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RecordSearch enables you to search descriptive information about the the National Archives' collection. This information comprises descriptions of 60 000 collections (called series ), 9 000 creators/depositors and over 6 000 000 record items (about 10% of the items in the collection).
More information about the National Archives' system of intellectual control and how the collection is described may be found in the CRS Manual.
When using RecordSearch, if your searches are not specific you will often retrieve very large amounts of data. Observing the following tips will help you make your searches more efficient. Searches using a single keyword or nameThe most common way of searching is to use keywords. You can use a single keyword or name, eg censorship to retrieve records with that word in their title or description.
You can often increase the size of your search result by using the thesaurus in your searches. If you use the thesaurus, synonyms and other terms related to your keywords will be automatically included in your search. For example, by using the thesaurus, if you enter the keyword locomotive, your search will also retrieve records containing the keywords engine, locomotive engine, locomotor and railway locomotive. The thesaurus displays the additional keywords it has added to your search when it displays the result of your search. Note that the thesaurus only works on the INCLUDE portion of the Search screen.
To use the thesaurus in your searches:
If you choose not to use the thesaurus, only the exact keywords you enter will be searched.
RecordSearch will only retrieve the singular and plural form of your keyword if you switch the thesaurus on. If you prefer not to use the thesaurus but still wish to retrieve plural forms, you can still do so by:
You can retrieve multiple variations of a word in one search by entering the common stem of the word followed by an asterisk - eg Malay* will find Malay, Malaya, Malayan, Malaysia and Malaysian. Wildcard searches must be preceded by at least 3 characters
Enter acronyms as an 'Any word' search, both with and without full stops, eg CSIRO C.S.I.R.O. as the acronym may appear in RecordSearch in either form.
Keyword searches are not case-sensitive; you can type your query in full uppercase or full lowercase, or in any combination - the result is the same.
You can search using more than one keyword. When you do this, you need to select the search option (All words, Any words or Phrase) that focuses your search most appropriately. For example, if you search for the keywords civil defence
[All words]
will only find records that include both civil and defence,
though they may be separated by other words
[Any words]
will find records that include either civil or defence or both,
including records where they are separated by other words;
[Phrase]
will only find records that include both civil and defence in
that exact order, with no other words between.
For keywords or phrases which can occur with or without a hyphen (eg anti-aircraft or Governor-General) to ensure that your search retrieves both the hyphenated and unhyphenated forms, enter the words with a hyphen as an All words search.
For multiple keyword searches, the order in which you enter your keywords is not important, unless you are searching for a Phrase. For example:
An [All words] search on multiple keywords entered in the form malaria Queensland (ie a search for records containing both these words) will find the same number of items regardless of the order in which you enter the words. The same applies to searches on keywords such as maps Gallipoli and Eden whaling;
In the case of a [Phrase] search on proper names such as Alice Springs or Joint Intelligence Bureau you must enter the words in the exact order that they appear in the name.
You may retrieve information using specific archival reference numbers (item numbers, series numbers, agency numbers, person numbers and organisation numbers).
To search for a specific series, agency, person or organisation, enter the number in the 'Reference number' box - eg A816. You may also enter multiple numbers, separated by a comma - eg A816, A5954, C3939, CP533/1. Agency numbers, person numbers and organisation numbers should be entered with a space between the alphabetical prefix and the number - eg CA 1052, not CA1052.
Enter item control symbols in the form 1916/184, 25/301/590, etc. That is, separate numbers by a comma.
You can use an asterisk to retrieve a range of items with the same primary or secondary numbers - eg 1916/* or 25/301/*.
If you know a record's series number and item control symbol, you can retrieve the record by entering these numbers separated by a comma - eg A6680, DY3. Enter the series number first, then the item control symbol.
You will notice that the Search screen has two parts. The top half of the screen is where you enter the information which you want to include in your search. The bottom half of the screen is where you enter the information you want to exclude from your search.
The simpler the search the more likely you are to retrieve a very large amount of matching data. To make the most effective use of RecordSearch you need to use more complex search strategies - eg if you are interested in looking at items relating to civil defence in Geelong during World War II, but only in the material that is open for public access and held in the National Archives' Melbourne Office, the most effective search would be:
INCLUDE
Keywords (or name): civil defence geelong [All words]
Dates: 1939-1945
Access status: Open
Location of record: Melbourne
This search will only retrieve data that matches the four criteria that you have included in your search.
If you are interested in defence in Geelong during World War II, but only in the material that is open for public access and held in the National Archives' Melbourne Office, but not the civil defence records, you could eliminate the records relating to civil defence doing the following search:
INCLUDE
Keywords (or name): defence geelong [All words]
Dates: 1939-1945
Access status: Open
Location of record: Melbourne
EXCLUDE
Keywords: civil
This search will exclude records which have the word civil in their titles or notes.
Names in item titles etc may have been recorded in different ways. They may have been spelt incorrectly when written down from the spoken word or when transcribed.
To retrieve variations of family names, you may need to conduct a keyword search with a wildcard, eg:
Given names are not always included and, when they are, they may be in abbreviated form. For example, a man whose given name is George, may be referred to as George, Geo or by his initial G. Or he may be recorded by his family name alone.
Also a married woman may be recorded with her husband's given name or initials, eg Mrs George Smith or Mrs Geo Smith or Mrs G Smith.
As there are around 6 million items on RecordSearch, if you are searching on a common surname, you will retrieve a large number of items if you do not limit your search and some way.
If you want to limit your search to a person's World War I service record, you can enter your search as follows:
If your search retrieves too many records it may be because:
the thesaurus has added too many synonyms to your keyword search. A clue to this may be if you retrieve records containing words that you did not use in your search. To reduce the number of records retrieved, switch the thesaurus off; or
your search criteria were too broad. To target the records you are looking for more specifically, use additional keywords or other search criteria, such as dates.
Regardless of why you retrieved too many records, when your search result is displayed you can choose to refine your search to reduce the number of records retrieved.
To do this click the 'Refine this search result' button when your search result is first displayed, and you will be taken to the Refine search screen. You then need to include or exclude information that will reduce the number of matching records - eg you might include a date or date range, you might exclude a keyword or include only one location of the record.
For example, if a keyword search for France retrieved 5 000 items, you could reduce this result by adding new information in one or more of the options on the 'Refine search' screen, eg:
Check to see that you have typed in the keyword or reference number correctly;
Try other spellings - eg Paterson for Patterson, Roumania for Romania, Viet Nam for Vietnam;
Remember that if you are looking for a record item then the language in the item title will reflect the terminology that was used when the item was created - eg conscription vs national service or The Argentine vs Argentina;
Perhaps your first search was too specific and you now need to search more generally - eg munitions production rather than grenade production;
Check that you selected the correct search option (All words, Any words, Phrase) described above;
Check to make sure that you searched the correct level or levels - ie Items, Series, Agencies persons organisations, All, or All until a match is found. More information about these is provided in Help.
As RecordSearch catalogues only about 10% of our collection, please contact our reference service for assistance if you cannot find the records you want.