. Type in a name (required) and description (optional) for your activity.

   TIP:
   Include terms that you can use to search for the activity later.

   Select a background for your activity. Save your activity to My Content. The new activity also will appear in the MIX Zone in the right column.

2. Add items to your activity. Search for items. In the left-hand column, single-click to select the item that you want to add. To select more than one item at a time, hold down the shift or option (PC) or command (Mac) key and click within the row. Click ADD to place the item(s) in the MIX Zone. Added items appear in the MIX Zone list.
3. Remove items from activity. Single-click to select the item in the right-hand column (MIX Zone) that you want to remove. To select more than one item at a time, hold down the shift or option (PC) or command (Mac) key and click within the row. Click to take the item(s) out of the MIX Zone. Removed items remain in the Clips Collection or My Content
4. View the activity in progress. Click the activity icon or magnifying glass icon . Arrange icons and thumbnails on the screen as you wish them to appear in the presentation view.
5. Add a floating text label. To create a label, open it from the Create Tab. Click CREATE LABEL and type in the text you want. Click SAVE LABELS to save the label and text. To delete a label, delete all the text from it and click SAVE LABELS. If you change the text, save it again. Arrange the labels as you want them to appear when the activity is first opened.
6. Add activity background text. To add text, single-click the activity icon or select it and click VIEW. If the activity background has a box to enter text, type in the text. Click SAVE TEXT. If you change the text, save it again.
7. Edit activity. To edit an activity being mixed in the Mix Zone, click the EDIT icon . For an item in a list, highlight the item to select it and click . Enter changes in the title, description, or background and click SAVE CHANGES.
8. Delete activity. To delete the activity being mixed in the Mix Zone click the DELETE icon . To delete an item within a list, highlight it to select it in the list and click .
   
   IMPORTANT: DELETE destroys the activity everywhere that it appears in My Content but DOES NOT delete the individual items within the activity. Do not DELETE unless you are sure you never want to use the activity.
   
   To take an item out of an activity but keep it in My Content, use instead. You can only delete activities that you create (those in My Content).
9. Place an activity in the Mix Zone to add or remove items. Search for the activity in My Content. Select it in the list, and click . To mix a different activity, select it on the left, and click MIX. To empty the Mix Zone, click .

   TIPS:
   You can't add to an activity until it is visible in the Mix Zone,
   so always place the activity in the Mix Zone BEFORE searching for items to add to it.
   Items that you created (and can re-mix, delete, or edit) have titles highlighted in yellow.

10. CREATE and MIX Sets

1. Create a new set. Click , above the Mix Zone. Type a name (required) and description (optional) for your set.

   TIP:
   Include terms that you will use to search for the activity later.

   Save your set to My Content. The new set also will appear in the Mix Zone in the right column.

2. Add items to your set. Search for items. In the left-hand column, single-click to select the item that you want to add. To select more than one item at a time, hold down the shift or option (PC) or command (Mac) key and click within the row. Click ADD to place the item(s) in the Mix Zone. Added items appear in the Mix Zone list. When you add an item to the Mix Zone, it still exists in My Content or the Clips Collection.
3. Remove items from set. Single-click the item in the right-hand column (Mix Zone) to select what you want to remove. To select more than one item at a time, hold down the shift or option (PC) or command (Mac) key and click within the row. Click to take the item(s) out of the Mix Zone. REMOVE only takes the item out of the set. It does not delete it from the Clips Collection or your personal content (My Content).
4. View the set in progress. Click the set icon or magnifying glass icon. Arrange items as you wish them to appear on the Persent tab.
5. Edit set. For a set being mixed in the Mix Zone, click the EDIT icon . For an item in a list, select the item and click the EDIT button. Enter changes in the title, description and click SAVE CHANGES. You can only edit sets that you create (set in My Content but not published sets in the Clips Collection).
6. Delete set. To delete the active set in the Mix Zone, click the DELETE icon . To delete an item in a list, select it and click the DELETE button the top of the list.
   
   NOTE: DELETE destroys all instances of the set but does not delete the individual items within it. Do not use DELETE unless you are sure you never want the set again.
   
   To take an item out of a set but keep it in My Content, use instead.
7. Place an existing activity in the Mix Zone to add or remove items. Search for the set that you want to mix and select it from the list on the left by clicking once to highlight its row. Click MIX. To mix a different set, just select it on the left and click . To empty the Mix Zone completely, click .

   IMPORTANT:
   You can't add anything to a set until you place it in the Mix Zone. Therefore, always place the set in the Mix Zone BEFORE searching for items to add to it.

   You can only mix sets that you create (sets in My Content but not published sets in the Clips Collection).

11. CREATE my own Clips

1. Create a new clip via a URL link. Click above the Mix Zone. Type a name (required) and description (optional) for your clip.

   TIP:
   Include terms that you will use to search for the clip later.

   Enter the URL (web address) for the clip by typing or copying and pasting it from a web browser. Save your clip to My Content. The URL is the web address in the window at the top of your browser. A URL must start with http:// or www. Examples: www.allaboutfrogs.com or http://www.allaboutfrogs.com

2. Finding your new clip. If you have a set or activity in the Mix Zone, the new clip will be added to its list of items. Otherwise , the system will create a default set to store the clip. You can edit the name and description of the default set (or even delete it) and still find the clip in My Content.
3. Finding the URL for the clip you want. How your clips appear within Content Clips depends on the type of file in the URL (web address) that you enter when you create the clip. Usually, clips have different file extensions, depending on their format.

12. EDIT my own Clips

Select one of the clips that you have created (left or right list) and click . Enter changes in the title, description and click SAVE CHANGES. You can only edit clips that you create (clips in My Content but not in the Clips Collection).

13. DELETE my own Clips

Select one of the clips that you have created (left or right list) and click . You can only delete clips that you have created (clips in My Content but not in the Clips Collection)

IMPORTANT:
DELETE destroys the item everywhere that it appears in My Content. Do not use it unless you are sure you do not want the clip. To take a clip out of a set or activity in the Mix Zone but keep it in My Content, use REMOVE instead.

Things to remember about using Content Clips

1. Changes apply to ALL instances of an item. If you make a change in a clip, activity, or set by editing or deleting it, these changes will be made everywhere that item appears in your content.
2. Place an existing set or activity in the Mix Zone BEFORE searching for items to add or remove. Otherwise, you will have to do another search to find the item that you want to mix and lose the results of the search you did to find items to include in it.
3. Do not confuse REMOVE and DELETE. just takes items out of a set or activity but leaves them in My Content and any other sets or activities. removes items permanently from any existing sets or activities and from My Content. However, deleting a set or activity does not remove the individual items contained within that set or activity.
4. You can only edit, delete, or mix items that you created (items found when My Content radio button is selected). You cannot edit or delete items from the published Clips Collection or place them in the Mix Zone to add or remove items. Activities and sets that you can edit, delete, or mix have yellow-highlighted titles when they are displayed in a list, as do clips that you created.
5. If you make a new image clip, you must find and enter a direct link to the image, not the web page where the image is embedded. Image addresses that will link correctly most often end with the .jpg extension. To find the image link on a MAC, hold down CONTROL and click on the image or right click with your mouse. Choose "Open image in new window." Copy the web address for the image and paste it into the "web address" field when you make the clip.

   IMPORTANT:
   You may use the clip links that you make only for educational purposes, within Content Clips, unless otherwise specified by the owner of the site where you found the clip. Please do not make new clips by linking to sites that prohibit such uses. See the Content Clips terms of use page for more information on using external materials within Content Clips.