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Catalog Search Tips
The "basic" search strategy can be viewed as the most generalized form of searching, while the "advanced," "finding aid" and "quick" searches are more focused, returning fewer but possibly more relevant results.
"Basic" searching is the simplest and easiest way to search the entire catalog. With it, you can search for words that appear anywhere in the catalog record, or for authors, titles, subjects or call number. In general, a "basic" search will provide more results, although not all may be relevant to your research.
"Advanced" searching works best for finding only those materials which are most relevant to your research topic. It allows searching by multiple fields or if you want to limit your search by collection or format.
"Online Records" will take you directly to the Digital Archives, which include electronic records received from government agencies and officials, donated and acquired electronic resources, and digital copies of original materials from the MDAH collections, including paper documents, photographs, maps, audio, and video.
"Additional Research Tools," available from the Basic Search page allows you to either "Browse Specific Collection," go directly to the Online (Electronic) records, or to do "Quick Searches" of specific collections. Microfilm is self-serve in the Media Reading Room and the "Master List of Microfilm" can be the easiest and fastest way to locate particular rolls.
The "Natchez District : Sources in the Manuscript Collection" describes only manuscripts that pertain to the Natchez District.
"Quick Searches" searches are tools designed for searching particular archival collections. They are particularly useful if you want to focus your research on a particular collection or type of primary source material. For example, if you are only interested in manuscripts, in photographs, or in county records, then the "quick" searches are already set up to focus on those areas.
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