New System Enhancements

Upgrades to Retrieval System

Version 3.0 of the Accessible Archives information retrieval system has been released, with particular support for recently-added book content.

This version, our second major release in 18 months, offers a number of major new enhancements, including:

  • All content searchable at once in a single unified database, including American County Histories
  • In addition to full text searches, new field restriction options are available for Title, Author, Book Publisher
  • Field restriction options for State and County (American County Histories database)
  • Field restriction options for Image Type (Godey’s Lady’s Book)
  • Multiple search boxes to support complex search combinations
  • Automated query punctuation and normalization of singular/plural forms
  • Fully-linked tables of contents for easy navigation of e-books
  • Ability to browse by book, chapter, or page
  • Default sort option for display of results is now relevance
  • Links to images for quick retrieval of photos, maps, and portraits

Flexible document navigation continues to be available in both Search and Browse modes:

  • From a Table of Contents based on available Publication Titles—to a specific Publication Title—to a list of issues available for that title—to a list of articles in the issue selected—to the actual articles themselves (and backwards through this chain, as well)
  • From a search results selected article—to additional articles in the same issue—to/from the table of contents for the article’s issue—to/from the Publication Title list of issues
  • From a search results article—to/from other articles in the search results list

Features introduced in past upgrades continue to enhance the user’s search experience. All databases consist of XML tagged documents, providing multiple search and formatting options. These include:

  • Search all elements of the Archives in one query
  • Limit the search results of a query by Collection and/or Publication Title and/or Date (Range)
  • Sort search results by Collection or Publication Title or Date
  • Browse as well as search the Archives
  • Move through the page images from an issue’s Table of Contents (list of articles in an issue) or from an article (whether browsing or searching)
  • Retrieve results from prior search queries (search history)
  • Print an article or print the results list
  • Peruse the index of searchable words and select a query from that list

Further enhancements will be added on a continuing basis. We welcome your comments on these improvements to the Accessible Archives information retrieval system, along with any suggestions you may have concerning additional enhancements.

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