created by Taylor Faires, Alicia Peaker, and Miranda Jones-Davidis
updated September 28, 2020 by Ana Lam
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Scalar is a free, open-source tool for digital authoring and publishing that "enables users to assemble media from multiple soucres and juxtapose them with their own writing in a variety of ways, with minimal technical expertise required" (Scalar website).
- Projects with lots of writing
- Connecting media to text
- Multi-linear narratives (think choose-your-own-adventure)
- Storing lots of images or large images (if your project is object-centered, try Omeka or Wax instead)
- Internet access
- Reliable web browser (preferably Chrome or Firefox)
- Access to your email.
- An account at scalar.usc.edu or your own Scalar install.
To create a Scalar account, follow these instructions:
- Make your way to the Scalar Registration Page.
- Enter in the relevant information such as your email and name.
- Use Registration key:
- Once you've regeistered, you should be redirected to your dashboard, if you are not already on the "My Account Tab," navigate to that tab.
- There should be an option to create a new book at the bottom of the page which should look like the image below:
- Once you've created the new book you should be able to see it under "My Books." Click on your book title to navigate to your book. Now it's time to add content!
Many tasks in Scalar are accomplished through Scalar's "front-end" or "public-facing" interface. You'll know you're on the front-end of your Scalar site when you can see a dark grey bar with icons at the top of your screen. The back-end of the site has "Dashboard" at the top of the page. To move from the dashboard to the front-end, select "Back to book" in the top-right corner. To move from the front-end of your book to your dashboard, select the wrench icon.
| Front-end | Back-end |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| The front-end of a Scalar site | The back-end or dashboard of a Scalar site |
Scalar requires you to add media independent of adding the media to a page. This is because each piece of media on the site is also a page and Scalar doesn't treat images differently (more on Scalar's "flat ontology" in the next section). Once you get the hang of adding media, however, the process is easy!
Sometimes it's impossible or impractical to link to media, particularly if that media is at risk of disappearing. In those cases, use Scalar's upload feature.
- To upload media from the front-end of your site, hover over the upload button on the right hand side of your book.Then hover over "Files and URLs." Finally, select "Upload media files."
While you certainly can upload media into Scalar, Scalar was built on the ethos that media should remain with its creators and trusted partners. Once you download an image from the web, you divorce it from its context and often its metadata. Every time we upload another copy of O'Keefe's Black Iris to the web, we add to the carbon footprint of the server that's storing it (and backing it up).
To link to media files hosted elsewhere on the web, follow the instructions above, but select "Link to media files." You will be redirected to a similar page asking for a url.
Scalar has built-in tools for importing metadata and links to media files from affiliates and from some publicly available sources (e.g. Youtube).
- Hover over the same button you used to upload images and then hover over affiliated archives. Select the Internet Archive.
- You will be redirected to a page with a search box. Once you've entered something into the search box, you will see the media available and can select which media you want to upload.
- Select at least one video file.
- Click "import selected." You will then see all of the metadata that Scalar is automatically importing from the source.
Sometimes Scalar encounters difficulty accessing the affiliated and unaffiliated archives. If that happens, use the "link to files" option instead.
Because Scalar is not keeping a copy of the media file on its servers, if it is taken down by the source, the metadata will continue to be visible in your Scalar book, but the media will not.
Scalar provides some annotation tools for images, video, and audio files. Once you've uploaded a piece of media successfully you should be redirected to the media page.
On this page you can edit the metadata you added previously by pressing the pencil icon on the righthand side of the page.
To annotate an image:
- While on a media page, select the paperclip icon in the top right. If you can't see the paperclip, you likely aren't on a media page.
- Click and drag anywhere on the image to create an annotation box.
- Add a comment about that part of the image.
- Once you create the annotation you can edit the size and dimensions of the box and add more details.
- Click Done.
- Hover over your image to find your annotation. There will also be a new "Annotation" tab below the image that will list any annotations associated with this media object.
Annotating a video or audio clip is slightly different. While the beginning process is the same, once you're on the annotation editing page for a video:
- Click the plus sign button near the bottom of the page.
- When prompted in the annotation editor, set the start and end time by pressing the "set" buttons at the desired times in the video.
- Once the times are set, you can feel free to add any information you'd like in the title, description, and content.
- When finished, click "Save" and then "Done" to return to the media page.
- There will also be a new "Annotation" tab below the video that will list any annotations associated with this media object. Select an annotation to go directly to its timestamp.
Now that you've added some media, you can create a page to hold that media! To create a page:
- Press the plus button on the right hand side.
- You'll be redirected to a page editor with a textbox. In that textbox, you can add whatever content you'd like. Go ahead and add some text.
- Once you're done, add a title and description and click "save."
- Create at least three pages.
- While on a page that you'd like to add media to, select the pencil icon to edit the page.
- Above the text box, there are a number of blue icons. The two blue icons with play buttons are for inserting media links.
- Click on the play button with lines around it and select media from the window that pops up.
- You can then adjust the media size, align properties, and caption. You also can select whether the image is in a new line or if you want text to wrap around it. If your media has annotations, you can choose which annotations to include in this embedded media.
- Once you've done this, click "continue." Don't worry if it looks odd on the editing page screen or you see grey boxes.
- Click "Save and View at the bottom of the page. Take a look at your new page!
As you will see, this feature plops your media file exactly where you placed it on the page. To create a more dynamic linking of text and media:
- Click the edit icon again.
- Highlight a piece of text and click on the first blue play button.
- Follow the same process of embedding an inline media link.
- Try this out and see how it looks on the front-end.
Bonus: Change the layout of your page to see how Scalar dynamically works with media.
Scalar has a “flat ontology” which means that every kind of thing in Scalar (a media object, a page, an annotation) is equal to every other thing.
Diagram by Erik Loyer, courtesy of Scalar team.
This has some radical implications for structure and for creating relationships in Scalar. Think about how hashtags (text) work to connect and collect conversations. Now imagine an image doing that work.
Because of this flat ontology, images or videos can function as tags, and videos can be tagged with other videos...or images...or other tags.
Tags are useful for connecting content thematically.
Diagram by Erik Loyer, courtesy of Scalar team.
- Create a new page (on the front-end of site, click on the plus icon).
- Give your tag a title (consider a theme that runs throughout your course or project).
- Under the Relationships tab, select “Tag.”
- Select the items that it tags.
- Under the "Layouts" tab, select "Tag."
- Save and view!
- Repeat for a couple of themes.
While tags are non-linear in Scalar, "paths" are linear. You create a path much like a tag, but in creating a path you create a multi-linear structure.
Because of Scalar's flat ontology, any Scalar object can be a stop along the path. This is useful if you want students or readers to pause on an image or attend to a particular annotation.
Diagram by Erik Loyer, courtesy of Scalar team.
This structure also allows you to set up choices for readers to make.
In a Scalar book with lots of content, keeping track of your structure can feel unwieldy. We recommend doing some planning first--whether in analogue or digital form.
- Using a tool you feel comfortable with (e.g. sticky notes, Google slides, etc.) write out the most important chunks of content for your Scalar book.
- Draw lines to connect content.
- Move the chunks into linear paths.
- Think about where paths might diverge and where they might connect.
- When a reader reaches the end of a path, where do you want them to go next?
- Create a new page (on the front-end of site, click on the plus icon).
- Give your page a title.
- Under the Relationships tab, select “Path.”
- Select the items that are on the path.
- Save and view your page.
- Create at least two paths following the instructions above.
- Create a new path and include an existing path as one of the items on this new path.
- Explore the path!
BONUS: Use Scalar's visualization tools to view your new path structure
You have content now, but how do you make it look like a book? Above is an example of the Book Splash layout which will give your book a nice cover.
To change your title:
- Go to your dashboard (the wrench icon).
- Click on the "Book properties" tab.
- Edit your title in the title field.
- You can also add a subtitle and a description.
Now that you have a title, we can make that book cover. To make a snazzy book cover, you'll need a snazzy image or video. If you need to upload one, go ahead and do that now. Then:
- If you're on the dashboard, elect "back to book".
- Once there, you should be at your home (aka index) page. You may see: "This page contains no content. Click the
button above to add some." Click the pencil icon to edit your home page. - You may need to add a title as this field cannot be blank. Please note, however, that the "book splash" layout uses your book title not the page title, so anything in this field will not be displayed.
- Navigate to the "layout" tab at the bottom of the page. In the drop-down menu select "Book Splash."
- A Book Splash will create a blank and pretty boring grey cover if you don't add an image to be a part of the cover. To do that, click the "styling" tab and then click "key image."
- Choose the image you want to be a part of your cover, save, and voila! You have a book cover!
Okay so you have a book cover, but it doesn't lead anywhere. What do you do now? Remember paths? Let's make your book cover a path to lead readers to the inside.
- Go back to your page editor and select "relationships" and then "paths."
- Then choose the items it contains (at least your first content page).
- Save and view your new book cover!
Students and other collaborators must first register with Scalar in order to be added to your book. Once students have registered with Scalar, you can add them to your book by first going to the dashboard .
- Go to the dashboard (the wrench icon ).
- Select the "Book users" tab.
- At the bottom left of the screen, select the "Add a user" button.
- When the pop up appears, you can search for a user's full name in Scalar's database. Feel free to search for "Alicia Peaker" or "Ana Lam" from the DHC and add us to your book!
By default, Scalar books are only visible to the creator(s) when logged in.
To make your book publicly available, go to the "Sharing" tab on your dashboard.
For the first option "Make URL public?" use the drop-down menu to select "Yes."
If you would like to hide individual pages, select the "Pages" tab on your dashboard. For each page you want to hide, select "Edit," then change the "Live?" option to "No." Be sure to save the line when you are finished.
- How did creating multi-linear paths through your content make you think differently about your project?
- One of the common affective experiences of reading a Scalar book is an anxiety about missing content, of not being certain you're reading everything you should. How might you confront this reaction in your reading practice and production of books?
- You may opt to create a book and invite your students to collaborate on it, or each student (or group of students) may create their own books and share them with you.
- Students must register with Scalar before you can add them to your book.
- Barnard faculty, staff, and students are free to reach out to the DHC for additional help!