How do I get started?
There are three ways to begin your search in AAD.
- Free-text search of all records in AAD
- Select a category from the Browse by Category section.
- Select a subject from a list of subjects.
- Click on Browse by Subjects in the Browse by Category section of the home page.
- Click on a subject for a list of series that are relevant to that subject.
- Review Tips for using Browse by Subjects.
What do I find on the Free-Text Search Results page?
- The total number of records in the total number of series that match your query.
- The Series and Files that have records that match your query.
- Click on a view records button to view records that match your query.
- If matches were found in multiple files within a series, only the first three files are shown.
- Click the [+] Show More link to expand the list of all of the files containing matching records.
How can I find out more information about the Series and Files on this page?
- Click on the info link located at the end of the series title.
What do I find on the Display Partial Records page?
- A display in rows and columns of a pre-selected portion of the records that match your query. Each row represents one partial record.
- Click on the up/down arrow below the field heading to sort the records.
- Click on the icon in the View Record column to view an entire record.
- Continue searching in this file by either entering other search terms in the Search this File Unit box, or clicking on Search within a field.
- Download the results you returned by clicking on Download Results.
How can I find out more information about the records on this page?
- Click on the info link located at the end of the series title.
- Mouse over the File Unit Information. Select Data Layout for information on the technical structure of the file, including Field Name, Title, Data Type, Start Position, and Width. If the file uses codes, the Code List is shown in the data layout by clicking View. The layout has explanatory Notes. Select Technical Information & Series FAQs for background information about the purpose and use of the records, technical specification, and code lists with the meanings of coded values. Series Frequently Asked Questions describe scope and content and function and use of the records, useful search tips, and unusual characteristics of the records.
What do I find on the Display Full Records page?
-
All of the data contained in the record you selected on the Display Partial Records page. It is displayed as follows:
- The first column contains the Field Title.
- The second column contains the actual Value as preserved in the data base you searched. This value may or may not be in some form of code.
- The third column contains the Meaning of the value, if it is available. For example, a field named "State" might contain the value "41," a code which may have the meaning "Alabama," for example.
What can I do with the records I found?
- Print. Click on Print, then use your browser's print function.
- Download the full records by returning to the Display Partial Records page and clicking on Download Results.
- Begin a new search by returning to the previous search page.
- Begin a new search by clicking AAD in the bar at the top of the page.
I've selected a category. What can I do here?
Begin by reviewing the Series and Files titles listed on this page and determining which ones most likely contain information in which you are interested.
- Click on the Search button for a description of the series.
- To the right of the series title, the number of records in that series is shown.
- Beneath the series information is the title of the file or files contained in the series.
- If the series contains more than three files a [+] Show More link indicates that there are additional files in that series.
- When you have determined which series and files you would like to search, click on the Search button to the right of the file name to begin the search in either free-text or fielded mode, or a combination of the two modes.
This page contains information about this Series and a list of available files.
- NARA archivists created the series description.
- Click on the info link for more information about any of the files.
- The categories of description, such as Scope and Content, Function and Use, Inclusive Dates, or Coverage Dates are defined in the Terminology file.
- If technical information has been scanned for the series, a link in the toolbar will provide access to it.
- If you want to print out this page, click on Print, then use your browser's print function.
- Do a free-text search by entering a search term in the Search this Series box.
- Click on Search for additional search options.
What can I do here?
- Free-text search all records in this file.
- Fielded Search. You can Enter Values to search within specific fields.
- The left column lists Field Titles.
- The right column contains ways to input, modify, select or Enter Values.
- Review Tips for using fielded search.
- Review Tips for Using Search Operators.
- Review Tips for Entering Values.
- To see all of the fields you can search on, click Show More Fields and select additional fields on which to search.
- The Show More Fields page allows you to:
- Select up to 20 fields using the checkboxes to the left of the field.
- Deselect any default field that is already selected by un-checking the box.
- Find out more information about a particular field by clicking on the View link under the Notes column.
- View codes in the Code List.
- Click Submit, which adds or deletes selected fields on the Fielded Search page.
- Click on the Sample Values link to see the first 20 unique values in the first 1,000 records of the file for a field.
- The sample values also show the particular format of a field.
- Select from Code List allows you to select codes to search on.
- Click on Select from Code List
- Select one or more codes by checking the box to the left
- Click Submit, which adds selected codes to the Fielded Search page.
- Combination of free-text and fielded search.
A free-text search allows you to search for words and phrases found in records in AAD. Type in a personal name or a place and AAD will locate records in which the name or place is found. Start your search "wide," that is, do not put too many limits on the search. A free-text search is a good way to find records in widely diverse series and files quickly. You can see on the results screen all of the series and files that contain your term. You can find out more about the series and files by clicking the info link; then conduct additional searches in those series and files you think contain the records you seek.
Here is a sample free-text search performed from the AAD home page:
Example
Enter the name Gettysburg Pennsylvania in the free-text box and click on Search.
The search will return a list of Series and Files that contain "Gettysburg" and "Pennsylvania" anywhere in the record, including in code meanings. This search finds all records with all the search terms, not necessarily together or in the same field. As you can see the terms "Gettysburg" and "Pennsylvania" occur in widely diverse series and files, for example, military contracts, historical buildings survey records, civil war sites inventory, and grants and other assistance records. Since you may want to know what information might be available on the Gettysburg battle site, you could select View Records from the "Records About Civil War Battle Sites" series.
Clicking on View Records will reveal the partial records for any of the resulting series. In this case the Display Partial Records page is displaying two records from the "Records About Civil War Battle Sites" series that contain both the terms "Gettysburg" and "Pennsylvania." To view the full record, click on the icon under the "View Record" column of the record you wish to see.
Clicking on the icon under the View Record column reveals the full record. [Please note that the full record is not shown here as it is too large to display for this example. However, when using the AAD search tool your results will be displayed in their entirety.
Clicking the Advanced Search link next to the free-text search box on the AAD home page expands the search box to show you additional search options. The Advanced Search option allows you the opportunity to narrow your search based upon terms and criteria you select and enter in the Advanced Search boxes. You can toggle backwards by clicking on Basic Search.
Here are examples of AAD's advanced searching options:
Example #1 - Using with all of the values
Entering Hurricane Andrew in the with all the values box finds all records that contain "Hurricane" and "Andrew" anywhere in the record, including in code meanings. The values do not need to be together nor do they need to be in the same field in the record. Using this advanced search strategy can provide you with a wide variety and number of "hits."
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Your results show one record where "Hurricane" and "Andrew" appear in the same record in the "Records Relating to Projects to Assist the Homeless" series. To view the hit, click View Records.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking on View Records will reveal the partial records for your search. In this case the Display Partial Records page is displaying one record from the "Records Relating to Projects to Assist the Homeless" series which contains both the terms "Hurricane" and "Andrew."
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking on View Record displays the full record.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Example #2 - Using with any of the values
Entering Kennedy Johnson in the with any of the values box will identify all records that contain the term "Kennedy" or the term ""Johnson" somewhere in the record, including in code meanings. This search finds all records with at least one of the search terms. This search strategy is useful when you want to obtain the largest number if "hits," such as searching for family names.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Query results show several series where the terms "Kennedy" or "Johnson" appear somewhere in the record. [Please note that all of the series are not shown here to conserve space in our illustration.] Some of the records may only contain one term, or they may contain both terms. To view one of the records displayed, click View Records next to the record in which you are interested.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking on View Records will reveal the partial records for your search. In this case, we reveal records from "Famine Irish Passenger Record Data File" where individuals with the names "Kennedy" and "Johnson" are displayed.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Example #3 - Using with the exact phrase
Entering United Auto Workers in the with the exact phrase box will identify all records that contain the term United Auto Workers when the words appear in the same order somewhere in the record, including code meanings. This search strategy usually returns the fewest number of "hits." It is an effective strategy when using names of organizations, institutions, businesses, and so forth as search terms. In this example, we can reasonably be certain that all of the records returned will be related to the labor union named United Auto Workers.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Query results show series and files that have records with the exact phrase United Auto Workers somewhere in the record.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking on View Records next to one of the files, for example, "Federal Assistance Award Data System, Third Quarter FY1981, 4/1/1981 - 6/30/1981," reveals the three matches.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking on the icon under the View Record field shows the full record which details the fields, their values, and their meaning.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Example #4 - Using with all of the values and without the values
Entering Education in the with all of the values box and assistance in the without the values box will identify all records, including those with code meaning, that contain the word "Education" but not "assistance." In some circumstances this technique is helpful in narrowing a search. In the example below, we want all of the records that have the word "Education" somewhere in the records, but not the additional word "assistance."
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Your results show several series that contain the word "Education" but not "assistance."
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking on View Records for the "Records About Funded Projects in Appalachia" series in the "Historical Projects Data File, 1965 - 2001" revealed the partial records that match your search. In this case, the page shows records with the word "Education" in various fields, but no occurrences of the word "assistance" in any of the records.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking on the icon under the View Record field shows the full record which details the fields, their values, and their meaning.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Browsing series and files by category is useful when you are researching a particular topic, such as World War II or labor unions, when you are interested in the records in AAD that cover a certain time period, or when you want to consult indexes to records that exist in a non-electronic form. When you select a category, AAD will list all the series and files that have records pertaining to that category. You can then do a free-text, fielded, or combined free-text and fielded search on the series and file of your choice.
Example #1
You are a genealogist interested in what AAD has on personnel who served in the military during World War II. You see the Wars / International Relations category and click on the sub-category World War II.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
AAD lists four series and files related to World War II. Clicking the Search button next to the series title will allow you to get further information about the series and to perform a free-text search of the series. If you click on the Search button next to the file title, you can perform a free-text or fielded search on the file or a combined free-text and fielded search. Finally, you can do a free-text search of the category World War II.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Browsing series and files by subjects is useful when you are able to narrow your research to a subject, rather than a broad category, such as the relocation of Japanese-Americans during World War II or Savings and Loan Associations. When you select Browse by Subjects, AAD lists subjects gleaned from the descriptions of the series and files in AAD at the time of the search. When you select a subject, AAD lists all the series and files that have records pertaining to that subject. You can then do a free-text, fielded, or combined free-text and fielded search on the series and file of your choice.
Example #1
You are interested in researching certain characteristics of the Japanese-American population relocated during World War II. You see the Browse by Subjects and click on it.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
The Browse by Subject list can help you to select topics of interest and assist in identifying areas where specific series and files can be found.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
AAD lists one series and file related to the relocation of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Clicking the Search button next to the series title will allow you to get further information about the series and to perform a free-text search of the series. If you click on the Search button next to the file name, you can perform a free-text or fielded search on the file or a combined free-text and fielded search. Finally, you can do a free-text search of the subject Relocation of Japanese Americans, 1942-1945.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Some general tips first:
- When searching fields that do not contain coded data, be careful when entering the values. The "notes" will explain any special circumstances concerning the values. You can find "notes" by clicking on the View button under the Notes column for the field on the Data Layout and under the Notes/Details column on the show more fields and Display Full Record pages.
- Experiment with the search operators so that you become comfortable with them. For the fields with text (as opposed to numbers or dates) remember that using "with any of the values" is like placing the word "OR" between the words or coded values.
For example, you are looking for information on family members who immigrated to America from Ireland during the 1800's. You know their last name was OShea and their destination was the USA. Entering "OShea" in the LAST NAME field and "USA" in the DESTINATION field on the Fielded Search page allows you to narrow your search to people with the last name of OShea whose destination was the USA.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking the search button displays a partial list of records with people whose last name is OShea with USA as their destination.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking on View Record displays the full record.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
First some general tips:
- Start your search "wide," that is, do not put too many limits on the search. Then you can refine the results gradually and minimize the possibility of missing some important information.
- When searching fields that do not contain coded data, be careful when entering the values. The "notes" will explain any special circumstances concerning the values. You can find "notes" by clicking on the View button under the Notes column for the field on the Data Layout and under the Notes/Details column on the show more fields and Display Full Record pages.
- Experiment with the search operators so that you become comfortable with them. For the fields with text (as opposed to numbers or dates) remember that using "with any of the values" is like placing the word "OR" between the words or coded values.
For example, you are looking for information on an individual who died in the Korean War. The only information you have is that he was from a town named "Erie" and his name was "Harold." You are not sure if Harold is a first name or a last name. In the free-text box of the "Korean Conflict Casualty File," you enter the term "Harold" and in the fielded search box you enter Erie. You then click the Search button.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
The search displays four partial records of people who have "Harold" somewhere in their name and "Erie" as their town.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Clicking on View Records displays the full record of the individual.
[Sample may not represent actual results]
Tips for Entering Values
- The AAD system is not case-sensitive for the entry of text, except when the text is a code.
- There are no foreign characters in the system.
- Special characters and punctuation marks are generally ignored in alphanumeric fields. The exception is for fields governed by a code list.
- To see what type of values a field contains, click on the Sample Values link for that field. You can enter values into the fielded search box in several ways. There is no Sample Values link for fields with code lists.
| If the data type for a field is |
The value is entered by |
| Alphanumeric |
Select an operator from the pull-down menu and enter term(s) in the input box. You may use wildcard characters (* or %). Input is not case sensitive. |
| Date |
Input the date directly into the input box in the format, "mm/dd/yyyy" where "mm" is the two digit month, "dd" is the two digit day, and "yyyy" is the four digit year. To search using date ranges, use the "between" operator and put the first date in the first box. Put the second date in the second box. Wildcards are not used with date fields. |
| Alphanumeric with a code list |
Click on the Select from Code List link and choose the code(s) from the list. Click on Submit and the search form will display the codes that have been selected for searching in that field. |
| Numeric |
Select an operator from the pull-down menu and enter the number in the input box. Wildcards are not used in numeric fields. |
Tips for Using Search Operators
Search operators help you to broaden or narrow a search.
Alphanumeric fields have pull-down menus containing search operators. These operators function like the options for free-text searching. The operators are as follows:
| With all of the values |
If you enter more than one word into the input box, this operator will act as if you had placed an "AND" between the words. The order of the words is not important, but they must be separated by a space. You can use wildcards (* or %), but not in the first position. |
| With any of the values |
If you enter more than one word separated by a space in the input box, this operator will act as if you had placed an "OR" between the words. You can use wildcards (* or %), but not in the first position. |
| With the exact phrase |
If you enter one or more words or phrases, this operator will return exactly what you entered. The order of the words is important. You may NOT use records that contain wildcards as the phrase. All special characters (e.g., #,$,%,^,&, and, -) and punctuation marks are ignored. |
All numeric fields have pull-down menus containing search operators. The operators are:
| Equals |
Finds all records where the value equals the number entered. |
| Less than |
Finds all records where the value is less than the number entered. |
| Less than or equal |
Finds all records where the value is less than or equal to the number entered. |
| Greater than |
Finds all records where the value is greater than the number entered. |
| Greater than or equal |
Finds all records where the value is greater than or equal to the number entered. |
| Between |
Finds all records where the value is between and including the numbers entered. |
Date fields have pull-down menus containing search operators. The operators are:
| Equals |
Finds all records that exactly match the date you entered. |
| Before |
Finds dates that occur before but not on the date you entered. |
| On or Before |
Finds all dates that occur on or before the date you entered. |
| After |
Finds all dates that occur after the date you entered. |
| On or After |
Finds all dates that occur on or after the date you entered. |
| Between |
Finds all dates that occur between and including the two dates you entered. |
If you received a "no records found" message, or fewer records than anticipated, it could indicate several things:
- The information is not in records in AAD. To learn what information is in the records, read the Series Description, review all fields in the file from the Data Layout, or use the show more fields button on the Fielded Search page.
- The information may be in some records in AAD but in a different form, such as an abbreviation or an acronym.
- Your search terms may be too specific. Try again using broader or fewer search terms.
- You may have applied the search operators in such a way as to narrow the search too much. Go back to the Fielded Search page and broaden your search.
- You may have tried to search too many fields at once. This will constrain the search.
- You may have entered the value(s) incorrectly. Consider reviewing the "Notes" and viewing the "Sample Values." You can find notes by clicking on the field name on the Fielded Search page View button under the Notes column for the field on the Data Layout and under the Notes/Details column on the show more fields and Display Full Record pages. The sample values link is on the Fielded Search Page.
- If using a date field with the date data type, enter dates with the format of mm/dd/yyyy.
If you received a larger number of records than you want to review, narrow your search by one of the following:
- Use more search terms in the free-text search box.
- Narrow your search by selecting a Subject from the Browse Series by Category section on the AAD Home page.
- If you have only used free-text searching, try the fielded search method.
- Change the search operators.
- Search on more fields. The Search Page allows you to search on different fields at the same time. This has the effect of narrowing the search, since the records retrieved must satisfy all of the fields selected for searching.
- Enter the values differently. For example, if you had used the wildcard function (%), you may have received more records than you wanted.
- Use the sorting feature on the Display Partial Records page to sort your results. The partial records display from lowest to highest on the basis of the values in the field on the far left. None of the other fields are part of the sort order. You can re-sort the results by clicking the sort button located next to another field name.
For additional help in AAD please see What help is available for me?
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