Help

Search Tips

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 know the type of document you are looking for, you can uncheck the 'Search All Types' box and then select the type of document from the list. Use the Shift or Ctrl keys on your keyboard to select more than one document type.

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 fields.

Name Searches

There are three fields used for doing name searches: Grantor, Grantee, and Both Names. The Grantor and Grantee fields will search only those fields. The Both Names 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 Searching and Advanced Searching. Basic searches will search for a name in the exact order you entered it. You will need to enter it Last Name First with no punctuation. For example, if you enter Franklin Benjamin, 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 Benjamin, the system will return documents belonging to Benjamin Franklin and Franklin Roosevelt and Benjamin Moore. The space between the names acts as an implied OR (i.e. Franklin OR Benjamin).

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*, 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 with no operators 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 +Benjamin, the system will return documents belonging to Benjamin Franklin, but not Franklin Roosevelt.

The - operator tells the system that this word must NOT appear in the document. For example, if you enter Franklin -Benjamin, the system will return documents belonging to Franklin Roosevelt, but not Benjamin Franklin.