By: Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology

We’ve been hard at work implementing fixes and updates to enhance your experience using the Smithsonian Learning Lab, and we’re excited to share our latest updates with you!

Today’s upgrades include search, resource, and collections improvements. Find information about these changes below.

Don’t forget – our Help Center is here to support you in using the Lab with step-by-step instructions and video tutorials on how to discover, create, and share!

We focus our improvements and new features on what would be most helpful to users like you, so please keep sharing your suggestions with us.

Resources

• Fixed bug causing inconsistency with usage rights indicators

Search

• Fixed issue resulting in inconsistent search results when search terms were entered in a different order
• Fixed bug causing partial words to be just as relevant as whole words in Search

Collections

• Fixed issue preventing the creation of a custom thumbnail image to represent a collection using the Canvas tool
• Improved how resource thumbnail images load in collection grid view to decrease collection page load time
• Fixed issue with GIFs uploaded to collections loading too slowly; newly uploaded GIFs will display correctly.
• Clarified directions for viewing hotspots on resources in collections
• Fixed display of hotspots on resources in collections when viewed on tablets or mobile

Releases 2.77 & 2.78

Image: Machinery (Abstract #2), by Paul Kelpe

The shadowed worker in this painting appears to be controlling the structure, suggesting man's essential role in industry and his ability to create massive, powerful machines. During the Depression, many artists celebrated human achievements in this way, to emphasize the importance of the working class and to boost morale. In 1934, Paul Kelpe worked for the Public Works of Art Project. The program did not accept abstract art, so he incorporated realistic elements such as figures, wheels, and buildings into his compositions. These images were still not "representational enough," however, and he soon gave up trying to please his bosses.

Smithsonian American Art Museum