Book Search

• To make a search you must enter a keyword into at least one of the search boxes. The more boxes that you fill in the more specific your search becomes.
• You may search by AnyText, Title, Author, Publication Date, Publisher, ISBN (International Standard Book Number), DocRefNo and LocatedAt.
• AnyText : A search using this box will locate the text anywhere it occurs in the database.
• Title : A search using this box will locate the text only within the Title of the record.
• Author : This can be used to search for a specific author in two ways :
  • 1 by entering a surname directly into the box a list of all books by any author with that surname or forename will be produced, or
  • 2 by clicking on the word Author you can search for authors by their entries in the Persons database. Enter a name in the box, click Lookup, then select the author you want from the list.
• PubDate : You can search for books published in a specific year or in a date-range. If you search for documents for a specific year (e.g. 1823) your search results will also include documents with a date range including 1823 (such as early 19th cent).
• Publisher : By using this search works by specific publishers can be located. Type straight into the text box. Please do not click on the word Publisher as this feature has not been enabled.
• ISBN : This search can be used to locate an individual book published since 1967 by using its unique ISBN (International Standard Book Number).
• DocRefNo : If you already know the DocRefNo of the item concerned this can be a quick way of finding what you want.
• LocatedAt : If you are interested in books held at a specific location you can click on the word LocatedAt, and then choose one of the options.
• When you have completed as many boxes as you wish click on the Search button to the right of the search form. You will then be presented with your search results.

Advanced Searches

• Supplementary searches : You can make supplementary searches, based upon the hitlist of search results that you obtain from your initial search. You can choose to narrow your hitlist of search results using new search text, widen it, or exclude entries. These options appear only when you return to the Book Search page by clicking on Book Search again. This is particularly useful if your initial search produces a very long hitlist of search results.
• Wildcard searches : If you want to find records containing words with the same stem or the same ending, use the asterisk symbol as a 'wildcard'. Example 1, a search for manor* will find records containing the words manor and manorial. Example 2, a search for *warden will find records containing the word warden, churchwarden or chapelwarden.
• Complex searches : are available in the Options section below the main set of search fields. To select one of these options click on the relevant button and enter the text you are looking for.
  • Combine words in fields : phrase : click on the button marked ‘Phrase’ and enter a phrase to find records containing multiple search terms in a field in a given order (e.g. Alton Parish Council). Please note that this is the default setting.
  • Combine words in fields : and: click on the button marked ‘and’, and enter more than one search term, to find records containing both terms in the same field.
  • Combine words in fields : or : click on the button marked ‘or’, and enter more than one search term, to find records containing either one term or the other in the same field.
  • Combine fields : and : click on the button marked ‘and’, and enter search terms in more than one field, to find records containing both one term in one field and the other term in another field. Please note that this is the default setting.
  • Combine fields : or : click on the button marked ‘or’, and enter search terms in more than one field, to find records containing either one term in one field or the other term in another field.