Searching for items

The Item Manager lets you search for Mastering items using a variety of criteria.

About searching for items using the Item Library

To search for items with the Item Manager:

Sign in to open the Mastering Authoring main page, select Access account or sign out (top right), and then choose Item Manager.
Select the first drop-down button in the upper left, and enter search criteria:
- Item ID (as shown in the image above)
- Item type (enter SB for Skill Builders, STP for Self-Tutoring Problems, EOC for End of Chapter, TB for Test Bank, EOS for End of Section, Tutorial, Activity, or User for items in development; see Editing item properties for descriptions)
- Current Revision
- Source ID (item owner)
- Title
- Description
- Time (minutes to complete item)
- Difficulty (based on student data)
- Survey difficulty (based on student feedback)
- Avg. rating
- # of Students (who completed the item)
- Topic Code (no longer used)
Note: You cannot search for mobile-ready items using the Item Manager.

Select the second drop-down button in the upper left, and enter a search operator to streamline the search:
- matches exactly (default operator): Only those items that match the supplied value display.
- matches regular expression: Only those items that match the supplied regular expression display.
- contains: Any item that contains the supplied value as a substring displays.
- is one of: Any item that contains one of the supplied values displays.
- is greater than: Any item that is greater than the supplied value displays. (Note: This applies to numeric properties only.)
- is less than: Any item that is less than the supplied value is returned. (Note: This applies to numeric properties only.)

[Optional] On the right, use advanced options to focus the search:
- AND/OR buttons: Use these buttons to search multiple categories. If you select AND, only items matching all the supplied criteria and value(s) display. If you select OR, items matching any of the supplied criteria and value(s) display.
- Limit:If you enter 0, all matching items display. If you enter an integer n, then only the first n matching items display.
- Restrict to: If you select a textbook from the list, only items from that textbook display.
- Tier/Code: If you select Section, Part, Chapter, Concept or Unit from the list, and then enter a number, only items from that Section, Part, Chapter, Concept or Unit display.
- Exclude inactive?: All items whose status is set to inactive are excluded. Most items that are being developed have a status of inactive.
- Include userspace?: All items located in your user space display. When you preview items while editing, copies of the items are stored in and displayed from your user space. When you commit an item, the system places your sandbox copy into the library and removes both the sandbox and user space copies.

[Optional] Select the order in which items display by entering Sort by criteria. The pulldown menu displays the same options as for step 2, above.
Select Submit.
The Item Manager Query Results list appears at the bottom of the page with one or more items that match your search criteria.
Select an item in the Item Manager Query Results area to open it in Standard View (as students will see it). From here, you can edit the item using the Altova editor.

Item status information and menus you can access from here.

Element	Description
Item Type	Lists the type of item, such as Test Bank, Tutorial, etc. The item type is also viewable by students and instructors who open an item in a Mastering course.
Difficulty	For existing publisher items, the difficulty rating of this item based on actual student usage. The rating can be from 1-5, where 5 is the most difficult. The difficulty rating is also viewable by students and instructors who open an item in a Mastering course.
Time	For existing publisher items, the average amount of time it may take a student to complete the item, based on actual student usage. The time rating is also viewable by students and instructors who open an item in a Mastering course.
Manage this Item menu	Choose the type of view you would like for this item or choose to Restart Work after trying out the item as a student. More about the Manage this Item menu
Item ID	The number of an item in the library after a user has saved or committed the item to the library. You can enter this number when searching for an item using the Item Manager Query Tool. You can only see item IDs from the Authoring Environment.
Sandbox XML Status	The Sandbox area is where the system stores all of your in-process items. When you preview an item, the system also saves a copy in the Sandbox. This information is only viewable from the Authoring Environment.
Displayed Version	The location of the item you're viewing—either Library (an item you aren't editing) or Sandbox (an item you haven't finished). This information is only viewable from the Authoring Environment.
Edit Action menu	Lets you copy and edit items, and perform other tasks. This menu is only available from the Authoring Environment. More about the Edit Action menu

Note: At times, a Sandbox version of an item may differ from the library version. This typically happens if more than one person is working on an item. If you see a status message that indicates your Sandbox is obsolete, it means the library version is newer. In most cases, you need to select Edit Action > Remove from Sandbox to use the most current library copy.