Help on Search

The site allows a generic full text search and more specific searches for values of certain database fields, called specific field search.

Details of each search type are described in the sections listed below. Please use the table of contents to go directly to the topic of interest.

Table of Contents:

Full Text Search

The full text search allows the search for simple search terms (or phrases) as well as complex search combinations using keyword AND plus OR (Boolean search terms grouped via parenthesis) and other operators.

Case Sensitivity

Search terms/phrases are not case sensitive.

Search for all Objects

Use the asterisk wildcard character '*' (without quotes) on its own, to receive all objects published for the respective module. If other specific search values are combined with the wildcard character, they will be ignored.

Simple Search Words (Terms and Phrases)

The simplest search is based on single words such as "portrait" or "flower" (quotes are not necessary). All words specified must be matched by the search result. A search can also contain more than one single term and can be combined with AND/OR operators. If no AND/OR operators are used, those results will be delivered that contain all specified terms.

A search can also contain whole phrases. A phrase is a group of words surrounded by quotes such as "portrait of a lady". A phrase must match a corresponding text sequence to produce a search result.

Phrases and single search terms may be combined to define more complex searches.

For example:
"portrait of a lady"  flower rose

When doing so, each search phrase and single term must be contained in a search result to produce a search hit.

Wildcard Characters

Wildcard characters allow definition of partial search terms.

Wildcard characters can be applied for single or multiple characters in a term:

Exceptions/special cases:

Search Operators (Boolean Operators)

More advanced searches can be defined by using search operators in combination with single terms and phrases. These operators enable the definition of logical relations between search values.

The following operators are provided:

Operator Explanation Example
+

The '+' or required operator requires that the term after the '+' symbol is part of the search result.

Note:
This is the default behavior of the application.

+ madonna + child

All results contain both "madonna" and "child".

-

The '-' or prohibit operator excludes results  that contain the term after the '-' symbol.

Note:
The prohibit operator cannot be used with just one term, but only in combination with other search values. Therefore, queries such as -child will not deliver any results.

madonna - child

All results contain "madonna" but not "child".

AND, &&
(must be all upper case)

The AND operator links two terms and matches results where both terms exist. It is equivalent to the '+' operator and most useful for grouping search terms.

The symbol && can be used in place of the word AND.

Note:
This is the default behavior of the application.

madonna  AND  child

All results contain both "madonna" and "child".

OR, ||
(must be all upper case)

The OR operator links two terms and delivers results where either of the terms exists.

The symbol || can be used in place of the word OR

madonna  OR  maria

The results contain either "madonna" or "child".

NOT, !
(must be all upper case)

The NOT operator excludes results that contain the term after NOT.

The symbol ! can be used in place of the word NOT.

Note:
The NOT operator cannot be used with just one term, but only in combination with other search values. Therefore, queries such as "NOT maria" will not deliver any results.

madonna NOT maria

All results contain "madonna" but not "child".

Grouping:

Search terms and phrases can be grouped and then combined with help of operators. A group is defined by placing the respective search values between brackets.

Example:
(madonna OR maria) AND child AND (Weyden  NOT kranach)

Searches for all items containing either "madonna" or "maria", contain the term "child" and contain the term "weyden" but not the term "kranach".

If no groups are defined (no pharenthesis) the operators will be applied in the following order:

Fuzzy Search

The fuzzy search allows searching for terms that are similar in spelling to a given search term. Such a search can be defined by placing a tilde character '~' (without quotes) at the end of the search term.

Example:
boat~ may produce search results like "boat", "coat", "goat" etc.

Note and Limitations:
The fuzzy search cannot be used in phrase searches.

Proximity Search

The proximity search allows searching for words that are within a certain distance to each other. Distance, in this case, means the number of words that exist between the two specified search terms within a text.

Such a proximity search can be performed by placing the tilde(“~") symbol (without quotes) at the end of a search phrase. Maximum distance between the search terms is defined, by placing the number (of words) behind the tilde('~') symbol.

Example:

To search for a "maria" and "child" within 5 words of each other use the search:

"maria child"~5

More Information on Search Behavior

The search is mostly powered by Apache Lucene search engine (see http://lucene.apache.org/java/2_2_0/queryparsersyntax.html for details).

Specific Field Search

Beside full text fields, the site also enables to search within specific search fields. These search fields represent specific database fields within the application. The search fields can be configured as follows:

Specific Field Search in "Search Objects/Images"

Artist/Manufacturer name of Artist, e.g. Rembrandt
Nationality Artist’s nationality, e.g. Swedish
Manufacturer/Producer name of Manufacturer, e.g. Sèvres
Person depicted name of depicted person, e.g. Louis XIV
Title title of object, e.g. The Lady with the Veil or Teapot with lid
Technique/Material e.g. oil on canvas, Etching or ceramic
Dating dating of object/date when the object was made, e.g. from 1750, to 1800, will find all objects that were made during the period 1750 - 1800"
Inventory No. e.g. NMSk 647
Geographical origin place where the object was made, e.g. Urbino
Category e.g. Paintings or Sculptures
Classification e.g. statuette
Style/Period e.g. Rococo

Specific Field Search in "Search Artist/ Manufacturer"

Artist/Manufacturer name of Artist, e.g. Rembrandt
Nationality Artist’s nationality, e.g. Swedish
Manufacturer/Producer name of Manufacturer, e.g. Sèvres
Places name of place of birth etc., e.g. Paris
Dates e.g. from 1920 to 1930, will find all Artists and/or Manufacturers that where living/where active during the period 1920 - 1930

Field Types and Search Behavior

Combining Specific Field Search and Full Text Search

The search result must contain all search criteria defined for the respective search fields in which at least one search value has been selected or specified. This means that all search fields in use are implicitly combined with the AND operator.

Filtering of special characters

Accentuated characters are treated like their non accentuated counterparts (exception: Smart dropdown search fields).

Example:

ö: o, ä: a, á: a, Ä: A, etc.

German sharp s ("ß") will be treated as "ss".

 

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