There are two ways to run a search within a specific collection. From the collection homepage, you can enter a simple search in the search box or click the "Advanced Search" link.
For this demonstration, we are going to search for references to the Sisters of Mercy within the collection Medical Services and Warfare.
Advanced Search lets you add multiple search terms, as well as narrow down your results by date, document type, theme, or other filters depending on the collection. When searching a phrase, remember to use quotation marks to ensure your results include only the exact phrase you are searching.
In this example, we are searching for references to the Sisters of Mercy during World War I. We've bracketed "Sisters of Mercy" in quotation marks to narrow our search to that specific phrase. Without quotation marks, the results would include all documents including the words "sisters," "of," and "mercy." To search for documents published during World War I, we've filtered the date to include only results from 1914 to 1918.
The search results will appear as a list of documents, images, or recordings that contain the word(s) or phrase(s) included in your search. Additional filters, such as document type, theme, and the repository (library, archive, museum, etc) where the original document is held. To view a result, simply click on the link.
Our search for the phrase "Sisters of Mercy" between 1914-1918 returned 10 results.
When viewing a result from the list, you will see a row of thumbnails representing the pages of the document. From this page, you have ability to download an image, download the document, save the document to an account, and even run additional searches within the specific document.
Further down, you will also see a list of full text results. These results show where in the document the term(s) you searched for appear in the document. To view the full text result, click the link to view the page.
For instance, our search for "Sisters of Mercy" returned one result in the document Red Cross Bulletin, Paris. If we click on the outlined image under "Full Text Results," we will be able to view that page.
*It is important to note that depending on the collection, these pages may look slightly different than the one pictured. They will all, however, include the same basic options and functions.
Clicking on a full text result will take you directly to the page, image, recording, or film where your terms appear. Your search terms will appear highlighted in the text. Your terms may also appear in the metadata (record information and description) of an image, video, or recording. On this page, you can zoom in on documents and images or view or listen to audiovisual items.
In order to search across collections, click on the "AM Explorer" logo on the Adam Matthew Explorer landing page.
The page that opens allows you to conduct a basic search across all collection databases.
We are going to search for references to "Sisters of Mercy" across all collections. Remember to use quotation marks when searching for phrases or specific language.
The results listed for your search will include hits from all Adam Matthew Explorer collections. A filter on the right-hand side of the page shows you which collections your results generated from.
In this example, "Sisters of Mercy" returned 297 results from all collections. Looking to the right, we can see that eight of those results come from the African American Communities collection, eighteen from the American History collection, four from American Indian Histories and Cultures, and so on.
To view results from a specific collection, check the box for that collection and then click "apply."
To view one of the results from a cross-collection search, click on the title of document. This will open a smaller pop-up window containing the metadata (description and detailed record information) for that specific item. In that window is a link to view the document.
In this image, you can see that we are viewing the detailed record information for The Irish in America in the collection Migration to New Worlds from the results list in the back.
Clicking on the "View Document" link will take you directly to the results within that specific document.
Here you can see that there are two full text results for "Sisters of Mercy" within the book The Irish in America. Clicking one of those links will allow you to view the specific page, image, recording, or video clip listed.
