www.intute.ac.

uk
Quick Guide to MyIntute
This short guide, which should take a few minutes to complete, will help you get the most
out of using the personalisation functionality of Intute Internet services, MyIntute.

1. What is MyIntute?
You can use MyIntute to:

 Set up email alerts from Intute to stay abreast of new resources in your field

 Build custom collections of resources described by Intute and embed them in

your own Web page

 Email selected records from Intute

 Create reading lists of online resources for your students

MyIntute can alert you to new resources in your field, or help you put together your own
collection of online resources. It uses a ‘tagging’ system that enables you to categorise
records by whatever keywords you choose, so that it is easy to view lists of related
resources. Once a collection of records has been created, it may be emailed or exported
for use in another website - as part of a reading list for example, or as a reliable set of links
from an academic home page. The collection can be maintained remotely by Intute, so
you do not need to worry about checking for broken links. Records are updated or
removed automatically as soon as Intute notices the change.

Each part of the MyIntute system is accompanied by an online help document. Simply
click on the icons to access further advice.

2. Registering for a MyIntute account

Before using the MyIntute service
you will need to register for an
account. Click on the box labelled
‘Login to MyIntute’ on the right-
hand side of the screen, and then
click ‘Register here’.

Login to MyIntute

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Complete the secure short
registration form (see right)
and click on the ‘Submit’
button.

An email will be sent to the

address you supplied. Before
your account can be
activated you must go to the
URL provided in that email,
then you should see a
message confirming that you
can now use your MyIntute
account.

3. The MyIntute Interface

The MyIntute interface (right) consists of a
navigational header bar with four options:

 ‘My Records’

 ‘My Searches’

 ‘My Subjects’

 ‘My Personal Details’

The area beneath the header bar provides

further information and options. You
should avoid clicking your browser
‘back’ button when using MyIntute, as
this will return you to the login screen.
There is a ‘back up’ button which you
should use for this purpose.

4. My Records
The 'My Records' service allows you to ‘tag’ records, email them, and export them, and
export collections of records for use in your websites. Before you can use any of these
functions, you first need to choose which records you wish to add to your personal
collection.

When you search or browse Intute for

resources in the normal way, the results
that you see will that you can save a
record

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 Clicking on Save record will mark the record as one you are interested in, and its
background colour will change. Clicking on an already selected record will de-select it.

Once you have found and marked the records you are interested in, go back to MyIntute
and click on 'My Records'. You will now be able to see a list of the records you have
selected. ‘Check’ the box by each record that you wish to keep and click on Keep. These
records will now be added to your account.

Task 1/5: Mark and Collect records in your Personal Workspace

E.g. you want to create a ‘reading list’ of online resources for the course you are teaching
on William Shakespeare:

Go to Intute at: www.intute.ac.uk/

Login to MyIntute, using the email address you registered with.

Go to the front page of Intute and enter a search term like: Shakespeare

- First mark about 10-15 records by clicking √ next to some which are of interest,
Now click on the link to go to MyIntute Home at the bottom of the left hand navigation bar
- Click on the ‘My Records’ at the top of the MyIntute interface.
- Press the ‘Check All’ option and then click on Keep

5. Tagging Records

You can 'tag' records with keywords of your choice so that they can be grouped
together. Groups of records with a given tag can then be emailed or exported.

In order to tag records, you should click first on 'My Records', and you can see how many
records there are in your ‘Permanent collection’. Now click on the 'Manage Records'
button.

You will now see a list of all your

selected records that have not yet
been tagged, beneath title there is a
box marked
‘click here to add tags (comma
separated)‘. Click inside this box
and add as few or as many
keywords (or tags) as you would
like, each separated by a comma.

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To pull up a list of records tagged with a given keyword, scroll down the page to the 'My
Tags' box. Here you will see all of the keywords you have assigned. Those that have been
assigned to many records will be displayed in a larger font than those that have been
assigned to only one or two. Click on a tag to see a list of all records that have had that
keyword assigned to them.

Task 2/5: Tag your records

E.g. You want to create a ‘reading list’ of online resources relating to William Shakespeare:

Whilst logged in to MyIntute, click on the ‘My Records’ tab at the top of the interface.

You can now see the number of records you have saved in your personal workspace.
- Next click on the 'Manage Records' button
- There is a list of all your selected records that have not yet been tagged
- In the box under every record title type in Shakespeare
All your records are now tagged with this keyword.

E.g. your third class this term is about Hamlet. In your reading list you would like to identify
the resources which relate to this play.
In the box under the title of a record about Hamlet:
- Click next to Shakespeare and add a comma followed by the space key, then type in
Hamlet, do this for a couple of other resources
- The text in those boxes now reads Shakespeare, Hamlet

How do the keywords in My Tags compare? Which is largest – Shakespeare or Hamlet?

6. Emailing and exporting groups of records

The arrangement of keywords you have assigned is called a ‘tag cloud’, and this tag cloud
can be seen in the ‘My Tags’ section of the interface. Click on a keyword to display a list of
tagged records, they will be accompanied by an ‘export me’ option. Clicking on the ‘export
me’ link will present you with four further options listed under the title ’Export Records’:

 ‘Save as HTML’ – use this to insert the

selected records into a Web page

 ‘Save as Javascript’ – use this to

dynamically insert the selected records
into a Web page. The records will be
automatically updated by Intute, or
removed from the list should they expire

 ‘Send as email’ – this will email the

selected records to your registered email
address

 ‘Show descriptions / hide descriptions’

– toggles the full record descriptions on and off

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If you select either of the 'save' options, you will be presented with some HTML code
which you can copy and paste into the source code of your own web site, or send to
whoever maintains the site on which you wish to view the records.

Task 3/5: Email your records

E.g. You want to create a ‘reading list’ of online resources about Shakespeare and Hamlet:

Whilst logged in to MyIntute, click on the My Records tab at the top of the interface.

You can now see the ‘tag cloud’.

- Click on the tag Shakespeare to see all the records you have tagged with that keyword.
- Now click on the link ‘export me’
- Then click on the option to ‘Send as Email’ and the list will be immediately sent to your
registered address
- You can follow the same procedure to send yourself the list of records tagged Hamlet
- You can now copy and paste these lists of online resources from the emails into your reading
list

If you manage your own website why not try Task 4?

Task 4/5: Export your records

E.g. You want to create a ‘reading list’ of online resources on your own website:

Whilst logged in to MyIntute, click on the ‘My Records’ tab at the top of the interface.

You can now see the ‘tag cloud’.

- Click on the tag Shakespeare and then click on the link ‘export me’
- Try the ‘Save as HTML’ or ‘Save as Javascript’ options, and do the same for Hamlet
- Copy and paste the HTML code into your website for each tag, then copy and paste the
Javascript for each tag below the HTML.

How do the two pieces of code compare? Which is longest, the HTML or the Javascript?

Which option suits your needs for when you are trying this for real?

7. My Searches
When you search the database and you are logged in to MyIntute you can click the
'Save this search' button above the search results. Go to MyIntute and click on the 'My
Searches' tab, and you will see your saved search, alongside the number of results. My
Searches is especially useful if your search of Intute gave you very few results, or if your
subject relates to something in the news, like ‘avian flu’. You will receive an email alert
whenever a new record is added to the Intute database which matches the saved
search.

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To remove a saved search, simply click on it in MyIntute and then on the red 'Delete'
button. Saved searches can be emailed and exported in exactly the same manner as
tagged groups of records, press the green ‘Export’ button (see section 6.).

Once you have logged in to MyIntute, you will notice that when you search the database,
your saved searches are listed in the MyIntute box on the left-hand side of the page. So
you can repeat these searches quickly. If you save a search made within a particular
subject group, the scope of that search will continue to be restricted to that subject group.
For instance, a search for 'bridges' performed from the home page of Intute: Arts and
Humanities will not generate an email alert if a record containing the word 'bridges' is
added to the Science and Technology section of the database.

8. My Subjects
Like My Searches (see section 6) if
you wish to receive email alerts
about new records in a given
subject area, you should specify
your field from the 'My Subjects'
options. Simply click which of the
four subject groups your interest
falls under, then narrow the search
further levels by clicking on your
discipline, then select one of more specific subject options by clicking on them. Subject
lines will change colour to indicate that they have been selected. To head back up a
level, click on the back up button. You can select as many options as you like from as
many different disciplines as you like.

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 Task 5/5: Set up an email alert

Receive email alert for your saved search

Whilst logged in to MyIntute, search the database then click 'Save this search'
- When a new record is added to Intute that matches your search you will receive an email
alert.

Your favourite subjects alert

Whilst in the MyIntute screen click the ‘My Subjects’ tab then browse the available
subjects, clicking on your favourites
- When a new record is added to Intute that is assigned your favourite subject you will receive

9. Personal Account Details

Click on the 'My Personal Details' tab to edit your personal details or to change your
email address or password. Intute does not sell, share or transfer your personal details.

10. What else does Intute offer?

We recommend…

 Virtual Training Suite. Free online tutorials from Intute teaching Internet
research skills for different subject areas.

 Behind the Headlines. Links to Intute resources for topical news stories.

 RSS Channels. A range of Intute RSS feeds to keep you up to date with news
and latest additions to the database.

 Timelines. Timelines of notable events which have shaped the world as we

know it, together with suggested searches for further information.

 Newsround. This service aggregates the very latest job vacancies and news
stories (updated many times each day) and presents them in an easily
accessible format.

For a full list of Intute services, have a look at the A-Z list here:
www.intute.ac.uk/services.html

11. Further Information

To send questions and comments about Intute please use our online feedback form at:
www.intute.ac.uk/feedback.html

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