Searching For Tools : SMDS Help Desk

• Login to SMDS.

• Place your cursor over Data Collection Tools link.

• Click the Find Tool button.

From here, you can select a category to view tools in a specific community development area.

• Click on a category that you use in your evaluation work.

All tools in the category you selected will now be displayed on your screen.

From here, tool categories can be further filtered by clicking on a more specific sub-category. These sub-categories are listed on the left side of your screen in the light green box.

• Click a sub-category on the left side of the screen.

This process can continue through one more round of filtering. By choosing to filter yet again by clicking a topic on the left, your list of tools will be more manageable and easier to browse.

Another option for sorting tools is by choosing the format type of the tool.

• Click the checkbox next to a format type from the white box on the left side of the screen.

You can choose as many formats as you would like. If no formats are selected, you will see all tools. If you select Survey, you will see only survey tools. If you select Survey and Observation, you will see both survey and observation tools.

You can also search for a tool by name at any time.

• Type a tool name or portion of a tool name into the Find a Tool text field.

• Click the Search icon.

Previewing Tools

There are many options available for previewing tools and questions.

• Click on a tool name to view the tool.

From here, you can see the questions in the tool.

• Click on a question to see the answer choices and format.

At the bottom of the page, click on Word Format to view the tool as a Word document.

The Word version of a tool will be used if respondents fill out the tool on paper.

• Click on Preview to see the tool as it appears in SMDS when you enter a response.

A new tab will pull up the tool in preview mode, and you can fill out answers to see how it will look to simulate entering a response.