By default, both a basic search and an advanced search will return results with the desired term or phrase found either in the metadata and/or in any transcription. Filters and facets from the left-hand sidebar may be applied to the results of a search in order to further refine and limit the results. A box summarizing which terms, filters, and facets have been applied to a search appears above the search results.

When looking at the Browse All page, or any of the collection pages, the option to filter results will still be available through the left-hand sidebar. The "Current Search Criteria" box will appear above the results pane once any filters have been applied.

The "Current Search Criteria" box summarizes which terms and filter are currently applied to your search. Refer to this box if ever you need to quickly see, at a glance, which filters and facets you have applied to a search. Individual facets may be removed from a search by clicking the "X" next to individual facets. Entire filters and facet categories may also be removed by clicking the "clear" link at the end of every category.

At the top-right of the box are a few links which may also be helpful for you.

• The "Share search" link will lead to a pop-up that will generate a URL. Anyone who clicks that URL will see the exact same search and search results.
• The "Save search" link will let you save the search to your Quartex/Adam Matthew account. Registration for such an account is free and works with all databases powered by Quartex.
• The "Clear all" link will clear your search entirely and bring you to the "Browse All" page.

By default, all basic and advanced searches will search across both record metadata as well as transcriptions. This may be changed with the "Search type" filter.

• When highlighted, the "Metadata" option indicates that the search will pull results from the record's metadata.
• When highlighted, the "Full text" option indicates that the search will pull results from transcriptions.

The "File type" field may be used to limit results to specific file types including "Images", "Videos", and "Audio".

At present, there are no video or audio files among our digital collections. As such the "Videos" and "Audio" filter options are not visible.

The "Date" filter allows you to filter search results based on a date. At minimum, a date filter must include a year; the day and month fields are optional. Clicking the "Add Range" button will add a second date line and allow you to filter your results to include only items from within the date range.

When searching by date, please note that the results will include all items that include the searched for date or date range. For example, a search for "18 February 1779" will return all items whose date range includes that specific date, such as a record book with the date range 1756-1819 or a document with the date 1779. For best results, we suggest using only years when filtering by date.

Results may further be filtered by limiting results to items which include a given controlled vocabulary term, also known as a facet. There are 13 categories of facets from which to choose facets to limit your search results. You may filter your results using as many facets as desired.

• Collections: Selecting any of these facets will filter your results to include only items from within the selected digital collections.
• Transcription: Selecting "Transcription available" will limit your results to include only items that link to a literal transcription and/or contain unformatted transcription.
• Creator: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items created by the selected person/family/organization.
• Names: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items which are relevant to or reference the selected person/family/organization.
• Geographic Coverage: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items which are from, or reference, the selected geographic location.
• Subjects: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items that contain the selected subject term. Subject terms describe the topical content of an item; for example: Baptismal records, Clergy--Correspondence, and Temperance.
• Genre/Form: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items that contain the selected genre/form term. Genre/Form terms describe what the item is; for example: Biographies, Deeds, and Sermons.
• Language: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items that include text, printed or written, in the given language.
• Type: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items which are the selected type term. Type terms describe the nature of an item; for example: Image, Moving Image, or Text.
• Source: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items which are owned and/or provided by the selected organization.
• Series: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items which are a part of a given series, publication, or project.
• Sponsor: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items whose digitization was made possible through a specific grant-giving organization.
• File Format: Selecting facets from this list will limit results to include only items whose original digital file is the selected file type.

Selecting a facet or inputting a date range is not enough to apply those filters to your search. In order to apply the filters and refresh your search results, you must first click the "Apply" button found at either the top and bottom of the filters sidebar.

Facets and filters may be removed in a few ways. They may be individually or categorically removed using the "Current search criteria" box. They may also be manually removed by deselecting the filter or facet from the filter sidebar and clicking "Apply". All filters may also be removed by clicking the "Clear" button found at the top and bottom of the filters sidebar.