CSE database

The CSE database is a web-based interface for tracking and rating submissions to the Modern Language Association’s Committee of Scholarly Editions (CSE). The database contains the names of committee members and reviewers associated with this process and the editions which are under consideration for approval, or have been approved in the past (back to 2002).

1. Getting into the database

1.1. Logging in

Users (who must be members of the CSE) start at the login page, currently linked from http://www.iath.virginia.edu/~jmu2m/cse/, and must enter a login name and password. There are different levels of permissions for committee members and committee chairs. Specific instructions below are labeled “All” or “Chairs”, depending on whether they apply to all members/users or only to the chairs.

1.2. Logging out

To log out, click Logout in the left-hand frame. This will return you to the login window.

2. Using the database (All)

After logging in, you will be taken to the database homepage (below). The left column contains a pull-down list of the entities (or tables) in the CSE database (described below) and links for searching and adding entries. You can carry out many of these same tasks from the right side of the window, which may seem confusing at first.

Figure 1: CSE database home page

To look at a list of all of the items in an “entity”, you can either go to the home page and click the magnifying glass icon for that entity on the far right-hand side of the page, or select the entity in the pull-down list on the left, click “Search” below the pull-down list, and then click the “Search DB” button at the bottom of the search form that appears on the right-hand side of the page. The former method is simpler, and is therefore recommended.

2.1. Searching (All)

If you want to look at only selected items, there are two ways to search/select for them.

Go to the home page. On the right-hand side of the page (not in the blue left-hand column) select the appropriate parameter from the pull-down list next to the entity you want to search, enter a search term in the empty text box, and then click the magnifying glass icon to the right of that entity.

Select an entity from the pull-down list in the left column and click the Search button. Using the resulting search form, you have somewhat greater control over the parameters of the search and the conditions under which an item will match your term.

There are six possible relational operators that will often appear in the tables to use in searching the database: =, <>, <, >, <=, and >=. These are awkward for using with string searches, so we suggest that you stick to the equal sign unless searching a date field.

The search options are different for each entity. If you search “Edition,” for example, you will see Edition-related fields. If you search “Reviewer,” you will see Reviewer-related fields.

If you don’t specify a search term, you will see every item in that entity or table.

2.2. Adding new entries (Chairs)

The CSE database is a relational database. This means, for example, that records concerning an editor are maintained separately from records concerning an edition, and the two records are related. Databases are designed this way so that there can be one record for an editor who may be related to multiple edition-records, instead of keeping (and having to update) multiple copies of the information concerning that editor. This also means that these related records need to be separately created, and dependent records will need to be created before the records on which they depend—for example, if the editor of an edition under review is new, and the edition is new, the records for the editor and the edition will need to be created before they can be associated with a newly created record for the review. Similary, before adding a new series, the records for the editions encompassed by the series must be added.

Only a CSE chair can add new entries to the database. To add new information, select the appropriate entity from the pull-down list in the left corner then click “New.” As with “Search” you will only see the relevant fields. When you are finished, click “Save.” To cancel the changes, click “Cancel.” To delete an entry, click “Delete.”

2.3. Voting (All)

If the Chairs have designated a review as being ready for a vote, the review will be presented to each member who logs in, until that member has voted. The vote screen looks like this:

Figure 2: CSE voting window

When, upon logging in, you are presented with a review to vote on, you can

examine the supporting material, or

vote on the review

To examine supporting materials, click on each link for a supporting document, and you will see a screen that looks like this:

Figure 3: Inspecting supplementary materials

Click on the link next to "View" and you'll get a readable copy of the material. Materials are either PDF files or Microsoft Word document, so you'll need a PDF reader and/or Word installed on your system to read them. Once you're done reading, click "Return" and you will go back to the voting screen. From there, as before, you can either examine further supporting material, or vote.

To vote, click on the hand icon next to the “Votes” box on the review screen: this will take you to a screen that shows you who has already voted on this review, and allows you to record a new vote (yours) by choosing "New":

Figure 4: Current votes

The new vote screen looks like this:

Figure 5: New vote screen

On this screen,

You can rate the review itself (on a scale of 1-5, with 1 best, 5 worst),

recommend the reviewer for future Committee membership,

recommend the reviewer for future reviews,

and vote to award or withhold the CSE’s seal, or abstain.

After having made your choices, click “Save” to record the vote, and then click “Return” on the next screen, to go back to the original vote form. From here, you must click “Save”at the bottom of the form in order to finally register the vote. Remember, after voting, you click through three screens, choosing Save, Return, Save, in order to finally register your vote. If you forget one of these steps, you will be prompted, once again, to vote on this review, next time you log in.

2.4. Uploading supporting materials (Chairs)

To upload supporting materials (normally Word documents or PDF files), choose “Supporting Material” from the pull-down on the left-hand side of the main page. Then click “New” below the pull-down list. On the right-hand side of the page, choose “Browse” and locate on your local file-system the file you intend to upload. Having done so, click “Save.”

Now, on the left-hand side of the page, choose “Review” from the pull-down list, and click “Search.” On the right-hand side, click “Search DB” to list all reviews currently in the system (if the review has not already been created, it will have to be added before supporting materials can be associated with it). Click the hand icon to the left of the appropriate review, then click the hand icon to the right of the “supporting materials” section of the review form. At the bottom of the right-hand side of the page, click the “Search DB” button to list all supporting materials in the system. Click “select” next to the appropriate supporting document, then click “Return” when the screen refreshes, then click “Save” on the next screen, to finalize the association between this upload and the review in question.

3. The entities (Chairs)

There are nine entities, all of which refer to tables in the database. Note that the hand icon always indicates that an entry in a table can be edited. Click the icon to see the complete entry and to edit it.

3.1. Chair table

This contains the names of the CSE chairs and contact information. Only chairs can edit the lists of reviewers, editors, and review materials, as well as solicit, assign, and manage reviewers. They can also read reviews, rate editions on a scale of 1 to 5, submit editions for review, and vote on whether to give an edition a seal of approval or not.

3.2. Edition table

The Edition category is a list of editions which are being reviewed or have been submitted for review by committee members. It contains the name of the edition and editor(s), reviewer notes, and (if the edition is electronic) the edition’s URL (note that the database does not copy the work to the server from this window).

3.3. Editor table

This is a list of the editors of the editions currently in the CSE database and their contact information. This includes editors whose work has already been reviewed and voted on.

3.4. Member table

This is a list of committee members and their contact information. Committee members can read reviews, rate editions on a scale of 1 to 5, submit editions for review, and vote on whether to give an edition a seal of approval or not.

3.5. Review table

This category contains information about reviews. This includes those reviews that have already been submitted and those that are still in progress. Each review has a review manager, which is one of the committee chairs. Reviews are not submitted to the database.

The Review category has a start and end date for each edition. This refers to when the review was assigned to a particular reviewer and when it was completed.

3.6. Reviewer table

This is a list of currently active reviewers. These are not committee members but scholars recruited by member to review selected editions. Reviewers can submit reviews and read supporting materials.

3.7. Series table

A series is a collection of editions (all of which must be entered in the Editions table). The table contains series which are being reviewed or have been submitted for review by committee members. It contains the series' title and editions, its editor(s), reviewer notes, and (if appropriate) URLs for the editions.

3.8. Supporting Material table

This contains materials supporting a review, such as the review itself, and filenames and pointers to documents and web sites that supplement, support, and otherwise add to editions in the database (note that the database does not copy the work to the server from this window).

3.9. Vote table

This is a list of votes that have been cast by committee members. Votes range from a scale of 1 (best) to 5 (worst). Members can also recommend reviewer membership in the committee, review of proposed editions, vote for or against the committee’s seal of approval, or abstain.