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| Search Tips |
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| GENERAL POINTS |
- The database searches each dataset ('Documents' and 'Events') independently.
- All search boxes ignore capitalisation.
- All search functions ignore commonly occurring words such as
'the' or 'a', other than 'and', 'or' and 'not' which are automatically treated as Boolean operators.
- If you use the 'Exact matches only' check box, please make sure each term in
your search string is separated by only one space.
- When you have initiated a search, your search terms will be displayed in a search box
at the top of your results page. If you wish, you can edit or correct your search terms in that box and click
the 'Search Again' button to perform the search again. Alternatively you can perform a simple search by entering
new search terms, or you can return to the main search menu via the left hand menu options.
- If you enter no terms on a search menu page, the search function will default to the
'Find All' option.
- Use the keywords button in the simple search options to orientate yourself to commonly
occurring terms, spellings and acronyms. It is easiest to search for most organisations via their acronyms – so, BFI for British Film Institute, AC for the Arts Council, LFMC for the London Filmmakers' Co-op, COW for
Cinema of Women and so on.
- Check out the Acronyms list for details of the acronyms used in the database.
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| BOOLEAN SEARCHES |
- Boolean operators can be used in all search boxes, in both simple and advanced searches:
- If you combine words using 'or', each item in your results list will contain at least one of your search terms. This will
increase your search results. Examples:
LFMC or LVA
Christie or Whitehead
- If you combine words using 'and', each item in your results list will contain all your search terms. This can reduce your
search results and focus them more precisely. Examples:
LFMC and LVA
Christie and Whitehead
- To exclude words from your search, you can use 'not'. Each item in your results list will contain only the first of the
search terms. This can reduce your search results. Examples:
Cinenova not Circles
Christie not Whitehead
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- All the Boolean operators have the same precedence, and they associate from left to right. This means, for example,
that the searches:
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BFI and AC or Lux
BFI or AC and Lux
mean
(BFI and AC) or Lux
(BFI or AC) and Lux
rather than
BFI and (AC or Lux)
BFI or (AC and Lux) |
- Sometimes that's not what you want. In that case, you can override the default
interpretation by parenthesising sub-expressions. Example:
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| (video and art) OR (experimental and video) |
| DOCUMENT SEARCHES |
| Simple Document Search |
This searches both the bibliographic fields and the keywords in the document
dataset (ie. it targets whole records). You can:
- Enter a single word or search terms in the 'Search terms' box, eg 'Cinenova', and press the 'Search' button. This will
search for any documents to do with the search term, ie documents authored by Cinenova, as well as documents dealing with
the organisation or with its pre-history.
- Enter a specific phrase or string, eg 'independent film and video sector', tick the 'Exact matches only' box and press
the 'Search' button. This will search for any documents referencing the 'independent film and video sector'
- Use the Boolean operators 'or', 'and' and 'not' to refine your search.
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| Advanced Document Search |
This allows you to focus your search of the document dataset more precisely.
You can combine terms across the fields or limit your search to a particular field:
- Reference type: This will allow you to search for particular types of documents, eg personal correspondence,
interviews, journal articles and so on. Simply use the drop-down menu to select the type of document you are looking for, or leave
on the default 'no preference' setting if you want to search across all document types.
- Author: This will query the author field for conventionally authored documents (letters, memos, emails,
reports etc), but it will also search for the 'author' term as the recipient of a letter, as an interviewee or as the funder of a
publication. So, for example, if you enter 'Curtis', this will return any documents written by that person, as well as any letter
written to him or a research interview conducted with him. Or if you enter 'BFI', this will return any documents issued by the BFI,
correspondence or reports authored by BFI employees, as well as publications funded by the BFI. Type in surname only, the acronym
for an organisation or use Boolean operators 'and', 'or' or 'not' to focus your search further.
- Title: This will only query the 'title' field. You can enter a single term, multiple terms using the Boolean
operators 'and', 'or' and 'not', or you can tick the 'Exact matches only' box if you wish to focus your search more precisely.
- All fields: This will query the author and title fields and the keywords in the document dataset.
This will increase your search results. You can use the Boolean operators 'and', 'or' and 'not' to refine and limit your search;
or you can tick the 'Exact matches only' box to search for a precise phrase or string.
- Exact year/Date from: These allow you to search for documents from a particular year or time period.
- Document Number: Documents originated by the Arts Council after 1986, by the BFI and some other organisations
have been given a number by their originators. In some instances, some of these documents refer to other documents by their number.
This search option will allow you to search the database to see if those documents are on the database. Also, these numbers often
have identifying letters or numbers, which identify the year and the division which produced them. Entering that root number in
this search option will enable you to call up any other documents in the category that are on the database.
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| Find All (Documents) |
| If you click on this search option, a full bibliographic listing of all
the documents held on the database will be generated. |
| EVENT SEARCHES |
| Simple Event Search |
This searches both the chronology entries and the keywords in the Events
dataset. You can:
- Enter a single word or search term in the 'Search terms' box, eg 'Cinenova' and press the
'Search' button. This will search for any chronology entries to do with the search term.
- Enter a specific phrase or string, eg 'video art', tick the 'Exact matches only' box and press the 'Search'
button. This will search for any chronology entries to do with 'video art'.
- Use the Boolean operators 'or', 'and' and 'not' to refine your search.
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| Advanced Event Search |
This allows you to focus your search of the Events dataset more precisely.
You can combine terms across the fields or limit your search to a particular field:
- Event text only: This will search the chronology entries only, not their underlying keywords. So
this type of search will give narrower and more focused results. Enter a single search term or use Boolean operators 'and', 'or'
or 'not' to refine your search. Or tick the 'Exact matches only' box to search for a specific phrase or string.
- All fields: This will search all the chronology entries and their keywords. This will increase your
search results and will return entries that help show relationships between certain events. Eg a search on Cinenova will bring up
chronology entries on the Boyden Southwood report which pre-dates Cinenova's existence, but helped pave the way for its genesis.
You can search using a single term, by using Boolean operators 'and', 'or' or 'not', or you can tick 'Exact matches only' to search
on a precise phrase or string.
- Exact year/Date from: These allow you to search for chronology entries covering a particular year or
time period.
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| Find All |
| If you click on this search option, a full listing of all the chronology
entries held on the database will be generated. |
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