HELP
How
do I 'Search'?
Searching
Any Text
The search field is
not case sensitive, so it does not matter if you use UPPER CASE or lower
case.
Phrase
Please note that the text that you type in to the 'Any text' field is
exactly what the system looks for. For example, if your search term is
'baptism register' you will get entries in which the phrase 'baptism register'
occurs. It will not find 'register of baptisms' or 'baptisms register'
Wild
card
Because the search terms are so exact, you may find more entries using
the 'wild card' asterisk * . This character can be used to replace any
number of letters at the beginning, middle and end of terms. For example,
'baptism' finds only 'baptism', but 'baptis*' finds Baptist, baptism,
baptisms and baptisings.
Widen
Narrow Exclude
Please note that the Widen, Narrow and Exclude buttons only appear after
you have made a search.
If you want to keep
your current hit list and find another set of entries, use 'Widen'. From
your hit list, choose 'Search' again, then type in another search term
in 'Any text', 'RefNo' or 'Date', then click on 'Widen'. This will search
through the database for entries that contain the second search term.
For example, if your first search using 'Chocolate' in 'Any text' finds
too few entries, choose 'Search', type 'Cocoa*' in 'Any text' then choose
'Widen'. The results will be all the entries that have either 'Chocolate'
or 'Cocoa*' in them.
The 'Narrow' function
can help you to refine your hit list if you get too many entries to scroll
through easily. From your hit list, choose 'Search' again, then type in
another search term in 'Any text', 'RefNo' or 'Date', then click on 'Narrow'.
This will search through your hit list for all the entries that also contain
the second search term.
For example, you want to find information on Station Road, Shirehampton.
Your first search term may be just 'Station Road', but this brings up
the Station Roads in Henbury and Montpelier as well as Shirehampton. Choose
'Search' again, type 'Shirehampton' in 'Any text', then choose 'Narrow'.
This gives you a hit list of entries in which the terms 'Station Road'
and 'Shirehampton' both appear.
Like 'Narrow' the
'Exclude' function can help you to refine your hit list if you get too
many entries to scroll through easily. From your hit list, choose 'Search'
again, then type in another search term in 'Any text', 'RefNo' or 'Date',
then click on 'Exclude'. This will search through your hit list for all
the entries that also contain the second search term and remove them.
For example, you would like to find entries for the Redcliffe area of
Bristol, but nothing later than 1900. Your first search term is 'Redcliffe',
but this also brings up all the 20th century entries too. Choose 'Search'
again, type '20th century' in 'Date', then choose 'Exclude'. This removes
the unwanted entries from your hit list.
Searching
on RefNo
If you know the reference
number or catalogue reference of any collection or document you can enter
it in the 'RefNo' field then 'Search'. Please note that this is a precise
search and that a misplaced / or ( ) could mean that you do not find what
you are looking for.
Searching
on Date
Entering a search
term in the 'Date' field can help to narrow down your searches.
You can enter a specific date
Eg a year '1850'
Eg a span '1848-1852'
Eg a century '19th century'
You can enter a vague
date
Eg c 1950
Eg 1950s
Eg about 1950
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How
do I use my 'Search' results?
Hit
list
Your search results
will be shown to you as a list of entries, which is known as a hit list.
At the top of the screen you can see how many 'hits' you have in the form
1-x of y, x being the maximum number of hits that will be shown on your
screen and y being the total number of hits that you have.
To move from one hit list screen to another use the [Start], [Prev], [Next]
and [End] buttons.
The hit list does not give you all the details from a catalogue entry;
to see these details click on the number in square brackets on the left
side of the hit list.
Catalogue
entry
This will give you
the complete catalogue entry as compiled by Bristol Record Office staff,
and can contain a calendar of the record or include notes about other
records that relate to this entry.
When we catalogue
records we try to describe the context i.e. where a record comes from
and what it relates to. You can see this context on the catalogue entry
because above the entry details you will see a description of the collection
that the record comes from and any other contextual information that we
have recorded.
You can also access
other entries from the collection, even if they do not appear on your
original hit list. To do this, see 'Other items in the collection'.
Images
Some catalogues have
images attached to them. To see these click on the camera icon.
Import
To put as many of
our catalogues on-line as quickly as possible we have imported text from
some of the bigger catalogues directly into the database. These entries
are always called 'Import' in the Level description.
Unfortunately these entries can sometimes appear as large blocks of text.
To help you we have attached an image of the original catalogue which
can be accessed by clicking on the 'Image' or camera icon.
To close the image
of the orginal catalogue entry, click the 'Back' button. If instead you
choose from the menu, you may receive a message telling you that the document
has been changed and promting you to save the changes. It is safe to
choose 'No' and discard the changes.
Closed
until
Records that have
Closed in the AccessStatus field are subject to a period of restricted
access at the request of the depositor or as the result of legislation.
For further information contact Bristol Record Office.
Unfit
for production
Records marked Unfit
for production or UFP have been judged by Bristol Record Office staff
too fragile to be handled. Wherever possible staff will advise as to the
information contained or the existence of alternative sources, for example
transcripts or microfilm copies.
Other
items in the collection
On a catalogue entry
you can open up the whole collection that the entry belongs to by clicking
on the RefNo. You can scroll up and down the 'tree'; if you see something
that interests you then you can see the entry details by clicking on the
text in the tree.
Please note that some collections contain 1000s of entries, and so these
'trees' may take some time to open.
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