| Search fields |  | | |
AnyText | | | |
Searches any text field in a record. Examples of text fields are title, description or administrative history.
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| Title | | | |
Searches the title field in a record. The title field contains a brief summary of the information contained in a record.
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| Date | | | |
Searches the date field in a record. The date can be entered in the following formats:
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| Example | Dates searched for | | |
| 1700s | 1700-1799 | | |
| 18th cent | 1700-1799 | | |
| 1800s-1900s | 1800-1999 | | |
| 19th-20th century | 1800-1999 | | |
| 1980s | 1980-1989 | | |
| 1920s-1930s | 1920-1939 | | |
| Aug-Dec 1878 | 1 Aug 1878-31 Dec 1878 | | |
| Apr 1774 | 1 Apr 1774-30 Apr 1774 | | |
| 1984 | 1 Jan 1984-31 Dec 1984 | | |
| 1695-1850 | 1 Jan 1695-31 Dec 1850 | | |
| early 18th cent | 1700-1739 | | |
| mid 18th cent | 1730-1769 | | |
| late 18th cent | 1760-1799 | | |
| c. 19th cent | 1790-1909 (10 years either side of each century) | | |
| c. 1970s | 1960-1989 (10 years either side of the decade) | | |
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| AccNo | | | |
Searches for the Accession Number of a collection. The accession number is the reference given to a collection of records. The collection-level record will be retrieved if you search for the accession number. This is the record summarising the collection. For example, searching for CR1664 in the AccNo field will bring up the collection-level record for Central Hospital, Hatton, which summarises the content of the collection.
Please note that accession numbers are expressed in the 4-digit format, eg CR0001.
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| DocRefNo | | | |
Searches for the Document Reference Number of a record. The document reference number is a unique identifier given to items in a collection of records. Searching for a document reference number will retrieve a record for that particular item. The document reference number is formed from the accession number, an oblique line and another number, forming a unique reference (for example CR1664/1).
Please note that document reference numbers are expressed in the 4-digit format, e.g. CR0024/1.
If you find a document that you wish to view in our search room, please make a note of the contents of the DocRefNo field as you need this reference to order a document.
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| PlaceCode | | | |
Searches for the PlaceCode of a record. Records are indexed by parish and records relating to a particular parish can be searched for using a PlaceCode. You can find the PlaceCode of a parish by clicking on the 'PlaceCode Lookup' link at the bottom of the search page.
Please note that we are only beginning to index our electronic catalogue records by place name. Therefore the PlaceCode search may not work for particular parishes. We are endeavouring to add place name terms to all our Warwickshire parish records initially, before rolling out the indexing to other collections.
Level
Searches for the Level of a record. Click the field label link to select a level. Each record has a level:
- Item means that the record is an actual document and can be viewed in our public search room.
- Series/SubSeries/SubSubSeries records are descriptive records that head up groups of item records
- Section/SubSection/SubSubSection records are descriptive records that head up groups of series and item records.
- Collection records are descriptive records that head up an entire collection of records.
The hierarchy is thus:
Collection [descriptive]
Section [descriptive]
Series [descriptive]
Item [actual document that can be viewed in our search room]
You can use the 'Level' field to refine your search and reduce the number of search hits. For example, you could search for collection records, which would give you an overview of the contents of a collection. If you only wanted to search for records that can be viewed in our search room (not descriptive records), then you could select Item in the level field.
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| Word options | | | |
You can choose how the search treats the words you enter in a field by using these options.
And - searches for records containing all the words in the field you search under, but in no particular order. E.g. if Burton Dassett was searched for in the title field, the search would return all records containing the terms Burton AND Dassett in the title.
Or - searches for records containing any of the words in the field you search under. E.g. if Burton Dassett was searched for in the title field, the search would return all records containing the terms Burton OR Dassett.
Phrase - searches for records containing all the words in the field you search under, in the order that they appear. E.g. if Burton Dassett was searched for in the title field, the search would return all records containing the phrase 'Burton Dassett'.
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| Field options | | | |
You can choose how the search treats the fields in which you have entered search terms by using these options.
And - searches for records containing the search terms, in the fields that you have specified. For example, if 'Burton Dassett' was entered in the Title field and 'deed' was entered in the AnyText field, records containing 'Burton Dassett' in the Title field AND 'deed' in the AnyText fields would be retrieved.
Or - searches for records containing the search terms in either of the fields that you have specified. For example if 'Burton Dassett' was entered in the Title field and 'deed' was entered in the AnyText field, records containing 'Burton Dassett' in the Title field OR 'deed' in the AnyText fields would be retrieved.
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| Search Again function | | | |
The Search Again function can help you refine your search. After you have completed an initial search, 'Search again' will appear in the left-hand menu - click this to search again.
If you do not wish to refine your search, but wish to do another different search, simply click 'search again', enter your search terms and click 'find'. This will start a completely new search.
If you wish to refine your search, you can use the Widen, Narrow and Exclude buttons that appear to the right of the search fields. Choosing these buttons means that the search will only look at the hitlist of search records from your previous search.
Widen - enter another search term and click Widen. This will widen your search to include the new term you have entered.
Narrow - enter another search term and click Narrow. This will narrow your search to include the new term you have entered.
Exclude - enter another search term and click Exclude. This will refine your search so that the new term you have entered is excluded from the search.
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| Search tips | | | |
Starting your search: The best way to start searching is to start with a wide-ranging search and then refine. This way you will not exclude any records that might be of interest.
Finding what you want: The search facility is not an 'intelligent' search, therefore it will only search for records containing the terms you have entered. The search cannot search for subjects, so if you entered 'crime' into the AnyText field of the search, the search would merely retrieve records containing the word 'crime' in any text fields.
Also, as information is not repeated between records, the item-record that you want may not contain all the information required to find the correct record. For example, if you wanted to find a marriage register for the parish of Bubbenhall, you would need to search for Bubbenhall (title field) first and then refine your search to 'marriage register' by searching again in the title field and clicking 'narrow'.
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| Search string | | | |
The search string is displayed on the search results page, above the records found. The search string shows all the terms that have been searched for and is for reference only.
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| Sorting your results | | | |
The results are automatically sorted by Level (alphabetical) and then DocRefNo. You can sort the fields by any other of the overview fields - click the appropriate field and the hitlist will be re-sorted.
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| Viewing records | | | |
Click 'view' next to the record you wish to see.
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| Overview fields | | | |
The overview fields are Level, Title, DocRefNo and Date.
Level:
- 'Item' means that the record is an actual document and can be viewed in our public search room.
- 'Series/SubSeries/SubSubSeries' records are descriptive records that head up groups of item records
- 'Section/SubSection/SubSubSection' records are descriptive records that head up groups of series and item records.
- 'Collection' records are descriptive records that head up an entire collection of records.
The hierarchy is thus:
Collection [descriptive]
Section [descriptive]
Series [descriptive]
Item [actual document that can be viewed in our search room]
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| Search Again function | | | |
The Search Again function on the left-hand menu can help you refine your search. After you have completed an initial search, 'Search again' will appear in the left-hand menu - click this to search again.
If you do not wish to refine your search, but wish to do another different search, simply click 'search again', enter your search terms and click 'find'. This will start a completely new search.
If you wish to refine your search, you can use the Widen, Narrow and Exclude buttons that appear to the right of the search fields. Choosing these buttons means that the search will only look at the hitlist of search records from your previous search.
Widen - enter another search term and click Widen. This will widen your search to include the new term you have entered.
Narrow - enter another search term and click Narrow. This will narrow your search to include the new term you have entered.
Exclude - enter another search term and click Exclude. This will refine your search so that the new term you have entered is excluded from the search.
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| Overview fields | | | |
At the top of the page there are overview fields, which show you the context of the record you are viewing.
Depending on the information available, the fields can show you:
- The collection that the records belong to;
- The descriptive records that the record comes under (e.g. series or section records).
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| Record information | | | |
There are a number of fields that give you information about the content of the record. Remember, the record you are looking at can be a descriptive record (e.g. a collection, section or series record) or an item record for an actual document. The type of record you are looking at is given in the 'Level' field.
The hierarchy of levels is as follows:
Collection [descriptive]
Section [descriptive]
Series [descriptive]
Item [actual document that can be viewed in our search room]
If you are looking at an item record, make a note of the reference in the DocRefNo field as you will need this in order to view the original document in our search room.
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| Related records | | | |
If there are records related to the record you are viewing, then a Related Records link will appear underneath the record description. Clicking on this link will take you to the the related record. If there is more than one record, the first related record will appear and you then need to click the 'Next' button to move to the next related record.
To return to the original record, click the Related Records link at the bottom of the current record description you are viewing.
If there are no related records, the Related Records link will not appear.
Please note: we have not linked all the related records together, therefore even though the link may not appear there are still likely to be related records. You need to find these records by using the AnyText field on the search form, or navigating through the collection by clicking on the tree icon.
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| Records relating to a place | | | |
If a record relates to a particular place, then you can link to other records for this place by clicking the Records relating to this place link underneath the record description. Clicking on this link will take you to another record that relates to the place. If there is more than one record, the first linked record will appear and you then need to click the 'Next' button to move to the next linked record.
To return to the original record, click the Records relating to this place link at the bottom of the current record description you are viewing
If there are no other records linked to this place, the 'Records relating to this place' link will not appear.
Please note: we have not completed indexing our records by place, therefore even though the link may not appear there are still likely to be records that relate to the same place. You need to find these records by using the AnyText field on the search form.
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| Exploring the collection | | | |
Each record you view belongs to a collection. You can see the other records in that collection, including the records that a record is grouped with, by clicking the tree symbol. This takes you to the 'tree view' page, and opens up the file that the record belongs to. The 'tree view' works like a file system, so you can open up folders to view their contents. More information on using the 'tree view' can be found from the help link on the 'Tree View' page.
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