Searching Tips for the Community Services Database

Searching should always be done with the key word(s) or most relevant terms. Avoid words like “the”, “and”, “or”, or common terms which can access many inappropriate records (eg Saint John, social, community, etc).

Organization/Program Search methods

The following are examples of searches which can be made from the search area in the Find box for the following results.

meals - Selections containing the word meals

meal* - Selections containing any word that begins meal such as meal (singular),meals (plural), mealtime, etc

meals or wheels - Selections containing the word meals or the word wheels, but not necessarily both.

meals and wheels - Selections containing the word meals or the word wheels, but both must be present.

meals wheels - As above. The search instruction and is understood.

“meals on wheels” - Selections find the specific phrase within the quotation marks; very specific search; note that the complete phrase is needed (including the word on)

meals on wheels - Selections containing the word meals or the word wheels or the word on, all must be present to get results

MOW - Acronyms for programs or organizations

Using Words Anywhere (default choice)

Requests for information using this criteria are searching MOST OF THE FIELDS IN THE DATABASE. However, your view (display) screens may not necessarily show the field which contains this search request information. This provides a broad search for terms and may display many inappropriate results.

Using Organization Name(s)

Requests for information using this criteria are searching all of the Organization fields in the database (Org Levels 1 through 5, plus Former Org and Alt Org fields). However, your view (display) screens may not necessarily show the field which contains this search request information. This search is useful if you know part of all of an organization or program name.

Using Subjects

Requests for information using this criteria are searching all of the Subjects fields (Subjects,Broader Terms, Related Terms) plus the Used For terms (which can’t be viewed but which are used within the Thesaurus and reflected within the searches). This can be the most difficult search tool if the user does not know the proper subject term or if the terminology used is not part of the online Thesaurus.

Using Browsing by Organization

This option searches only by the Org 1 (main organization) name. It does not search for program or service name. eg. This option will find Victorian Order of Nurses organization and all of its listings under “V” but it will not find its Meals on Wheels program under “M”.

Using Browsing by Subject

This option displays both the proper subject terms used by the Thesaurus, but also the Used For and other related subject terms. This can be very useful when unsure of the proper term. Eg. a search for day care shows which proper terms should be used --- Adult Day Care or Child Care

Browsing is NOT the same as Searching

Browsing is looking through a pre-defined list and is based on specifying either a letter or a number as your criteria. p>

The Limit to Searches

"Located In" and "Serving" Communities
This function enables you to restrict the results by geography; either by where the service/program is physically located or by the geographic service area specified in the record. It is a good idea, if you are searching for a specific service in a known area, to use these limiting features to narrow your results.

Organizations with WWW Sites
Search results can be limited to only those records that have a website address recorded in the WWW field.

Quick List Drop Down
This search tool allows you to limit the range of the records that are searched to a pre-defined set of records, often grouped by subject and/or geographical location. You can only select one choice from the drop down list.

Record Number
You can return one specific record in the search results according to its Record Number, that is, the three alpha, four numeric unique identifier assigned to each record. Eg. HDC0761. If you are searching by record number, all other search criteria should be clear because this search, by definition, can have only one record in the result so no other criteria is applicable. This is only useful if you know the record number for the organization you are searching for.

If you find you frequently make reference to a single record, you may want to make note of the record number in the database entry, as this is the quickest way to locate a specific record.

Remember that, in all cases, the search components are added together. In other words, the listing of records you obtain from your search (if any) is the result of:

Whatever terms are entered in the search box AND the “limits” identified AND the “Quick List” category if any is chosen.