Search
Simple search
With the left mouse button, click the Simple search button in the column on the left, to be able to search a limited number of database fields either in all collections or by selected collections via the checkbox list.
1. By default, you search all available data collections here: Grant Museum of Zoology, Jeremy Bentham Auto-Icon, Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, UCL Art Museum, UCL Pathology Collections, UCL Science Collections. If you want to search in just one or two of these collections deselect search all and select the relevant checkbox(s).
2. In the Search entry field, type the word or name on which you want to search. You may also provide just a partial word, or multiple words at once (in the latter case all words must occur in a result), separated with a space.
3. Click the Search button to start the search.
Use of Wildcard - the asterisk ‘*’ symbol acts as a wildcard to broaden your search, for example Sud* find records containing either Sudan and Sudanese.
Searching by Accession Number in Simple Search:
The wildcard can also be used in place of the formal museum Accession Number prefix.
Grant Museum of ZoologyLDUCZ-
Jeremy Bentham Auto-IconLDUJB-
Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese ArchaeologyLDUCE-
UCL Art Museum&emspLDUCS-
UCL Pathology CollectionsLDUCPC-
UCL Science Collections LDUSC-, LDUGC-
In the past Petrie Museum objects have been published/referenced with just the UC element of their prefix but are recorded here with the full prefix LDUCE-UC.
To find UC1957 enter either LUDCE-UC1957 or *UC1957. Please note that because simple search is also looking in other fields this wildcard example will also retrieve UC1621 for example because UC1957 is mentioned in the description text of UC1621.
Simple Search all searches in:
Accession number
Collection
Title
Object Category
Description
Collection place
Collector
Creator
Common name
Sex
Distribution
Developmental stage
Taxonomic term
Simple search in Grant Museum of Zoology searches:
Accession number
Collection
Common name
Object Category
Description
Sex
Distribution
Developmental stage
Taxonomic term
Simple search in Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology searches:
Accession number
Collection
Title
Object Category
Description
Collection place
Collector
Creator
Simple search in UCL Art Museum searches:
Accession number
Creator
Title
Object Category
Description
Simple search in UCL Science Collections, UCL Pathology Collection and Jeremy Bentham Auto-Icon searches:
Accession number
Collection
Title
Object Category
Description
Sex
Creator
Note: on the Search History tab, click the Refine option if after an executed search you now you want to search further on another word, within the previous results.
Advanced search
If you would like to search more types of information or than one word or name simultaneously, and also want to be able to indicate in which fields each word should occur, for instance in the title of a museum object, in the name of a material, or in an artist’s name, then the Advanced search is probably more suitable than Simple search.
With the left mouse button, click the Advanced search button in the column on the left, to be able to search on multiple words in specific fields, on the Search tab.
1. Click the Search in drop-down list to open it. Here, choose the Museum or Collection to search in. Here, you cannot search in more than one database at a time.
2. Visible search fields depend on the Museum or Collection you chose in step 1. Type the word or name on which you want to search, into the relevant search field. You may also provide just a partial word, or leave fields empty; as long as at least one value is filled in, you can start the search. Note that a word will only be searched in the relevant field in the database: so if you enter “gold” in description, this will not be found elsewhere such as Title or Material etc. (If you want to search in multiple fields simultaneously on one word, you should use Simple search.)
At the side of the some fields you’ll find a List button (a ‘burger’ icon). With this button you can look up all words that occur in the relevant field in the database. This is handy if you are not sure about the spelling of a word or name, or if you just want to search alphabetically. The terms start at A, for example Abacus for Object Category. You can jump to the list of Object category terms beginning with H for example by typing H into the box.
3. Using the Sort by and Sort order options you can choose if you would like the search result to be sorted at all, and if so, on which field and in which order. This is especially handy if your search generates lots of results. Just mark the relevant Sort by/Sort order button by clicking it.
4. Click the Search button to start the search.
5. Use the Clear button to erase all entry fields here, for a new search.
Expert search
If you want to submit complex search statements, then Expert search will be a more appropriate search method for you. All the search fields are available in Expert Search.
With the left mouse button, click the Expert search button in the column on the left, to search on multiple words and combine the search statements through Boolean operators, on the Search tab.
1. Click the Search in drop-down list to open it. Here, choose the Museum or Collection to search in. Here, you cannot search in more than one database at a time.
2. In the drop-down list on the following line you must choose a field in which you want to search. Available fields depend on the Museum or Collection you chose in step 1.
In the entry field next to the operator, type the word, number or name on which you want to search. You may also provide just a partial word, known as a truncated search, in which case you should check the Truncation checkbox. If the term you enter is already a whole word, e.g. “table”, and you don’t want the search to extend to words like “tablespoon”, then you must deselect this option.
Depending on the field type, you can sometimes choose another operator than “=” in the drop-down list directly to the right of it (although this list isn't always visible). In that case (e.g. for Date (early) or Date (late) a drop-down list is available from which you can also choose “Between”, “=” (equal), “<” (smaller than), “>” (greater than), “<=” (smaller than or equal to) and “>=” (greater than or equal to). You can use these to search on years after 1945, or before 1970 for example.
3. To combine multiple values in a single Expert search click the + sign to the right of the search line. Now you can enter a second search statement. You have to combine the two search statements with a Boolean operator using the drop-down list. Choose either “and”, “or”, or “and not”.
With “and” a result must comply to both search lines, with “or” a result must comply to at least one of both search lines, and with “and not” a result must comply to the first search line but not to the second. The search statements are executed from top to bottom. This is important when you combine search statements. The result of the first two lines will be combined with the third line, and the result thereof in turn will be combined with the fourth line, etc. So, place the combined search statement that has to be executed first, at the top.
You may also leave lines empty or remove them by clicking the – sign at the end of the relevant line; as long as at least one value is filled in, you can start the search.
4. Mark the Only records with images checkbox to exclude records without images from the result.
5. Use the Sort by and Sort order options to choose if you would like the search result to be sorted at all, and if so, on which field and in which order. This is especially handy if your search generates lots of results. Just mark the relevant Sort by/Sort order button by clicking it.
6. Use Records per page to select the maximum number of records shown per search result page.
7. Click the Search button to start the search.
8. Use the Clear button to erase all search fields here, for a new search.
All records with images
To search for all records with images enter a wildcard asterisk ‘*’ in the Accession Number field and select ‘only records with images’.