Search fields

Main Page > User manual > Access content > Advanced search > Field names for advanced searching

To search on particular fields, enter in the search box the field name followed by a colon followed by the search term (e.g. exampleField:exampleTerm). Search field names must be entered exactly as shown in order for the search to work.

Field labels are listed as they appear on the pages shipped with ICA-AtoM. If your administrator has customized the field labels in your ICA-AtoM application, these may be different from what appears on your page.

Archival description

The following is a list of the fields in archival description records that can be searched.

• The Search field is used to limit the scope of search terms, e.g. "levelOfDescription:fonds"
• The ISAD label and RAD label list the field label as displayed in AtoM
• Some fields are weighted more heavily (the baseline being 1x) when scoring search results - this has been noted as e.g. "5x weight"

Search field	ISAD label	RAD label	Notes
accessConditions	Conditions governing access	Restrictions on access
accruals	Accruals	Accruals
acquisition	Immediate source of acquisition	Immediate source of acquisition
appraisal	Appraisal, destruction and scheduling	N/A	Not part of RAD specification
archivalHistory	Archival history	Custodial history
arrangement	System of arrangement	Arrangement
creator	Name of creator	Name of creator	8x weight
creatorHistory	Administrative/biographical history	Administrative/biographical history
date	Dates(s)	Date(s)	Full textual date, e.g. c.1970-1983
endDate	Date(s)	Date(s)	End of date range, in YYYYMMDD format
extentAndMedium	Extent and medium	Physical description
filename	filename	filename	Not part of RAD or ISAD. Digital object filename
findingAids	Finding aids	Finding aids
hasDigitalObject	N/A	N/A	Not part of RAD or ISAD. Does the description have a linked digital object? Value is "true" or "false"
identifier	Identifier	Identifier	5x weight
language	Language of material	Language of material
levelOfDescription	Level of description	Level of description
locationOfCopies	Location of copies	Availability of other formats
locationOfOriginals	Location of originals	Location of originals
mediaType	Media type	Media type	Not part of RAD or ISAD. Digital object media type
name	Name access points	Name access point	Not part of RAD or ISAD. 3x weight
notes	*	*	* includes all "note" fields
partOf	N/A	N/A	Not part of RAD or ISAD. Title of top-level description
physicalCharacteristics	Physical characteristics	Physical condition
physicalStorage	N/A	N/A	Physical storage container name
place	Place access points	Place access points	Not part of RAD or ISAD. 3x weight
referenceCode	Reference code	Reference code
relatedUnitsOfDescription	Related units of description	Associated/related material
repository	Repository	Associated/related material
reproductionConditions	Conditions governing reproduction	Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
scopeAndContent	Scope and content	Scope and content
script	Script of material	Script of material
sources	Sources	Sources
startDate	Date(s)	Date(s)	Start of date range, in YYYYMMDD format
subject	Subject access points	Subject access points	Not part of RAD or ISAD. 5x weight
title	Title	Title proper	10x weight

Authority record

The following is a list of the fields in authority records that can be searched.

• The Search field is used to limit the scope of search terms, e.g. "datesOfExistence:[1970-2000]"
• The ISAAR field label is presented as it is displayed in AtoM

Search field	ISAAR label	Notes
authorizedFormOfName	Authorized form of name	10x weight
datesOfExistence	Dates of Existence	5x weight
functions	Functions, occupations and activities
generalContext	General context
history	History	3x weight
identifier	Description identifier
internalStructures	Internal Structures
legalStatus	Legal Status
mandates	Mandates
places	Places
otherFormsOfName	Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules Other form(s) of name Parallel form(s) of name	8x weight

• Note: repositories inherit the authority record entity. When indexing repository records, two specific properties are added: holdings (Holdings) and collectionPolicies (Records management and collecting policies).

Accession record

The following is a list of the fields in accessions that can be searched.

• The Search field is used to limit the scope of search terms, e.g. "title:Peanut"

Search field	Accession label	Notes
date	Date
appraisal	Appraisal
identifier	Identifier
archivalHistory	Archival history
locationInformation	Location information
physicalCharacteristics	Physical characteristics
processingNotes	Processing notes
receivedExtentUnits	Received extent units
scopeAndContent	Scope and content
sourceOfAcquisition	Source of acquisition
title	Title
donors	Donors (authorized form of name)
deaccessions	Deaccessions (deaccession number)

Searching date ranges

• startDate:[YYYYMMDD TO YYYYMMDD]
  • This will search for start dates between the two dates listed, inclusive.
• endDate:{YYYYMMDD TO YYYYMMDD}
  • This will search for end dates between the two dates listed, exclusive.
• date:[1974 TO 1984]
  • This will search for textual dates (including uncertain dates) between 1974 and 1984, inclusive. Note: because this date data is not structured, the results may be vary due to inconsistencies in formatting.

In ICA-AtoM 1.4 the "date:" selector only searches on the textual "date" field, not the ISO formatted start/end date fields, so:

• date:[1995-01-01 TO 1997-12-31] - "Range query boundary terms must be non-multiple word terms"
  • The hyphen is messing Zend Search Lucene, this type of date search will NOT work.
• date:[19950101 TO 19971231]
  • This is searching for string values between 19950101 and 19971231 in the date field only. This query format is best suited to searching the start/end date fields which are formatted as YYYYMMDD in the search index.
• date: [200-?]
  • This type of searching will be problematic, as the search index cannot determine non-specific dates. If the search needs to be exact, Users are encouraged to search using start date and end date with consistent formatting.