Using the Online Catalogue
Via this web site you search the database of Louth County Archives Service.
On the Search tab you can search for data in different ways, by entering words or parts of words.
After executing a search, the Results tab becomes available. In the results you'll see a brief display of each found item (a record).
You can click on the hierarchy display to see the record in its context. Or click the text of such an item to retrieve
more data of that record and display it on the Details tab.
On the Results and Details tabs you can mark records by clicking the checkboxes to the left of them.
Records that you mark are included in your Selection, which can be viewed on the tab with that name.
You can do several things with a selection such as e-mail or print it. On the Search history tab, you'll
see your previous search commands, and you can execute any listed search again by clicking Start search.
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Records on Restricted Access
The Online Archive Catalogue may display records that are not fully open and which cannot be accessed.
These records can be identified by clicking on the hierarchy display of a record to check the series, sub-collection and
collection to which it belongs where there will be a note stating ‘subject to closure or restricted access due to the
inclusion of confidential or sensitive information’ or ‘closed as contains personal information’.
This is to ensure the protection of the privacy of individuals, and the prevention of any potential embarrassment or
distress to living individuals.
The marking of records as closed or as having restricted access, however, does not mean absolute closure. Some records may
be accessed under the Freedom of Information Act where you should contact the Freedom of Information Officer. Some other
records may be accessed if you have a particular research request, details of which should be sent by email to
archive@louthcoco.ie
or by telephoning 042-9324358.
You will then be advised of the procedure for applying for access to records that are marked restricted access.
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Ordering Documents
If you find records that you would like to view, make sure that you make a note
of their reference numbers. The reference number is the unique identifying number
that Archives staff need to locate them. The reference number is at the end of the
title or you can click on the title of the record to get it. Please note that if
you wish to visit the Archives Service to view records, you must make an appointment
in advance, by telephoning 042-9324358 or by emailing
archive@louthcoco.ie
When you telephone or email you should quote the reference numbers of the records
you wish to view, so that staff can check that they are available. Please note that
some records seen on the Online Catalogue may not be available to view in the Research
Room. This may be for conservation reasons or because access to the archive has
been restricted. Please contact the Archives Service for further information.
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How Do I Search
When you click on the ‘Search’ option, it will bring you into the ‘Simple Search’.
On the left, you also have an ‘Advanced Search’ option and an ‘Expert Search’ option.
The 'Simple Search' contains one ‘search’ field. The 'Advanced Search' option allows
you to construct a more complex search using a series of fields to refine your search.
The ‘Expert Search’ option allows you to combine searches in the one search statement.
You can enter your search terms in either upper or lower case, for example, if you
enter james kennedy it will also find James Kennedy. This will not have any effect
on your search.
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Simple Search
For a simple search, enter a word, words or phrase in the ‘search’ box. You may
also enter just a partial word. Separate each word with a space. If you have already
done a search, and wish to search further on the results, you can tick the search
in results option. Click on the Search button to perform the search.
Please note:
The search will look for inexact matches, for example, if you enter James Kennedy
it will also find James John Kennedy.
The results of a search are displayed in the Results page, with the total number
of results shown at the top. You can click on the ‘hierarchy display’ to see a record
in the context of its collection. Or you can look at the in-depth details of a particular
record by clicking on it. See Search Results
for further details.
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'Wildcard' searching
You can use the asterisk symbol * after a word to search for any word containing
the characters entered before the *. For example, a search on council* will find
council’s, or councillor. The * is known as a wildcard, and can be used before or
after a search term, or both. Used before a search term, for example *house, will
find house, workhouse, dwellinghouse, etc.
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Advanced Search
If you would like to search on more than one word or name simultaneously, and also
want to be able to indicate per search word where it should occur (in which fields),
for instance in the word(s) from the title/content, or in the level of description,
then the Advanced search is probably more suitable than Simple search. You may enter
your search terms into any of the search field boxes but you do not have to fill
in every box. The Advanced Search page contains the following search field options:
1. Reference Code: this is the unique identifying number that must be used when
ordering documents. This search field is useful if you already know the number for
the collection or item that you want to find.
2. Word(s) from the title/content: Each record has a title which gives a description,
e.g. rate book.
3. Subject Term: Some subject terms have been entered in the database. If there
is a particular subject that your record relates to, enter it here. Please note
the range of subject terms is currently limited and the Archives Service is working
on adding many more subject terms.
4. Person/institution: Some persons/institutions names have been entered in the
database. If there is a particular one that your record relates to, enter it here.
Please note the range of names is currently limited and the Archives Service is
working on adding many more.
5. Date: The catalogue understands various date formats. However, the best way to
narrow your search by using the date field is to enter a year or range of years.
You can also enter days and months; however, months should be abbreviated to the
first three letters of the month, for example, 07 Jun 1855 for June.
6. Level of description: This allows you to search at different levels in the archive
catalogue such as collection, series or item. You can select a level by using the
arrow on the right of the box to access the drop down menu. This option is helpful
for browsing collections and excluding individual documents by selecting 'Collection'.
Selecting 'Item' will find records for individual items.
Beside some entry fields you’ll find a List button (white, with a number of small
black lines in it). Instead of just typing a word or name, with this button you
can look up all words that occur in the related field in the database. This is useful
if you are not sure about the spelling of a word or name, or if you just want to
search alphabetically. This way your search will always yield results.
When the list opens, you can click the << or >> icon at the bottom to browse through
the list. If you are looking for subject terms that start with a “W”, then you may
type that letter in the subject term entry field before you click the List button,
so that the list directly opens at the letter “W”. If you want to copy one of the
names to the subject term entry field, click the small < button to the left of that
name. (If you want to search immediately on a word or name that you see in such
a list, without taking any values in the other entry fields into account, then click
that word or name in the list.) In fields that have no List button, you can enter
multiple words, separated by spaces (then all words must occur in a result).
Note: If you have already done a search, and wish to search further on the results,
you can tick the search in results option. Use the clear button to erase all entry
fields.
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Expert Search
The ‘Expert Search’ option allows you to make more complex searches including combined
searches. This option can help you to narrow your search by being more specific
with it. In the drop-down list beneath Field you must choose a field in which you
want to search. Then enter a search term into the first value field. You may also
provide just a partial word, in such a case you search truncated, as we call it;
then mark the Truncation checkbox. If the term you enter is already a whole word,
e.g. “table”, and you don’t want the search to extend to words like “tablespoon”,
then you must deselect this option.
To bring up a 2nd row and enter another search term into your selected field, click
on the red plus sign. Then choose the appropriate Boolean option from the drop-down
menu for the first row: “and”, “or”, or “and not”. With “and” a result must comply
to both search lines, with “or” a result must comply to at least one of both search
lines, and with “and not” a result must comply to the first search line but not
to the second. The search lines are executed from top to bottom. This is important
when you combine search lines. The result of the first two lines will be combined
with the third line, and the result thereof in turn will be combined with the fourth
line, etc. So, place the combined search statement that has to be executed first,
at the top. You may also leave lines empty or remove them by clicking the – sign
at the end of the line above it; as long as at least one Value is filled in, you
can start the search.
If you wish to have a 3rd row, choose the appropriate Boolean option again and click
on the red plus sign again to bring up the 3rd row. Enter your search term, then
click on search to get your results.
For example, if you enter ‘quarries’ in the first ‘words from the title’ field and
selected ‘and’ as the Boolean option, then enter ‘Collon’ in a second ‘words from
the title’ field and selected ‘and not’ as the Boolean option, then enter ‘Lagan’
in the third row, the result will give you those records that contain quarries and
Collon in their title but not Lagan.
Depending on the field type, you can sometimes choose another Operator than “=”.
In that case (e.g. for the Date field), a drop-down list is available in which you
can also choose “>” (greater than), “<” (smaller than), “<=” (smaller than or equal
to) and “>=” (greater than or equal to). You can use these to search on years after
1945, or before 1970 for example.
Beside some entry fields you’ll find a List button (white, with a number of small
black lines in it). Instead of just typing a word or name, with this button you
can look up all words that occur in the related field in the database. This is useful
if you are not sure about the spelling of a word or name, or if you just want to
search alphabetically. This way your search will always yield results.
When the list opens, you can click the << or >> icon at the bottom to browse through
the list. If you are looking for subject terms that start with a “W”, then you may
type that letter in the subject term entry field before you click the List button,
so that the list directly opens at the letter “W”. If you select the ‘reference’
field from the drop-down list, you are advised to type in part of the code or the
first letter of the code in the value field before you click on the List button.
This way, the list will bring you directly to codes beginning with the letter you
choose. If you want to copy one of the names to the subject term entry field, click
the small < button to the left of that name. (If you want to search immediately
on a word or name that you see in such a list, without taking any values in the
other entry fields into account, then click that word or name in the list.) In fields
that have no List button, you can enter multiple words, separated by spaces (then
all words must occur in a result).
Beside the Sort by option you can choose if you would like the search result to
be sorted or not, and if so, on which field. This is useful if your search generates
a lot of results.
Note: If you have already done a search, and wish to search further on the results,
you can tick the search in results option. Use the clear button to erase all entry
fields.
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Structure of Archive Collections
Louth County Archives Service holds many archive collections which are catalogued
or processed by the Service. Each collection is unique and is catalogued to reflect
the nature of the business or activities of the creators of the records. By placing
the collection in the context in which it was created, this helps researchers to
assess and interpret the information that they contain.
The larger the collection of records, the more complicated the structure of its
catalogue is likely to be. Another word for collection is fonds and this is the
top level of description. A large collection may be divided into a number of sub-fonds,
and sometimes the sub-fonds may even be divided further into a number of sub-sub-fonds
and possibly even sub-sub-sub-fonds. After the sub-fonds level, the next level is
series, and this may possibly be further divided into sub-series and sub-sub-series.
After this level of description, there is the file or item level. When you perform
a search for archives in the Online Catalogue the results that you receive may include
records at different levels in the catalogue structure.
Two examples of the catalogue structure from two collections is given below with
their reference numbers:
Example 1: Fonds: Louth Co Council – Ref number: LCC/ Sub-Fonds: Planning – Ref
number: LCC/PLA/ Series: Planning Application Files (pre-1963) – Ref number: LCC/PLA/001/
File: Application of Mrs Mary McArdle …1950 – Ref number: LCC/PLA/001/0838
Example 2: Fonds: Board of Guardians – Ref number: BG/ Sub-Fonds: Ardee poor law
union – Ref number: BG/ARD/ Sub-sub-fonds: Finance – Ref number: BG/ARD/FIN/ Series:
Treasurer’s financial ledgers of Ardee poor law union… – Ref number: BG/ARD/FIN/003/
Item: Treasurer’s financial ledger, 1881 - 1883 – Ref number BG/ARD/FIN/003/001
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Search Results (including printing and emailing
results)
The results of your search will appear as a ‘brief display’ list displaying 25 results
per page. Use the coloured arrows or numbers at the top to move back and forth through
the result list. Click on the ‘hierarchy display’ on the left of the screen to view
the hierarchy of your results (ie the series and collection to which it belongs).
The result list shows the catalogue's title, but not the full description of each
record. To view the full description of a record, click on its title in the result
list. In this next page, you will find more in-depth details on the record, such
as extent (ie size of a record), level of description, archival history (if available
– this is usually available at collection level), creator, etc.
In the results page, on the left of the screen there is an option for clicking on
‘select all’. When you click this, all of your results will be marked. You can then
click on ‘print’, also on the left, where all of your results will be printed out,
or you can click on ‘download’ where your results will be downloaded for saving
as a file on your computer. When records are selected, you also have the option
of clicking on the ‘Selection’ tab at the top. This will bring you into a new page
where you have a further option of sending your selected records by email to someone.
Clicking on the ‘clear selection’ option on the left will clear the selection you
have made.
In the brief display view, you have the option of ticking a box to the left of a
record’s title. This is useful if you only want to select a small quantity of records.
Alternatively if you only want to select the majority of the records, you can click
the ‘select all’ option on the left, then un-tick the boxes beside those records
you do not want to select. This will clear the selection for those particular records
only.
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Refine your search
If your search yielded too many results, and you want to search further on a new
word within the current search results, then click the Refine search button. This
way you open the Search tab again, where you’ll find the Search in results option
already marked. Enter a new search.
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To View a record in its context
To view a record in the context of a collection, click on the ‘hierarchy display’
on the left of the screen when in the ‘brief display’. This will show you the levels
of description relating to the record and the series and collection to which the
record belongs. From this you can browse the whole catalogue and choose to view
items in the same collection by clicking on the title of the collection.
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History
The Search History page can be accessed once a search has been completed in that
session. It keeps a record of the searches that you carried out since you logged
on and the number of hits. When in search history, if you click on ‘start search’
option, it will show you your results for that particular search.
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Copyright of Louth Local Authorities
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