| Searching |
| To conduct a search: |
- Enter your search criteria in the query box. Alternatively, click on Browse (where available) to pick a term or word from the field indexes. (For further information on the Browse button, click here.)
If you fill in more than one box, results must meet all
criteria. For example, the search will find archival records that contain the word
"zoo" AND have a format of "graphic".
- Click the Search button.
- Records that meet your criteria are displayed as a report.
- To select a print view of your results, select the print form from the
drop-down list.
|
|
| Using a Word Wheel (Browse button) |
| If a search screen includes a Word Wheel (Browse) button, click it to display a dialogue box that shows words and/or terms for which you can search. This eliminates trial-and-error searching and makes searching easier. For more information, click here or on the Help button on the Word Wheel dialogue box. |
| |
|
| Using the AND-OR-NOT drop-down list |
| If a search screen includes an AND-OR-NOT drop-down list in front of a box, you can do more advanced searches. The Boolean operator you select for a box determines how the search criteria in that box will be combined with criteria already evaluated.
Boxes are evaluated from top to bottom (first box to last). |
| |
|
| Reset button |
| To clear your search criteria, click the Reset button on the search page. |
| |
|
| Search button |
| To start your search, click the Search button. |
| |
|
| Explaining the Search Criteria |
| Keywords |
| Finding words and phrases |
You can search for records that have a particular word or words in their title or description. Type the word you want to find (committee) or type a phrase (town planning) to find those words in that order. To find variations of words, type an asterisk at the end of one or more word stems (comm* will find community, committee, etc.).
Use the symbols & / ! between words or phrases to represent Boolean AND, OR, NOT within one query box. Include a space before and after the symbol.
Use the proximity operators w# (within) and p# (preceding) to find words near each other (where # is a number). You can also include an asterisk (*) at the end of either word (i.e. plan* p5 committee). However, do not include phrases (i.e. plan* p5 sub committee).
Try the examples below: |
| |
| |
| Type this… |
To find… |
| enterprise board |
a phrase (those words, in that order) |
| enterprise / board |
either word (or both) |
| enterprise & board |
items that contain both words (items that contain just one of the words will be ignored) |
| borough council ! auckland |
“borough council” but not “auckland” |
| plan* p5 committee |
“planning” preceding “committee” by 5 words or fewer. You can include an asterisk at the end of either word.
Do not include phrases (plan* p5 sub committee). |
| newton w5 district |
“newton” within 5 words of “district” (before or after).
Do not include phrases. |
|
|
| |
| Words joined by & / ! are evaluated in left-to-right order. For example, building & permit / plan finds archival records that contain "building" and "permit", or records that contain "plan". Use parentheses to control evaluation order: for example, building & (permit / plan) finds archival records that contain "building" and "permit" OR "building" and "plan". |
| |
|
| Finding an exact word |
| The database will look for matches to exact words unless you use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard. To find variations of words, type an asterisk at the end of one or more word stems, e.g. comm* will find community, committee, etc. |
| |
|
| Finding an exact phrase |
| To search for an exact phrase, precede it with an equal sign (=). For example, =sound recordings finds only that complete term (does not find just "sound" or just "recordings" or that phrase embedded in other text). |
| |
|
| Case and punctuation |
| Case in query criteria is usually ignored (a search for investments committee finds Investments Committee). Punctuation is also ignored, except for the AND-OR-NOT symbols (& / !) and search symbols (for example, : = < >). If you do not want these characters to be interpreted as search symbols, use quotation marks ("Brown Campbell & Co") or replace the punctuation with a space (Brown Campbell Co). |
| |
|
| Years |
| You can search for records that relate to a period of time by entering a single year (e.g. 1987) or a range of years. |
| |
|
| Doing "less than", "greater than", and range searches |
You can search for records with properties greater than or less than a certain value, or within a range. This is most commonly done when searching for dates, but can also be done when searching for values or text.
You can do "less than" or "greater than" searches using the < and > symbols. When used with a partial date, these symbols search from the beginning of the date (first day of the month or year). The equal sign (=) can be combined with the < and > symbols in order to include the entered value.
A range consists of two values, low and high, separated by a colon. Include spaces around the colon.
Try these examples: |
| |
| |
| Symbol |
Meaning |
Example |
| < |
less than (before) |
< 1947 finds dates before 1 January 1947 |
| <= |
less than or equal to (on or before) |
<= 1950 finds dates including or before 1950 |
| > |
greater than (after) |
> 1897 finds dates after 31 December 1897 |
| >= |
greater than or equal to (on or after) |
>= 1930 finds dates including or after 1930 |
| : |
range |
1952 : 1965 finds dates from 1 January 1952 through 31 December 1965 (inclusive)
200 : 300 finds values between 200 and 300 (inclusive) |
|
|
| |
| You can use the symbols & / ! between dates to do AND-OR-NOT searches. For example, 1973 / 1974 finds all dates in 1973 or 1974. |
| |
|
| Finding a specific date |
| To find a date, use any acceptable format, including, but not limited to, the following examples: |
- 31-Dec-74
- Dec 31, 1974
- 1974 Dec
- Dec 74
- December 1974
- 12-74
|
| Do not use a forward slash to separate date elements unless you surround the date with quotation marks (for example, "12/31/1974"). |
| Note that if you are searching for a date in the 19th or 20th century, you must enter the year in full. |
| |
|
| Format / Material Description |
| Records come in different formats. |
| At series level, there are five general formats that you can search for: |
- Electronic
- Graphic
- Multiple Media
- Sound Recording
- Text
|
| These formats can be selected from the material description list or entered straight into the format / material description query box. |
| At record level, you are able to search for the specific physical format of the record: |
- Artwork
- Audio Tape
- Badge
- Banner
- Binder
- Blue Print Plan
- Book
- Booklet
- Brochure
- Business Card
- Card
- CD Cover
- CD-Rom
- Certificate
- Chain
- Clothing
- Coat of Arms
- Computer Disk
- Computer Printout
- Crest
- Database
- Document
- Drawing
- DVD
- Electronic File
- Envelope
- File
- Film
- Flag
- Folder
- Form
- Gramophone Record
- Hat
- Index Card
- Invitation
- Leaflet
- Ledger
- Letterbook
- Letterpress Book
- List
- Magazine
- Magnetic Tape
- Map
- Microfiche
- Microfilm
- Neck Tie
- Newsletter
- Newspaper
- Newspaper Clipping
- Not Classified Object
- Notebook
- Pamphlet
- Paper
- Paperweight
- Periodical
- Photograph
- Photograph Album
- Photographic Glass Negative
- Photographic Negative
- Photographic Positive
- Photographic Slide
- Pin
- Plan
- Plaque
- Plate
- Postcard
- Poster
- Radio Microphone
- Recordbook
- Register
- Report
- Scrapbook
- Scroll
- Sign
- Slide
- Stamp
- Sticker
- Ticket
- Tie Clip
- Transmitter
- Transparency
- Video - Beta
- Video - VHS
- Volume
|
| Again, these formats can be selected from the format type list or entered straight into the format type query box. |
| |
|
| Agency |
| In the series search, you can browse and then choose an agency from the agency name list or the agency code list. In most cases, you would do this so you only got results for series created by that particular agency. |
| In the record search, you can browse and then choose an agency from the agency name list or the agency code list. In most cases, you would do this so you only got results for records created by that particular agency. |
| Each agency is registered by Auckland City Council archives and given a unique 3-letter code, e.g. ELB for Ellerslie Borough Council, MEB for Mount Eden Borough Council. There are three exceptions: |
- the agencies of Auckland City (post 1989 local authority amalgamation) and Auckland City Council pre 1989 local authority amalgamation - these are identified by a unique alphanumeric code of three elements preceded by AKC or ACC, or
- where the agency is a person.
|
|
| Series |
| In the series search, you can browse and then choose a series by name from the title list or the series number list. You can select multiple series from the lists. In most cases, you would do this so you only retrieved information on that particular series. |
| In the record search, you can browse and then choose a series by name from the part of list or the series number list. In most cases, you would do this so you only got results for records belonging to that particular series. |
| Each series is registered by Auckland City Council archives and given a unique code. The code consists of the agency code of the agency that created or had last custody of the series, i.e. the agency the series was "part of", and a three-digit number e.g. MEB 001. |
| |
|
| Record Number |
| In the record search, you can browse and then choose a record number from the record number list. |
| Because records are often generated within records management programs, records are assigned numbers or references according to a classification or some other system of arrangement. |
| |
|
| Troubleshooting: Searches |
| If you are having trouble with a search, some of the most common problems are listed below. If you do not find an answer to your problem here, please contact Auckland City Council archives. |
| |
|
| I got the message "No query criteria specified." |
| You pressed the Search button without specifying any query criteria. |
| Specify what you want to search for by typing words and/or phrases in the query boxes or by selecting choices from the Word Wheel (Browse button). Then press the Search button. |
| |
|
| I got the message "Unable to recognize as a correctly formed query." |
The program cannot understand the search criteria. Possible problems include:
- Typographical errors
- Mismatched quotes or parentheses
- Extra Boolean search symbols (for example, you should have typed board / committee instead of board / committee /)
- Missing quotation marks around symbols that can be misinterpreted. For example, search for "Brown Campbell & Co".
|
| If you cannot determine what caused the error, try a simpler search (for example, just a word in a box) to see if it works. If the search screen includes Word Wheels (the Browse buttons), use them to construct the query, instead of typing criteria. If even simple searches do not work, contact Auckland City Council archives. |
| |
|
| I found too many records. |
| If you used an asterisk, omit it and try an exact search instead (for example, search for community board instead of comm*). |
| Try using a Boolean symbol (& / !) between words to construct more precise queries. For example, to find information on Queen Street, but not Upper Queen Street, search for queen street ! upper. |
| If the item you are searching for includes punctuation, substitute spaces for punctuation (for example, search for Brown Campbell Co, not Brown Campbell & Co) or surround the item with quotation marks ("Brown Campbell & Co"). |
| If you are searching for a date, do not use a forward slash between date components (for example, search for 12-12-98) or surround the date with quotation marks ("12/12/98"). |
| |
|
| I did not find any records. |
| Examine the contents of the search screen to verify that you do not have query criteria left over from a previous search. |
| If you are not sure of the spelling, use an asterisk after the first few characters (for example, ste*) or separate several possible spellings with a forward slash (for example, search for steven / stephen). |
| If you did a complex search, try simplifying it to eliminate confusion. If the search screen has Browse buttons, use them to view and paste items for which to search. |
| If you are trying to find records that contain multiple words anywhere in the record, separate the words with Boolean symbols (& / !). Otherwise, you are doing a phrase search, which finds the words in the order entered in the query box. |
| If your search includes Boolean symbols (& / !) or range searches (:), put spaces around the symbols. |
| Do not use words (and, or, not) for Boolean operators. You must use the Boolean symbols (& / !). |
| Try using / instead of & between words. Using / means either word can be present (john / paul finds John or Paul). Using & means both words must be present (john & paul will not find just "John" or just "Paul"). |
| Remember that range searches involving partial dates start from the beginning of the range. For example: <1974 means "before 1 January 1974". |
| |
|
| When I try to display records or change forms, I get the message, "Your current query has expired. Perform the search again." |
| The query set file that stored your search results has expired, so you will have to do your search again. If this message occurs frequently, please contact Auckland City Council archives. |
| |
|
