Search guide

Related collections are groups of records of the same type, which relate to the record you are currently viewing. For example, if you are looking at a branch photograph, the link to a Related collection at the bottom will show you a grouping of other photographs you might be interested in.

Snapshots are a set of records which have been grouped together to highlight a particular topic. These have appeared because the record you are viewing appears in one or more Snapshots, which you can click on to explore.

The people that appear in this section are linked to the records you are viewing. For example, when you are looking at a photograph including Thomas Jackson, you will see that he appears below as a Related person. Click on this link to learn more about him and see records which relate to him.

You can also search for records which have been given a particular subject tag by choosing the relevant subject from the tags drop-down list. The search results will then include records linked to all of the tags you’ve selected. For example, if you add tags for ‘architecture’ and ‘construction’, the records that appear will relate to both of these subjects. All other records in your search results which do not contain these will disappear.

Enter a keyword into the basic or advanced search bar to find records. Please note that our site uses British English for spelling, grammar and dates.

Your search results will also include instances where your keyword has been found within a text-searchable record, such as a magazine. It may appear at first that it is not relevant to your search but you are able to click on the record and browse within the document itself. Instances of your search term will be highlighted within the document text.

The advanced search function allows you to narrow your search to get more relevant results. You can do this by selecting the bank or date range you are interested in, as well as limiting your search to a particular record type, for example images or artefacts.

Using filters

When your search results appear, you can use additional keywords and the filters on the left-hand side of the screen to refine them further with dates, banks and record types.

Records which only give a year (i.e. no day or month) will be attributed a date range extending from 1 January to 31 December. So for example, a record dated 1800 will appear in all filtered searches between 1 January 1800 and 31 December 1800.

Using tags

You can also search for records which have been given a particular subject tag by selecting ‘add tag’ and choosing the relevant subject from the drop-down list. The search results will then include records linked to all of the tags you’ve selected. For example, if you add tags for ‘technology’ and ‘innovation’, the records that appear will relate to both of these subjects. All other records in your search results which do not contain these will disappear.