Brief guide to searching

There are two main ways to search the database, simple and advanced searching.

Simple search

The simple search is accessed via the search box in the top right hand corner of the catalogue pages.

By default the simple search will search across Title and Description fields. Where more than one term is entered, the search tool will search on all of them (ie AND)

See the What are acceptable searches? page for samples of simple searches.

Advanced search

The advanced search enables you to perform ‘Any text field’ searches, and also to search specifically on certain fields. Please bear in mind that not all fields have been used for all records so please see the What are acceptable searches? section for help with searching.

Refine advanced search criteria

By default, a search will look for the word or words you have entered. However you can choose to change the default search criteria by clicking the ‘Refine Search Criteria’ option. There are three ways to refine the search option:

With ALL the words

With AT LEAST ONE of the words

WITHOUT the words

Searching on picklist fields

If the field on which you are searching is a ‘picklist’ field then it will appear with a dropdown list of terms to choose from.

The Subject field is an example of this. To search this database you can either:

• Type a word into the Subject search field and click Search
• Type a word into the Subject search field and click the Subject button to the right of the field.

If the term you have entered exists in the database then it will be displayed along with any related subjects.

See the What are acceptable searches? page for samples of advanced searches.