Search Tips

<h2>Basic Search</h2> The single search box can be used to search across collections and will search most of the data associated with a record. You can use more than one term, but for best results, include only the most specific terms. Basic Search and Advanced Search Options After entering your search criteria, specify the number of results per page: 12, 24, 36, 48, or 60. Also specify how you would like the search results to be sorted. By default they will be sorted by Title, but they can also be sorted by Date, Agent, or Digital ID. Then click on the "DCL Search" button. The results will be displayed on the Search Results page. The search can be further modified by clicking on "Refine search." To clear all search criteria from the Search page, click on "Reset form." <h2>Advanced Search </h2> If the basic search returns too many results, the Advanced Search Options can be used to conduct a more limited and focused search. File Types: Select the file type(s) you would like to search. By default all three file types (image, audio, and video) are selected but you can limit your search to one or two file types. Narrow Search: The Advanced Search allows you to enter search criteria in up to nine specific fields (Title, Keywords, Date, ID, Order, Location, Agent, Culture, and Source) and to narrow your search by using different qualifiers (matches, less than, greater than). <ul> <li>Matches: Allows "-", "+", and "*" operators to refine Full Text searches. </li> <ul type="circle"> <li>Preface a word with + to limit the results to those records where the word appears.</li> <li>Preface a word with - to limit the results to those records where the word does NOT appear (must be used in conjunction with another search parameter).</li> <li>Add a * to the end of a (partial) word to denote all the words that begin with those letters.</li> <li>For example, Title Matches: "-picas* +pablo" will return all results where "pablo" appears in the title AND any word starting with "picas" does not appear in the title.</li> </ul> <li>Less Than: Used for numerical queries, will return results less than the search term.</li> <li>Greater Than: Used for numerical queries, will return results greater than the search term.</li> </ul> Collections: Select the collection(s) you would like to search. By default all collections are selected, but you can limit search to one collection or you can select multiple collections. Click "Unselect All" and then choose the collection(s) that you would like to search. Media Drawers: This option becomes available only when a user has set up media drawers. By default the search is not limited within a media drawer, but you can choose to search all media drawers or a single media drawer. See the Media Drawer FAQ for more information. <h2>Explanation of Terms</h2> File Type: This indicates what kind of file you will be accessing. The options are image, video, and audio. Title: This can be the formal title given to an item, or a descriptive title supplied by the collection. Most titles will be in English, but not all. Some items will have multiple titles including a title for a series. Keywords: These are terms associated with the item that may not be included elsewhere in the record. Date: Dates are expressed using ca. for circa and BCE and CE indicating Before Common Era and Common Era. (There may be some inconsistencies when searching by date, e.g., CE is currently assigned to dates from 1 CE through 999 CE while previously it had been assigned to all dates from 1 CE to the present.) To search a range of dates, you will need to put in each year in the range, separated by a comma, e.g. 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935. or use an asterisk as a wild card like so: 193*, 194*, 195*. ID: All items in the database can be identified by a unique number. This number can be searched and is the most effective way to find the same record again. Order: All materials ordered by a requestor (an individual who submits material to the DCL) can be retrieved by entering the requestor’s name in the order field of Advanced Search Options. In addition, when an order is submitted to the DCL, it is assigned an auto-generated order number (e.g., OR109897). Searching by this order number in Advanced Search Options allows all items from this order to be retrieved simultaneously. If interested in searching by order number, contact the DCL for further information. Location: The physical location of an item, its place of creation or discovery, and other location-related events are each expressed with a string from greater to smaller—Continent-Region-Country-State-City/Site. (Date and location information is displayed together on the Search Details page.) Creator: Any artist, architectural firm, photographer, researcher, etc., responsible in some way for the item being displayed will be considered an agent. There will often be multiple agents for an item. One will be assigned a primary role (depending on what part of the item is displayed). Culture: This refers to the culture that produced the item. Source: This refers to the source of the file. When an image is derived from a published source, the author and publication information will be included when available. Sources for audio and video files will also be displayed when available. To find items from a specific source, search within the Source field in the Advanced Search Options by entering the title with quotation marks around it and using the "matches" qualifier. Collection: The DCL has many departments contributing their materials. You can search across these collections, or search just one collection at a time. Media Drawers: Items or pages of items can be saved by the user in media drawers. Media drawers can be created for personal or public use. Description: More specific information about an item may be supplied, e.g., the type of view, the subject(s) depicted, the content of a video clip. Style/Period: This indicates the artistic or architectural style of an item and/or the historical period or dynasty during which an item was produced. Technique: This describes the processes by which an item was made. Materials: This specifies the substances from which an item is made. Measurements: This refers to the physical or temporal dimensions of an item. Copyright: Many of the materials in the DCL may be copyright protected. Please see our copyright policy for further information.  9

search_tips

Search Tips

2009-07-28T09:13:07-05:00