Rhode Island Historical Society NETOP

Search Help

There are two types of searches on the RIHS web site:

Basic Search: simple keyword search in one or all fields in the manuscript, printed material, and artifact collections.

Advanced Search: multiple keyword operators search in one or all fields in the manuscript, printed material, and artifact collections using Boolean operators.

Quick Limit: optimize the search by selecting a more targeted view of the collection.

The Quick Limit drop-down list provides the following target options of:

· None: complete collection

· Printed: collection of printed material (i.e. books, periodicals, newspapers, microfilm, broadsides, etc.)

· Manuscript: collection of manuscripts and archives (i.e. correspondence, papers, records, diaries, etc.)

· Visual Arts: collection of communication and documentary artifacts (i.e. plaques, photographs, diplomas, maps, advertising media, etc.)

· Museum Object: collection of all museum artifacts (i.e. all collection items)

· Film: collection of film and video artifacts (i.e. documentaries, films, videos, etc.)

· Map: collection of cartography artifacts (i.e. maps, sketches, etc.)

· Audio: collection of tools and equipment for communications (i.e. musical instruments and equipment, writing equipment, etc.)

To compose a Basic Search

Enter the search keyword or expression in the “Find this” field

Select the field that will be searched from drop-down list (Select “All” for all fields)

Select Quick Limit from drop-down list to identify the target collection (Select “None” to search through all collection records

Truncate a search term by using part of a word followed by the * symbol. For example the search term entrepr* finds entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, etc.

To compose an Advanced Search

Enter the search keyword or expression in the “Find this” field

Select the field that will be searched from drop-down list (Select “All” for all fields)

Select the Boolean operator AND, OR, or NOT from drop-down list

Enter second search criteria and select the Boolean operator when a third search criteria is required

Select Quick Limit from drop-down list to identify the target collection (Select “None” to search through all collection records

Truncate a search term by using part of a word followed by the * symbol. For example the search term entrepr* finds entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, etc.

Search Field	Quick Tip
All	Search for the given keyword or expression in all the fields of the record listed in the drop-down list
Title	Search for words or phrases in the Title field of the record Uniform Titles and added entry Titles are included Does not search for Titles as Subjects Some items may use an object type as a title, e.g. “chair”
Author / Creator	Search for personal names, corporate names and conferences given as main entries in the Author / Creator field
Subject	Search all headings given as subjects, including names and places Genre terms are excluded unless the topic of the work
Year of Publication / Creation	Search the Year of Publication (as given in the imprint statement) or Creation (YYYY)
Place of Origin / Imprint	Searches the town, city, state or country of publication or creation
Collection Type	Consult the list of terms used for all RIHS Collections
Museum Genre	Consult the broad list of terms (BT) used for RIHS Museum and Visual Collections (Chenhall Nomenclature). See note 1
Object Type	Consult the narrow list of terms (NT) used for RIHS Museum and Visual Collections (Chenhall Nomenclature). See note 1
Printer / Publisher	Search the publisher and printer name (as given in the imprint statement).
Call Number	Search the RIHS-assigned classification number. Usually applies to books. Numbers can be LOC or local formats.
Accession Number	Search the RIHS assigned-number that is based on donation records. Museum, graphic, and film collections use this number for classification.

NOTE 1: Not available at this time.