Basic searching
Searching from the home page
Use the search box on the home page (or by using the search box in the upper-right corner) for a basic keyword search. A basic keyword search will pull results from across all items and includes hits in item metadata and transcripts (if available). By default, the basic keyword search acts as an OR search, meaning any keyword in your search phrase will be a separate hit. For example, a keyword search for Samuel Simon Schmucker will pull all results that include the words "Samuel," "Simon," or "Schmucker". To search for specific words or phrases, place quotation marks around your search. A keyword search for "Samuel Simon Schmucker" will only pull results that include the exact phrase "Samuel Simon Schmucker."
Boolean terms such as AND, OR, and NOT cannot be applied to a basic keyword search. To use Boolean terms in your search, use the Advanced Search feature.
Searching within a collection
When on a specific collection page, a search will only produce results from within that collection.
Searching within a record
Additionally, when viewing a specific digital object, you can search the metadata and transcript (if available) for that item.
Basic searching
Searching from the home page
Use the search box on the home page (or by using the search box in the upper-right corner) for a basic keyword search. A basic keyword search will pull results from across all items and includes hits in item metadata and transcripts (if available). By default, the basic keyword search acts as an OR search, meaning any keyword in your search phrase will be a separate hit. For example, a keyword search for Samuel Simon Schmucker will pull all results that include the words "Samuel," "Simon," or "Schmucker". To search for specific words or phrases, place quotation marks around your search. A keyword search for "Samuel Simon Schmucker" will only pull results that include the exact phrase "Samuel Simon Schmucker."
Boolean terms such as AND, OR, and NOT cannot be applied to a basic keyword search. To use Boolean terms in your search, use the Advanced Search feature.
Searching within a collection
When on a specific collection page, a search will only produce results from within that collection.
Searching within a record
Additionally, when viewing a specific digital object, you can search the metadata and transcript (if available) for that item.
Advanced searching
The advanced search functionality may be used to perform more complex keyword searches.
Keyword searches
The keyword search dropdown, may be used to further define what fields a keyword search may pull results from. The default Keywords Anywhere option means the search will pull results from across all fields, including transcriptions. The other options will limit search results, for a given word or phrase, to specific text-based metadata fields including Title or Description.
Search terms and phrases
Use the Search box to input a term or phrase which you wish to search for. You may use any alphanumeric values in this field, though for best results we suggest using complete words. Unlike basic searches, if you input multiple words into a single search box, the system will pull results as though you had used quotation marks around the whole set of words. For example, when using the advanced search, searching for Pennsylvania Hall will search specifically for the phrase "Pennsylvania Hall" rather than searching for items where the metadata or transcript contain either "Pennsylvania" or "Hall".
Boolean operators
Boolean operators allow for complex searches using multiple keywords or phrases and may help to either expand or limit the results of a single search. The AND option will pull results that include both keyword terms or phrases. The OR option will pull results which include either keyword terms or phrases. The NOT option will limit results to those results which do not contain the keyword or phrase used after NOT. A search may include as many Boolean operators as desired.
Advanced searching
The advanced search functionality may be used to perform more complex keyword searches.
Keyword searches
The keyword search dropdown, may be used to further define what fields a keyword search may pull results from. The default Keywords Anywhere option means the search will pull results from across all fields, including transcriptions. The other options will limit search results, for a given word or phrase, to specific text-based metadata fields including Title or Description.
Search terms and phrases
Use the Search box to input a term or phrase which you wish to search for. You may use any alphanumeric values in this field, though for best results we suggest using complete words. Unlike basic searches, if you input multiple words into a single search box, the system will pull results as though you had used quotation marks around the whole set of words. For example, when using the advanced search, searching for Pennsylvania Hall will search specifically for the phrase "Pennsylvania Hall" rather than searching for items where the metadata or transcript contain either "Pennsylvania" or "Hall".
Boolean operators
Boolean operators allow for complex searches using multiple keywords or phrases and may help to either expand or limit the results of a single search. The AND option will pull results that include both keyword terms or phrases. The OR option will pull results which include either keyword terms or phrases. The NOT option will limit results to those results which do not contain the keyword or phrase used after NOT. A search may include as many Boolean operators as desired.
Browsing and filtering
Browsing collections
The Browse All page will bring you to a list of all digital objects in the collection, while the Collections page allows you to see all of our digital collections, grouped by theme, and then select a specific collection to browse.
Filtering searches
All collections have filters on the left side of the display that will filter the list of results to those that contain the selected information. The options available in each filter are from all of the objects in GettDigital, not only those that have been narrowed by search terms or collection. This means that there will potentially be options in the filters that will return zero results if you are not on the Browse All page. If you select a filter, but see no results in a specific collection, that does not mean there are no digital objects in GettDigital that do not match, just in that specific collection. We expect to see better filtering in future versions of this platform.
Controlled vocabulary terms
When looking at an item's metadata, some words and phrases which are surrounded by a capsule. These are controlled vocabulary terms. Clicking on any of these terms will bring you to a search results page with the results showing only items that also have that same controlled vocabulary term. This kind of search can be very useful to find similar and related items, even across collections.
Browsing and filtering
Browsing collections
The Browse All page will bring you to a list of all digital objects in the collection, while the Collections page allows you to see all of our digital collections, grouped by theme, and then select a specific collection to browse.
Filtering searches
All collections have filters on the left side of the display that will filter the list of results to those that contain the selected information. The options available in each filter are from all of the objects in GettDigital, not only those that have been narrowed by search terms or collection. This means that there will potentially be options in the filters that will return zero results if you are not on the Browse All page. If you select a filter, but see no results in a specific collection, that does not mean there are no digital objects in GettDigital that do not match, just in that specific collection. We expect to see better filtering in future versions of this platform.
Controlled vocabulary terms
When looking at an item's metadata, some words and phrases which are surrounded by a capsule. These are controlled vocabulary terms. Clicking on any of these terms will bring you to a search results page with the results showing only items that also have that same controlled vocabulary term. This kind of search can be very useful to find similar and related items, even across collections.
Adapted from search help on https://congregationallibrary.quartexcollections.com/ and https://digitalcollections.syr.edu/collections.
Adapted from search help on https://congregationallibrary.quartexcollections.com/ and https://digitalcollections.syr.edu/collections.