Browser Help System

Using Simple Search

Use the Simple Search Tool to search for the word(s) located anywhere in any record in the catalogue. For example, an object Simple Search on the word Black will return all objects which are black in colour, those depicting Black Street, along with those by any artist named Black and so on.

You can use the Advanced Search option to conduct a more specific search of the catalogue. The more specific your search, the more likely it is that you will get better results using the Advanced Search option.

Searching for Object or Person Records

Use the radio buttons just below the search box to specify whether you want to search for Object records, or for Person records. Reciprocal relationships between Object and Person records are shown in the results, so if you find an Object record for a painting you can link immediately to the Person record of the painter and vice versa.

To Only Get Results With Images

Click on the checkbox labelled "Only Get Results with images" to return only those object or person records which meet the search criteria and which have an image to display.

Searches with Single Words

To search on a single term, simply enter that term in the search field.

Searches with Multiple Words

Multiple terms can be combined into a single search using Boolean operators. When you want to search on more that one word, there are many shortcuts you can use to help you get the results you want.

Phrase Searches

To search for an exact phrase, place quotations around the words included in that phrase.

For example, if you enter "Greek vase" in the search prompt, the Vernon Browser will return all records in the catalogue that contain the phrase "Greek vase". In this case, you will not get records that have the word Greek in one place and the word vase in a different part of the record.

And/or Searches

To search on multiple terms, enter more than one word in the search prompt. By default, the Vernon Browser will search for records that include either term and records that contain both terms. You can get the same result by typing OR between teh search terms.

For example if you enter Greek Valse in teh search prompt, the Vernon Browser will search for records that contain the term Greek or the term vase or both terms. You can get the same results by entering Greek OR vase in the search prompt. Using OR gives you the broadest possible search on multiple terms.

To restrict your search to only records that contain both terms, place + befor each term, or connect the terms by placing AND between them.

For example, if you enter +Greek +vase in the search prompt, the Vernon Browser will return records that contain both terms. The terms, however, may not be side by side. You can get the same results by entering Greek AND vase in the search prompt.

To refine your search to records that contaion one term, but exclude another terms, place - in front of the term you wish to exclude, or type AND NOT between the terms.

For example, if you enter +Greek -vase in the search prompt, the Vernon Browser will return records that contain the term Greek, but do not include the term vase. You can get the same results by entering Greek AND NOT vase in the search prompt.

Grouping Searches

You can group multiple words together by placing them inside brackets. This allows you to conduct a search within a search. The terms inside the brackets will be searched first, followed by the terms outside the brackets.

All of the conventions mentioned in the previous section can be used inside the brackets.

For example, if you wanted to search for records that contain either the terms Greek or Roman, and vase, you could enter (Greek AND vase) OR (Roman AND vase). In this case, the criteria inside the brackets are searched first, and then ther remaining terms.

Searches on Parts of Words(Wildcard Searches)

In the Simple Search you can search on part words.

If you want a single letter within a word to be a wildcard, use ? in place of that letter

For example, te?t would return records that included the terms test, tent, text etc.

To look for records that contain variations of the same word, such as painting and painter, use * after the common part or the word.

For example, searching on paint*