How to Find Information in the Catalogue

Enkelt arkivsøk [Basic Archive Search]:

You may search for archives by entering the name of the archive or its creator. The name may be truncated by entering only parts of it into the name field, and parts of it may also be replaced by a *, either before, after, before and after, or inside the name. Names of personal archives are usually listed as follows: "Last Name, First Name." Example: Anker, Bernt. If you are searching by last name only, you must use right truncation (example: anker*). If you are searching by first name only, you must use left truncation (example: *bernt, or possibly *bernt*, which would also yield hits if there are multiple first names).

Search Examples:

*ske	Brings up archives ending in "ske"
Nor*	Brings up archives starting with "Nor"
*Norske*	Brings up archives whose names include "Norske"
Ad*utvalget	Brings up archives whose names include "Ad" and "utvalget" [committee] (within the same word). This search would bring up hits such as Administrasjonsutvalget [ Administration Committee] and Advokatklageutvalget [Lawyer Complaints Committee].

The hit list consists of the archives fulfilling the search criteria entered in the search field. Clicking on any one of the items on the hit list will take you to Archive Information: A screen providing an overview of the archive per se. From this screen, you can also obtain information on the archive’s creator and any restrictions, as well as on which series it contains. For a closer look at the archival items and folders included in each series, simply click on the relevant series. This brings up a list of the archival items and folders/documents included in the relevant series, as well as where this material is located in the institution's depositories.

Avansert arkivsøk [ Advanced Archive Search]:

You may search for archives by entering the name of the archive or its creator. The name may be truncated by entering only parts of it into the name field, while the rest is replaced by a *, either before, after, before and after, or inside the name. Names of personal archives are usually listed as follows: "Last Name, First Name." Example: Anker, Bernt. If you are searching by last name only, you must use right truncation (example: anker*). If you are searching by first name only, you must use left truncation (example: *bernt, or possibly *bernt*, which would also yield hits if there are multiple first names). For examples of truncation, see Basic Archive Search.

Without name or in combination with a name, you may search for archives by using the following categories:

• Samfunnssektor [Societal Sector]
• Tidsrom [Time Period]
• Oppbevaringssted [Storage Location]
• Arkivskapertype [Archive Creator Type]
• Forvaltningsområde [Area of Administration]
• Forvaltningsnivå [Administrative Level]
• Næringskategori [Industry Category]
• Organisasjonskategori [Organization Category]
• Fylke/kommune [County/Municipality]
• Land [Country]

Some of the categories vary depending on the term entered in the Societal Sector field. The hit list consists of archives fulfilling the search criteria entered in the search field.

Clicking on any one of the items on the hit list will take you to Archive Information: A screen providing an overview of the archive per se. From this screen, you can also obtain information on the archive’s creator and any restrictions, as well as on which series it contains. For a closer look at the archival items and folders included in each series, simply click on the relevant series. This brings up a list of the archival items and folders/documents contained in the relevant series, as well as where this material is located in the institution's depositories.

Fritekstsøk [Free-Text Search]:

A free-text search seeks information based on words or parts of words in the description of archive creator, archive, series, item, folder, and document. You may combine your Free-Text search with Societal Sector, Time Period, and/or Storage Location.

A free-text search is somewhat different from archive searches. The truncation character * can only be used after a text segment. A free-text search allows you to search for multiple words, separated by spaces, which brings up hits containing at least one of these words.

Other types of searches can be run by using the characters "+" and "-" before the search term. A word preceded by a "+" must be included in each hit; a word preceded by a "-" cannot appear in the hit.

The hit list shows names of archives with links to the actual hits. Tip: If you place the cursor on any hit on your hit list, you can see the contents of each item (this applies only to hits yielded by free-text searches).

Search Examples (for your understanding given in English):

apple*	Brings up sentences containing the words "apple" , "apples" or "applesauce"
"apples and bananas"	Brings up sentences containing the exact words "apples and bananas"
apple banana	Brings up sentences containing at least one of these words
+apple +banana	Brings up sentences containing both words
+apple banana	Brings up sentences containing the word "apple" , but ranks the hit higher if the sentence also contains the word "banana"
+apple -banana	Brings up sentences containing the word "apple" , but not the word "banana"