Document Search Help

You can perform searches by entering one or more pieces of information about a document. For example, if you know a person's name, you can simply enter it into the Grantor or Grantee field. If you know the date range of the document, you may also enter it. The more information you enter, the more focused the search results will be.

Document Type

If you would like to see only certain types of documents, you can uncheck the 'Search All Types' box and then select the type of document from the list. You can select multiple types by holding you ctrl or shift key down while clicking.

Document Number

If you know the Document Number, you can simply enter it and press enter.

Date Range

You can enter a date range to help focus your search results. If you know the exact date of a document, enter the same date in the Start and End date.

Name Searches

There are three fields used for doing name searches: Grantor, Grantee, and Grantor/Grantee. The Grantor and Grantee fields will search only those fields. The Grantor/Grantee field will search for names that appear in either the Grantor OR the Grantee field.

Basic and Advanced Searches

All three of the name fields have two different types of searching: Basic and Advanced. 'Basic' searches will search for a name in the order you entered it. You will need to enter it Last Name first. For example, if you enter:

Franklin BenjaminBasic Search

The system will return documents belonging to Benjamin Franklin but not Franklin Roosevelt.

'Advanced' searches work more like an Internet search engine. The order of the words doesn't matter. For example, if you enter:

Franklin BenjaminAdvanced

The system will return document belonging to Benjamin Franklin and Franklin Roosevelt and Benjamin Moore.

Wild Cards

The * character is a wild card character. It can be used in both Basic searches and Advanced searches. It can be substituted for any other character or characters. For example, if you enter:

Frank* Ben*Basic Search

The system will return documents belonging to Benjamin Franklin, Ben Frank, and Bennie Frankenstein. This can be useful if you are unsure about spelling.

Advanced Search Operators

Performing Advanced searches will return documents containing any of the words you entered. By using certain modifiers, or operators, you can focus your search.

+

The + operator tells the system that this word must appear in the document. For example, if you enter:

Franklin +BenjaminAdvanced

The system will documents belonging to Benjamin Franklin, but not Franklin Roosevelt, because Benjamin must appear in the document.

-

The - operator tells the system that this word must NOT appear in the document. For example, if you enter:

Franklin -BenjaminAdvanced

The system will return documents belonging to Franklin Roosevelt, but not Benjamin Franklin.