Help with Viperlib
- How do I register?
- Why are my login details no longer recognised by Viperlib?
- How do I edit my profile?
- How do I opt out of receiving occasional email messages from Viperlib?
- How do I use the search facility?
- How have you categorised the images?
- I’ve found a link that doesn’t work
- What is Viperlib’s policy on copyright?
- How do I contribute an image?
- How do I download an image?
- The movies aren’t working properly—why?
- Some images have additional information associated with them. How do I download this?
- Are images available in different formats?
- How do I insert a Flash file into my PowerPoint presentation?
- Is it possible to insert a Director [.dcr or .dir] file into PowerPoint?
- I’m having problems with QuickTime [.mov] movies in PowerPoint
- Information associated with an image that I contributed is incorrect
- I would like to contact an image donor
- Can I purchase an image for commercial use?
- How do I contact Viperlib?
- What future plans are there for Viperlib?
When you click on a thumbnail for the first time, a short registration screen will pop up.
If you prefer, you can register now.
This only takes a few seconds. You won’t need to log in each time you visit Viperlib: the system should recognise you when you come back again.
Please note, registration requires you to supply a valid email address and to complete the registration process: you must respond to a confirmation email that is sent to you.
Why are my login details no longer recognised by Viperlib?
Shortly after you have registered, you will have received an email from Viperlib that required a response within 2 weeks to confirm your membership. If you failed to do this, your email address will have been assumed incorrect and deleted by our server. You will have to re-register with the site.
In the event that our server failed to send the welcome email (due to the supplied address not existing), your registration details will also have been deleted.
If you registered with the old system that did not require you to confirm your email address you will have been automatically confirmed. However, if your supplied email address did not exist and we were unable to send you occasional newsletters, your email address will also have been deleted.
How do I opt out of receiving occasional email messages from Viperlib
Simply log into Viperlib and click on the link in the top right-hand corner that says ‘My Viperlib’, scroll down to where it says ‘Receive emails from Viperlib’ and un-check the box next to it.Click the submit button to confirm.
How do I edit my profile?
Once you have registered, you can edit your Viperlib profile by first logging into the site and then clicking on the words ‘My Viperlib’ in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
On the “My ViperLib” page you can edit your personal details, view your favourite images, view your history, and also configure the site to your own preference with the parameters described below. NB: all of the information can viewed in context on the “My ViperLib” page by clicking any of the “Help” links.
Save password: this selects whether a cookie is stored on your computer to automatically log you back in when you return to the site.
Receive emails from Viperlib: this selects whether you consent to receiving occasional emails from the Viperlib team to notify you when we make any major improvements etc.
Include Flash in site: this selects whether the main site contains pretty Flash animations or not. If your browser does not support Flash, it is advised to turn them off. Turning these off may also make the site load quicker for slower connections. NB: this setting does not affect what images are available in the main catalogue.
Display history items: this selects how many of your recently viewed items are displayed at the bottom of the “My ViperLib” page.
To add images to your favourites list, simply click the words “Add to ViperLib favourites” in the window where you view images. NB: you may store a maximum of 20 images, after which the oldest image is automatically replaced.
The above information can all be viewed in context on the “My ViperLib” page by clicking any of the “Help” links.
How do I use the search facility?
Quick search checks the database for the term exactly as entered in the box chosen.
If a hyphenated term produces no results, try entering the item as two separate words. Searching for one word of a multi-word string will also find the whole string.
If you enter multiple words, it will search for the whole string as a phrase and not look for each individual word.
You can enter any term in the keyword box since we don’t have a restricted list at present.
If quick search throws up too many results, you can narrow the field using advanced search.
You can use upper case, lower case, or a combination of both: the search term will be found whatever style you use.
We are planning to give more hints and tips on searching soon.
How have you categorised the images?
We’ve tried to put each image into a logical category, to allow you to browse through the collection, but inevitably there is some overlap.
If you don’t find the image you’re looking for by browsing, or if browsing produces too many results, try using the search facility.
I’ve found a link that doesn’t work
Authors sometimes change their URLs. Please contact us, giving the URL of the page containing the broken link, and we will try to resolve the problem.
What is Viperlib’s policy on copyright?
See our conditions of use and Project information for more information on copyright, data protection and other formalities.
How do I contribute an image?
You now have the option to use our upload form or to submit an image via email. See ‘How to contribute images to Viperlib’.
How do I download an image?
If you haven’t already done so, you’ll first need to register as a user of the site.
When you’ve registered, just click on a thumbnail image, and the full-sized version will appear.
To download the image, simply right click (ctrl+click on a Mac) (ctrl+click on a Mac) (ctrl click on a Mac) with your mouse over the image and choose the “save as” option.
To download other file types (eg flash or movie files), right click (ctrl+click on a Mac) (ctrl+click on a Mac) (ctrl click on a Mac) on the link as prompted, and choose the “Save target as…” option.
The movies aren’t working properly—why?
You need QuickTime to view most of the Viperlib movies and animations. If you already have QuickTime installed, and you’re still having problems, please let us know.
Some images have additional information associated with them. How do I download this?
If you haven’t already done so, click on the “extra info” or “additional files” link underneath the image. The additional document or image will open in your browser.
You can then use the “File… Save as” option on the browser menu bar to save the additional file.
Are images available in different formats?
We are loading images in the format in which they are received, so the range of material available on Viperlib depends on what is sent to us.
If time and funding allow, we are hoping to convert images and offer a range of alternative formats. Mac compatibility is a high priority.
How do I insert a Flash file into my PowerPoint presentation?
Full instructions are available on the Flash Technote page of the Adobe site. Lots more info on using PowerPoint with Flash is available at the Indezine site.
Is it possible to insert a Director (.dcr or .dir) file into PowerPoint?
Yes! The wonderful Indezine site has step-by-step instructions.
I’m having problems with QuickTime (.mov) movies in PowerPoint
Indezine comes to the rescue again! Microsoft also offers some solutions at Microsoft Knowledge Base.
Information associated with an image that I contributed is incorrect
Please email us, giving the URL of the image and the correct information, and we will change it straight away.
Can I purchase an image for commercial use?
Viperlib cannot sell any images on this site. You must contact the contributor of an image if you wish to negotiate use of it for commercial purposes.
I would like to contact the contributor of an image
Details of the contributor are included with each image. In most cases, their institution and a website link are also provided.
I How do I contact Viperlib?
See the ‘Contact Us’ page for email, snail mail and phone details. We really do welcome all your comments and suggestions.
What are Viperlib’s future plans?
The library is growing as people send us more material, and we will add features to the site as it develops.
Current plans (not in order of priority) include:
- Users’ forum and additional features for members
- Redesigned categorisation of images
- Automatic checks for broken links to external websites
- More help on searching
- Creation of a "basic"category to display for core images for each subject
- More alternative formats for images, and checks for compatibility
- PowerPoint master-slides for Viperlib images
- Zipped .exe files for downloading Flash (.swf) Director (.dir, .dcr) etc
- Improved accessibility to meet guidelines
- Creation of new images requested by users
- Movies to be available as individual frames
- Watermarking of images
- Tagging of images and inclusion of acknowledgement as part of image file
- Standardised scaling of images
- Differentiation between single, standalone images and those that are part of established collections (to enable searches for image collections)
- Consideration of whether a pre-defined list of keywords would be advantageous
- Enhanced help with hints for searching and browsing
If you have other suggestions as to how we could improve the site, please complete the feedback form.