How to search the archives
Archives exist as collections of related material which are arranged and catalogued hierarchically with descriptions occurring at various levels from whole collections, through series and sub-series, down to individual files or items. Collections may be searched or browsed using either the search box or drop-down menu at the top of this page.
- Quick Search
Enter one or more keywords into the search box at the top of the page. As you start to type the system will auto-suggest existing terms in anticipation of potential matching results. You can click on a suggested term or continue typing and click search (or press enter) to process your query. The search looks for your terms across titles, descriptions, names, and subjects. If you are looking for an exact phrase (e.g. Ballet Costume) use double quotes (“Ballet Costume” as the system will automatically return all records that contain Ballet AND Costume otherwise.
- Browsing
If you do not have a specific search term in mind you can use the browse menu to navigate individual collections (select archival descriptions from the drop-down menu) or to explore content relating to subjects (e.g. choreographic works or dance genres); places (theatres or geographical regions); or names (personal or corporate names).
Browsing individual collections is facilitated by the ‘Hierarchy’ tree-view which appears on the right-hand side of the screen when you click through to the collection. A small arrow to the left of a description indicates further levels are available to explore by clicking to expand the hierarchy view. Only titles are visible in this hierarchy tree-view but the full details for the selected record are given in the archival description displayed on the left-hand side of the screen:
- Advanced Search
The Advanced Search button can be used to set parameters for your search such as limiting the search to a particular date range or a specific collection. You can also specify which fields your search terms should appear in (title or creator) or choose to only see items with digital objects attached.
- Interpreting results
Search results may include descriptions from any or all levels of the hierarchy and are ranked according to the field in which the search term appears. For example, if a search term is matched in the ‘title’ of a record, it will appear higher up in the results list than a record where the term only appears in the ‘notes’ field.
If you have too many results you can use the filters in the box at the top of the search results to narrow your results according to the available options: collections; subjects; places; and levels of description.
The criteria selected to narrow search results are highlighted in a red box near the top of the screen:
To return to the full results list, or to narrow the search using different criteria, click on the ‘x’ to close the red box.
Results are presented as truncated versions of the full records and the title will be hyperlinked enabling direct access to the full record for more information. Other useful elements that are visible in the truncated view include: the unique identifier (reference no.); the level of description; the date of the material; the collection it belongs to; and where available, the first few lines of the ‘Scope and Content’ fields:
Once you have clicked through to view a detailed record, you can navigate back to your search results using the ‘back to results’ button at the bottom of the page.
- Saving records using the Clipboard feature
The ‘Clipboard’ feature allows you to pin items of interest to a list by clicking on the clipboard icon which appears on the right-hand side of the description.
The ‘clipboard’ is accessed by clicking on the clipboard icon in the header bar at the top of the screen which will indicate the number of items that have been pinned.
Saved items will remain in your clipboard until individually deselected, and the results can be printed or saved if required for long term reference.