Help with Searching the University of Melbourne Archives Database
Search Syntax
All of the search options provided are keyword searches which means that words can be input in any order. The database is not case-sensitive and words can be entered as either lower or upper case. For example, searching on 'kathleen fitzpatrick' or 'Fitzpatrick, Kathleen' will produce the same results.
Search Options
Creator's Name
The name of the person, family or organisation who created or accumulated the records. This is the primary - but not the sole - access point for locating archival materials.
If you are uncertain of the spelling of a name, use the drop-down list. Omit words that are frequently abbreviated such as company (co), department (dept), limited (ltd) or and (&) to ensure that variations of the same name are retrieved.
As organisations' names often change over time, database users who do not find material in the name they are seeking under 'creator's name' should also Search the Entire Database.
Collection Area
The following list describes the broad categories of the University of Melbourne Archives' collecting policy within which all records fall. A search on one of these categories will locate all collections within each area.
- Business, individuals:
- The private papers of business identities
- Business, organisations:
- The official records of business enterprises
- Labour, individuals:
- Records relating to labour in general, other than the official papers of trade unions and related organisations. It includes the private papers of labour movement identities.
- Labour, organisations:
- Official records of trade unions and related bodies
- University, Clubs/Societies:
- The records of officially registered clubs and societies of the University of Melbourne
- University, official:
- Official records of the University of Melbourne
- University, individuals:
- The personal papers of University-related individuals
- Community and Political, organisations
- Community and Political, individuals
- Culture and the Arts, organisations
- Culture and the Arts, individuals
- Professional Associations:
- The records of professional bodies and work-related groups, other than trade unions
Activity/Occupation
This term refers to the main business of an organisation or the occupation(s) of an individual. A search on, for example, 'architects' will produce all records of collections relating to individual architects or architecture firms.
Search the Entire Database
Entering a keyword in 'Search the Entire Database' is the most comprehensive means of searching, potentially producing the highest number of matches. However, this search cannot be used in combination with any of the other search boxes - it must be used on its own. You may enter more than one keyword but the search will only retrieve records when the matches all occur in the same field. The fields/categories searched on are: Creator Name, Collection Area, Activity/Occupation, Description, Historical Note, and Gender (if applicable: enter 'Male' or 'Female').
Please contact the database maintainer with any comments or queries regarding the database.