Navigating and Searching the Catalogue

The procedures described on this page begin from the catalogue’s home page. This can be accessed from anywhere in the catalogue by clicking the arms of the College in the top left-hand corner.

Navigating the Catalogue

If you know the reference code of the item or group of items you are interested in you can use it to perform either a simple or advanced search (see below).

If you know which collection you are interested in the best way to find what you want may be to follow the arrangement of the catalogue. First select it from the List of Collections. Then work your way from the top level to lower levels using the descriptions at each level. The notes in the Introduction may be of help.

You can also navigate the catalogue using the names of people and organisations added to descriptions as access points (i.e. index terms). A searchable list of these may be found by clicking ‘People and Organisations’ on the home page. They can also be found via a simple search (see below).

Simple Search

To carry out a simple search, enter free text into the search box at the top of the page. You may need to try entering text (particularly reference codes) in different ways to obtain the correct result. Detailed help is available in the software designers' manual.

Advanced Search

To carry out an advanced search click in the search box at the top of the page, and then click on the words ‘Advanced Search’ when they appear (you may need to do this twice). A search panel will then be displayed, from which a variety of options are available. The options are largely self-explanatory, but the following suggestions may be helpful:

  • A search may be confined to the titles of documents or groups of documents by selecting 'Title' from the drop-down menu to the right of the search box.
  • A search may be confined to a single collection by choosing its name from the list that appears when you click in the box marked ‘Top-level description'.
  • A search may be confined to descriptions at item level by selecting ‘Item’ from the drop-down menu headed ‘Level of description’.

Detailed help is available in the software designers' manual.

We welcome feedback from users of this catalogue. Please direct any comments or inquiries to archives@trin.cam.ac.uk.