The following instructions explain the basics of searching. There are also instructions on how to apply complex search commands to increase the relevancy of your results.
Getting started
You can search our catalogue by using a single word or a phrase. Additional search terms can be applied to the results by using the “ADD” button.
A search can also be built by using Boolean operators AND/OR/NOT.
Search terms
Entering a single search term into MV collections, for example: blue, will search for the word blue across all fields.
A phrase can be searched for by using double quotes, for example: “blue bottle”. The names of people, organisations and multi-word places are best searched for using double quotes, for example: “Royal Exhibition Building”, “Vida Goldstein” and “Ascot Vale”.
Boolean searches
Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT, can be used to build complex searches.
OR is the default. A search without other Boolean operators (AND, NOT) or double quotations will return results for an OR search. For example, blue bottle will show results for blue OR bottle
Examples of Boolean searches include:
Blue AND bird
Tractor NOT model
Gold OR silver
Date range search
To search for items within a date range use the command: date:[---- to ----]. For example:
date:[1900 to 1920]
date:[1820 to 1856]
A date range searches across all fields. Because of this, results could include items outside of the date range that were associated with relevant collection item. For example, a search for date:[1910-1920] includes doll house furniture from the 1950s that was used in a doll house that was originally built in 1920.
Fuzzy, Wildcards and question marks
fuzzy search ~
A fuzzy search on for Yarra~ could return research results for the Yarra river, the town Yarram, the SS Kyarra, and scientific specimens collected at Warra Well, SA.
Wildcards * and ?
A wildcard search using an asterisk (*) replaces multiple characters of a word. For example, a search for E*wood will return results for similar words such as Eastwood, Elwood, and Ellwood.
A wildcard search using a question mark (?) replaces a single character in a word. For example, a search for S*lomon will return results for the names Solomon and Salomon.
Need assistance? Make a research and collection enquiry or email us directly with your question at [email protected].
