How do I search the catalogue?
Brief guide to searching
There are two main ways to search the database: simple and advanced search.
Simple search
The simple search is accessed via the “Google-style” search box on the Home page. By default, the simple search will search across the Title and Description fields. Where more than one term is entered, the default is an AND search.
Advanced search
If you want to narrow down your search results you can use the Advanced Search page.
The fields provided are:
- Ref No: Use this field if you already know the reference number ("Ref No") of the record you are looking for.
- Description: Use this to search through the descriptions of all the records in our catalogue.
- Any Text: This searches all fields of all the records in the online catalogue. You can enter any word or phrase in here.
- Title: Use this to search through the titles of all the records in our catalogue.
- Object No: Use this field if you know the number of the Museum object you are looking for. This field applies to objects in the Harrow Museum Trust Collection only.
- Grid_Ref: In the 'Places' advanced search tool, use this field if you know the grid reference for the place you are looking for. This catalogue uses a four digit reference: e.g. 1491. You can narrow this further by including NE, NW, SE, or SW after the reference: e.g. 1491SW.
Refine advanced search criteria
By default, a search will look for the word or words you have entered. However, you can choose to change the default search criteria by clicking the “Refine Search Criteria” option. There are three ways to refine the search option:
- With all the words.
- With at least one of the words.
- Without the words.