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Selecting Files and Adding to Dossiers

The Select mode on the Search page is how you turn a search result into a Dossier — a thematic research folder that pulls items together from across the archive.

Entering select mode​

On the Search results page, click Select (top right of the result count strip). Each result card grows a checkbox.

  • Tick individual rows to add to the selection.
  • Select all N results at the top of the result list ticks every matching item across all pages in a single action — useful for large result sets.
  • Selection persists across pagination — page to the next set, your earlier ticks stay.

A toolbar appears at the bottom showing N items selected with three actions:

  • Add to Dossier
  • Add to Explore session (selects accessions for Research & Explore)
  • Cancel to exit select mode

If your search matches more than 1,000 results, the Select all button will show a note capping the selection at 1,000 — if you need to add more items, run a second search with tighter filters and add in batches.

Add to Dossier​

  1. Click Add to Dossier.
  2. The picker shows your existing dossiers — pick one to add to it.
  3. Or click + New Dossier to create a new dossier with the selected items as its starting content.
  4. Confirm.

The selected items are added; counts are shown in the dossier's N items label. Items that already exist in the target dossier are skipped (no duplicates).

You can keep searching with the selection cleared, or continue browsing without losing your selection by using the persistent toolbar to add more.

Add to Explore session​

  1. Click Add to Explore session.
  2. The new-exploration flow opens with the parent accessions of your selected items pre-populated.
  3. Configure the session (research context, question style) and start chatting.

This is useful when you've found a handful of relevant items via search and want to ask a question that spans them.

Page size and bulk selection​

You can adjust how many results appear per page using the Show 20 / 50 / 100 dropdown at the top of the results. Larger page sizes let you review more items at once; smaller sizes load faster on slower connections.

How many items can I select?​

Practical limits:

  • Dossier add — up to 1,000 items in one go (when using "Select all"). Beyond that, add in batches with refined searches.
  • Explore add — limited by your plan's context window. On Professional, ~1 million tokens of context across the selected accessions.

The platform will tell you if you've exceeded a limit before commit.

Tips​

  • Search first, select second. Use filters to narrow before turning on Select mode. Selecting from a 5,000-result list is unwieldy; selecting from a focused 200-result list is manageable.
  • Use authority pills to build precise dossiers. Filter by a specific subject heading (e.g. Derby County FC), select all, add to a dossier — you've now got every appearance of that subject in your archive in one place.
  • Don't worry about duplicates. Adding the same items to the same dossier twice is a no-op.