If you know the title of an item you are looking for, you may search for it by entering one or more words from the title into the box on the search page and clicking the 'Title' search button. The same can be done for a known author by using the 'Author' search button, or for a specific subject by using the 'Subject' search button. However, it must be noted that authors, editors, and illustrators are listed 'Last Name, First Name,' so if you wanted to search for a book by Stephen King, for example, you should enter it as King, Stephen.

 

Keywords work in the same way but are indicators of the content of a book, article, or document (rather than the broader subject, ie: Abraham Steeves vs. The Steeves Family). People's names are listed normally in the keywords section, eg: Robert Steeves, so enter them as you normally would.

 

If your search comes back with no matches, try using fewer keywords - such as just the last name of an author, or just an important word from the title or subject.

 

An IMPORTANT NOTE before you proceed: if you are looking for an ancestor or any search terms of more than one word you will want to select Match Phrase from the drop-down list of options before you click the appropriate search button. This will help you by bringing up ONLY those items with an exact phrase - such as "Henry Abraham Steeves," for example, rather than every item with 'Henry,' 'Abraham,' and 'Steeves.' (Since there are over 4000 items in the database, you can imagine how many will be listed if the database thinks you want all the items with 'Steeves,' rather than those with a specific Steeves individual).

 

If you are looking for an item, however, that contains multiple keywords but not in any specific order - like 'Salter,' 'barque,' and 'Moncton,' for example - then you would select Find All Words from the drop-down menu when searching.

 

Once you have searched for your term(s) with the approriate category and phrase selection, you will see a page listing all of the items that match your search. It will list the items by title, but also displays ALL of the keywords inputted for each item - which can be very long for some items. The fastest way to browse through the items that were returned by your search is to use your web browser's 'Find' function. You can bring this up by holding the Ctrl key and typing F on your keyboard. You can also bring up this function by choosing Edit, then Find from the Toolbar at the top of your browser window. Once the 'Find' window has opened (or, in some cases, a bar or box pops up within your browser window along the top or bottom), re-type the specific word(s) you are looking for - eg: William Henry Steeves. This will locate the specific word or phrase on the page, so that you can a) consider the title, subtitle, author, date, etc. of the item, and b) compare what you are looking for with the other content keywords, to determine if it is a good match for your research.

 

Once you have found something that is of interest to you, write down ALL the information of the items you want to view or take out on loan (excluding the keywords). Information like the Series, Category, Resource Type, and Location are VERY IMPORTANT for locating the items. Alternatively, you can print the list of search results - but this could be many pages because of the keywords. (Note: none of the items at the Steeves House Museum can be borrowed; they are only for in-house viewing. Regular visitation fees also apply, unless you are a member.)

 

Lastly, one final note with regard to names. They have been entered as they appeared in the items so they may not match any official spelling or your idea of how a name should be spelled. (People often wrote names by sound until a standard spelling was established, so you'll have to be creative). Be persistent and try a variety of spellings - for example:

Lutes, Lutz, Loots, Lootz - Baisley, Baizley, Bazley, Bazzley - Trites, Treitz - Thomson, Thompson - Steeves, Steves, Stief, Stieff - Cameron, Camron - Duffy, Duffey - Johnson, Johnston - Blakney, Blakeny, Blakeney - Sara, Sarah - Somers, Sommers, Summers - Hiram, Hyram - Colpitts, Colpits, Coulpits - Abram, Abraham - Berry, Barry, Berrie, Barrie - Mathew, Matthew - Nicolson, Nicholson - Jon, John, Jonathan - Lottie, Charlotte - Pettigru, Petigrew, Pettigrew - Tibodo, Thibodo, Thibodeau - Eliza, Elizabeth - Melanson, Mollonsong, Melansen - Hattie, Hettie, etc.

(Use your imagination!)

 

Names may also be entered with just the first and middle initials, eg: W. H. Steeves, and sometimes standard shortforms are used, such as: Chas. for Charles, Alexr. for Alexander, Jas. for James, Wm. for William, Jno. for John or Jonathan, Geo. for George, Eliz. for Elizabeth, Andw. for Andrew, Robt. for Robert, Patk. for Patrick, Abram. or Abm. for Abraham, Stepn. for Stephen, Benj. for Benjamin, etc. So be sure to search, for example, for W. H. Steeves, Wm. H. Steeves, Wm. Henry Steeves, W. Henry Steeves, William H. Steeves, and William Henry Steeves under 'Match Phrase' using the 'Keyword' button. Though tedious, this will provide you the most items related to your research.

 

If you have any questions that are not answered here, or if you need help with searching CARL, please contact us.

 

Happy searching!