Advanced Search¶
User Guide¶
Find records using powerful search filters, field-specific queries, and saved searches.
Overview¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ADVANCED SEARCH │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Basic Search Advanced Search Saved Searches │
│ │ │ │ │
│ ▼ ▼ ▼ │
│ Quick keyword Multiple fields Reuse queries │
│ lookup Boolean operators Share with team │
│ Date ranges │
│ Facet filters │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Accessing Advanced Search¶
Main Menu
│
▼
Browse
│
▼
Click "Advanced Search" link
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ADVANCED SEARCH PANEL │
│ │
│ [Basic] [Content] [Access Points] [Dates] [Filters] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Search Tabs¶
Basic Tab¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ BASIC SEARCH │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Search Terms: [ ] [Search] │
│ │
│ Search In: [All Fields ▼] │
│ • All Fields │
│ • Title │
│ • Reference Code │
│ • Creator │
│ • Scope and Content │
│ │
│ Match: ○ All words (AND) │
│ ○ Any word (OR) │
│ ○ Exact phrase │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Content Tab¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CONTENT SEARCH │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Title Contains: [ ] │
│ │
│ Reference Code: [ ] │
│ │
│ Identifier: [ ] │
│ │
│ Scope and Content: [ ] │
│ │
│ Extent and Medium: [ ] │
│ │
│ Archival History: [ ] │
│ │
│ Finding Aids: [ ] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Access Points Tab¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ACCESS POINTS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Subject: [ ] [+ Add] │
│ ┌────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Agriculture [×] │ │
│ │ Mining [×] │ │
│ └────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Place: [ ] [+ Add] │
│ ┌────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Cape Town [×] │ │
│ └────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Name/Creator: [ ] [+ Add] │
│ │
│ Genre: [ ] [+ Add] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Dates Tab¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DATE SEARCH │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Date Range: │
│ │
│ From: [ ] [📅] │
│ YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD │
│ │
│ To: [ ] [📅] │
│ YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD │
│ │
│ Date Type: [All Date Types ▼] │
│ • All Date Types │
│ • Creation Date │
│ • Accumulation Date │
│ • Date of Content │
│ │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ Quick Select: │
│ [19th Century] [1900-1950] [1950-2000] [This Year] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Filters Tab¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ FILTERS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Repository: [All Repositories ▼] │
│ │
│ Level of Description: │
│ ☑ Fonds │
│ ☑ Sub-fonds │
│ ☑ Series │
│ ☑ Sub-series │
│ ☑ File │
│ ☑ Item │
│ │
│ Sector: │
│ [All Sectors] [Archive] [Museum] [Library] [Gallery] [DAM]│
│ │
│ Media Type: [All Types ▼] │
│ • All Types │
│ • With Digital Objects │
│ • Images Only │
│ • Audio Only │
│ • Video Only │
│ • Documents Only │
│ │
│ Publication Status: │
│ ○ All ○ Published Only ○ Draft Only │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Boolean Operators¶
Combine search terms with operators:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ BOOLEAN SEARCH │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ AND - Both terms must appear │
│ Example: mining AND gold │
│ │
│ OR - Either term can appear │
│ Example: photo OR photograph │
│ │
│ NOT - Exclude a term │
│ Example: diamond NOT industrial │
│ │
│ " " - Exact phrase │
│ Example: "Cape Town harbour" │
│ │
│ * - Wildcard (any characters) │
│ Example: Johan* (finds Johann, Johannesburg) │
│ │
│ ? - Single character wildcard │
│ Example: wom?n (finds woman, women) │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Examples¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SEARCH EXAMPLES │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Find records about gold mining in Johannesburg: │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│ gold AND mining AND Johannesburg │
│ │
│ Find photos or photographs of ships: │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│ (photo OR photograph) AND ship │
│ │
│ Find all variations of a name: │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│ Smit* (finds Smith, Smit, Smits, Smitman) │
│ │
│ Find an exact title: │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│ "Annual Report 1985" │
│ │
│ Find correspondence but not circulars: │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│ correspondence NOT circular │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Search Results¶
Results Display¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SEARCH RESULTS Showing 1-25 of 342 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Sort by: [Relevance ▼] View: [List ▼] Per page: [25 ▼] │
│ │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ 📁 Annual Reports of the Mining Commissioner │
│ Reference: MIN/REP/1890-1920 │
│ Date: 1890-1920 │
│ Level: Series │
│ ...contains reports on gold mining operations... │
│ │
│ 📄 Gold Mining Regulations │
│ Reference: MIN/REG/1895/001 │
│ Date: 1895 │
│ Level: File │
│ ...regulations governing gold extraction... │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Facet Filters¶
Narrow results using facets on the side:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ REFINE RESULTS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ REPOSITORY │
│ ├── National Archives (156) │
│ ├── Mining Museum (89) │
│ └── Chamber of Mines (97) │
│ │
│ LEVEL │
│ ├── Fonds (12) │
│ ├── Series (45) │
│ ├── File (198) │
│ └── Item (87) │
│ │
│ DATE │
│ ├── 1850-1899 (45) │
│ ├── 1900-1949 (167) │
│ ├── 1950-1999 (98) │
│ └── 2000-present (32) │
│ │
│ SUBJECT │
│ ├── Gold mining (234) │
│ ├── Labour (89) │
│ ├── Regulations (56) │
│ └── More... │
│ │
│ [Clear All Filters] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Saving Searches¶
Save a Search¶
After searching, click Save Search:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SAVE SEARCH │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Search Name: [Gold mining records 1890-1920 ] │
│ │
│ Description: [All records related to gold ] │
│ [mining in the Transvaal ] │
│ │
│ Visibility: ○ Private (only me) │
│ ○ Shared (all users) │
│ │
│ ☐ Email me when new results match this search │
│ │
│ [Cancel] [Save Search] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Access Saved Searches¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MY SAVED SEARCHES │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Name Results Last Run │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ Gold mining records 1890-1920 342 Today │
│ [Run] [Edit] [Delete] │
│ │
│ Photographs of Cape Town 1,245 Yesterday │
│ [Run] [Edit] [Delete] │
│ │
│ New acquisitions 2025 89 3 days ago │
│ [Run] [Edit] [Delete] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Search Tips¶
Finding What You Need¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SEARCH STRATEGIES │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Start Broad, Then Narrow │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│ 1. Begin with a simple keyword search │
│ 2. Review the results │
│ 3. Use facets to narrow down │
│ 4. Add more specific terms if needed │
│ │
│ Try Synonyms │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│ • photo OR photograph OR image │
│ • letter OR correspondence OR memo │
│ • map OR plan OR chart │
│ │
│ Use Wildcards for Variations │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│ • organi* (finds organize, organisation, organization) │
│ • coloni* (finds colonial, colonialism, colonies) │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Best Practices¶
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ✓ DO │ ✗ DON'T │
├────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
│ Use specific terms │ Search for "documents" │
│ Try alternative spellings │ Assume one spelling │
│ Use date filters │ Search all time │
│ Check facets for options │ Ignore filter options │
│ Save useful searches │ Rebuild complex searches │
│ Use quotes for phrases │ Search phrase as words │
└────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┘
Fuzzy Search (Typo Tolerance)¶
The GLAM Browse page includes automatic typo detection and correction. When you misspell a search term, the system will suggest or auto-correct your query.
What You'll See¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ FUZZY SEARCH ALERTS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ "Did you mean: archives?" │
│ Appears when the system detects a likely typo. │
│ Click the suggestion to search with the corrected term. │
│ │
│ "Showing results for archives" │
│ Appears when the system is confident and auto-corrects. │
│ Click "Search instead for" to use your original term. │
│ │
│ "Showing fuzzy matches from search index" │
│ Appears when no exact results found, but approximate │
│ matches were found via the search index. │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
How It Works¶
Fuzzy search combines four techniques:
- Levenshtein distance - Detects character-level typos ("musem" → "museum")
- Phonetic matching - Finds words that sound alike ("Jonson" → "Johnson")
- FULLTEXT search - Matches word variations ("mining" finds "mine", "miner")
- Search index fallback - Finds approximate matches when SQL returns nothing
For full details, see the Fuzzy Search User Guide.
Troubleshooting¶
Problem Solution
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Too many results → Add more search terms
Use AND between words
Apply facet filters
No results found → Remove some filters
Try broader terms
Check spelling
Use wildcards (*)
Check "Did you mean?" suggestion
Results not relevant → Use exact phrase (" ")
Search specific fields
Try different keywords
Search is slow → Narrow date range
Add more filters
Use specific fields
Keyboard Shortcuts¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ KEY │ ACTION │
├───────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Enter │ Execute search │
│ Ctrl + K │ Focus search box │
│ Escape │ Clear search box │
│ Tab │ Move between fields │
└───────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Need Help?¶
Contact your system administrator or archivist if you need assistance finding records.
Part of the AtoM AHG Framework