Help Resources for the Mars On-Line Catalog

Introduction
Search Screens
Results Screen
Record Details Screen
Child Lists
Child Results Screen

1. Introduction

This portion of the help pages is coming soon - we thank you for your patience.

2a. Search Screens: Basic Search

What is Basic Search?
Basic Search searches the entire MARS catalog – everything from the title field, the author/creator field, the scope note descriptions of the materials in our collections, and the subject headings. It is a free text search of MARS; by default this search searches the whole catalog unless you tell it to do otherwise.

When should I use Basic Search?

When you want to do a quick search of the catalog.
When you are not sure of exactly what you’re looking for or where it may be located.

How do I do a Basic Search?
Type a word or series of words separated by spaces into the Search Text box to find records that contain all of the words listed. These words may appear anywhere in the record and do not necessarily have to appear together. Put an asterisk (*) on the end of any word to search for words that begin with a word fragment; for example: if you did not know if the record you were looking for was from "Greensboro" or "Greene County" or "Greenville" you could do a search for Green* to see all records that contain a word that begins with "Green" and thereby giving you a chance to browse through records referencing any of those three places.

Once you have entered the word or words that you want to search on you can either hit "enter" on your keyboard or use your mouse to click on the Search button to begin searching.

How do I search for a phrase in Basic Search?
To search on a phrase, simply put single (‘) or double (") quotes around the phrase that you wish to search. So if you wanted to do a search for the phrase African Americans, you would type "African Americans" into the Search Text box and then either hit "enter" on your keyboard or use your mouse to click on the Search button to begin searching.

If you want to do a search on records that begin with a phrase you would include an asterisk (*) before your closing quotes. For example, if you wanted to do a search for everything related to gold mines but weren’t sure whether to search for "gold mines," "gold mine" or "gold mining," you could do a search for "gold min*" to see results for all three phrases.

How do I search for multiple phrases in Basic Search?
To search on two or more phrases, separate the phrases with a semicolon (;). For example if you wanted to do a search for materials that include the phrases "African Americans" and "Civil War," you would enter this into the Search Text box: African Americans; Civil War

Notice that, unlike searching on a single phrase, when searching for multiple phrases you do not use quotes of any kind.

What if I only know part of the name or phrase that I want to search on?
Include an asterisk (*) at the end of a word or phrase if you want to expand on that word or phrase.

For example, if you know that a person’s name is "William" but you aren’t sure if it is a first or last name or if it’s really "Williams" or "Williamson," you could do a search on William* to see a listing of all records that include that name or names that begin with "William."

What if I don’t want to search the whole catalog?
If you know what type of materials you want to search you can use the Class, Collection, Series browse to limit your search to only those materials. For example, if you want to search for the word "marriage" but you know you want to search only our county records not our photograph collection, you could click on the Browse button on the Basic Search screen, then click on the small blue box beside "County Records" on the Class, Collection, Series Browse screen. A green check mark will appear in that box indicating that you have selected to search only those records. You would then click on the word "Done" to return to the Basic Search screen, type the word marriage into the Search Text box and either hit "enter" on your keyboard or use your mouse to click on the Search button to begin searching.

See the question "What does the box labeled "Class, Collection, Series" do?" for more information about the Class, Collection, Series browse option.

I’ve done a search and now I want to do a new one, but my old search information is still appearing in the Search Text box/Class, Collection, Series browse box. How do I get rid of that information so that I can do a new search?
Click on the Clear button in order to clear any search information that you no longer need.

How do I search for materials at the Outer Banks History Center using Basic Search? / My searches keep coming up with materials located in Manteo, how do I limit my searches to materials located in Raleigh?
MARS includes information from both the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, N.C. and the Outer Banks History Center in Manteo, N.C. By default, the Basic Search searches the holdings of both institutions, but if you want to only search the holdings of one of them you can look below the label "Location of Materials" and click in the small circle beside the location you wish to search.

What does the box labeled "Class, Collection, Series" do?
By clicking on the Browse button next to the Class, Collection, Series box, you can browse our whole collection and see how our materials are organized; this is useful if you want to know more about what we have before you do a search. If you click on the Browse button you will see a listing of all the different types of records that we have; you can click on the plus sign (+) beside any grouping of records to see the levels below; if you want to go back up a level from the one you are browsing, you can click on the minus sign (-) to collapse the grouping and return to a higher level in the record structure.

If you find a group or groups of materials that you want to search you can click on the blue box beside those records and then a green check mark will appear in the blue box, indicating that you want to search those materials. You can then click on the link "Done" to return to the Basic Search screen and enter a word or phrase into the Search Text box to continue your search. If you are on the Class, Collection, Series Browse screen and you decide that you don’t want to search the materials you have selected, you can click on the "Clear" link and the green check marks in the blue boxes should disappear, indicating that you have selected no groups of materials to search. If you want to search the whole catalog you can click on the link "Select All" and green check marks will appear in all the blue boxes on the Class, Collection, Series Browse screen, indicating that you want to search all the materials in the collection. However, you do not have to do this unless you wish to – all Basic Searches search the whole catalog by default unless you select otherwise.

Note! - If you have selected to search a grouping of materials and then collapsed that grouping, those materials become unchecked and will not be searched. For example, if you expanded "Miscellaneous Collections" by clicking on the plus (+) sign and then clicked on the blue box beside "Vault Collection" so that a green check mark appeared in that box, you will have selected to search the Vault Collection. But if you then clicked on the minus (-) beside "Miscellaneous Collections" to collapse that grouping in order to expand another grouping of records ("Military Collections," for example) then the Vault Collection would become unchecked and would not be included in your search. Therefore, when you want to search multiple groupings at the same time click on the on the groupings you wish to search, making sure to leave all of their lists expanded, and then click "done" to return to the Basic Search screen. This issue will be fixed in an upcoming version of MARS.

The Class, Collection, Series Browse screen is also useful if you know what type of materials you want to do your search in. For example, if you want to search for the word "marriage" but you know you want to search only our county records not our photograph collection, you could click on the Browse button on the Basic Search screen, then click on the small blue box beside "County Records" on the Class, Collection, Series Browse screen. A green check mark will appear in that box indicating that you have selected to search only those records. You would then click on the word "Done" to return to the Basic Search screen, type the word marriage into the Search Text box and either hit "enter" on your keyboard or use your mouse to click on the Search button to begin searching.

[Help Pages: Table of Contents]

2b. Search Screens: Advanced Search

What is Advanced Search?
The Advance Search screen allows you to search specific fields within the MARS catalog. You can search using just one field or any combination of fields.

When should I use Advanced Search?

When you have tried the Basic Search and you can’t find what you’re looking for.
When you have tried the Basic Search and ended up with too many results for you to reasonably browse through.
When you know a specific piece of information about the record or records that you are trying to locate - for example, the title or the year.
When you want to browse the subject index.
When you want to search only the subject index rather than the whole catalog.
When you want to browse the author list.
When you want to search by the type of document.

How do I search using the Title field?
The Title search box allows you to search the titles of the records in MARS. Type a word or series of words separated by spaces into the Title box to find records that contain all of the words listed in their titles. Put an asterisk (*) on the end of any word to search for words that begin with a word fragment; for example: if you did not know if the title of the record you were looking for was "Greensboro" or "Greene County" or "Greenville" you could do a search for Green* to see all records that contain a word that begins with "Green" in their titles.

Once you have entered the words that you want to search on you can either hit "enter" on your keyboard or use your mouse to click on the Search button to begin searching, or you can limit your search further by using one or more of the other search fields.

How do I search for a phrase in the Title field?
To search on a phrase, simply put single (') or double (") quotes around the phrase that you wish to search. So if you wanted to do a search for the phrase African Americans, you would type "African Americans" into the Title box and then either hit "enter" on your keyboard or use your mouse to click on the Search button to begin searching.

If you want to do a search on records that begin with a phrase you would include an asterisk (*) before your closing quotes. For example, if you wanted to do a search for everything related to gold mines but weren’t sure whether to it had "gold mines," "gold mine" or "gold mining" in the title, you could do a search for "gold min*" to see results for all three phrases.

How do I search for multiple phrases in the Title field?
To search on two or more phrases, separate the phrases with a semicolon (;). For example if you wanted to do a search for materials that include the phrases "African Americans" and "Civil War" in their titles, you would enter this into the Title box: African Americans; Civil War

Notice that, unlike searching on a single phrase, when searching for multiple phrases you do not use quotes of any kind.

If you find a group or groups of materials that you want to search you can click on the blue box beside those records and then a green check mark will appear in the blue box, indicating that you want to search those materials. You can then click on the link "Done" to return to the Advanced Search screen and enter a word or phrase into one of the search options to continue your search. If you are on the Class, Collection, Series Browse screen and you decide that you don’t want to search the materials you have selected, you can click on the "Clear" link and the green check marks in the blue boxes should disappear, indicating that you have selected no groups of materials to search. If you want to search the whole catalog you can click on the link "Select All" and green check marks will appear in all the blue boxes on the Class, Collection, Series Browse screen, indicating that you want to search all the materials in the collection.

The Class, Collection, Series Browse screen is also useful if you know what type of materials you want to do your search in. For example, if you want to search for the word "marriage" in a record title but you know you want to search only our county records not our photograph collection, you could click on the Browse button beside the Class, Collection, Series box, then click on the small blue box beside "County Records" on the Class, Collection, Series Browse screen. A green check mark will appear in that box indicating that you have selected to search only those records. You would then click on the word "Done" to return to the Advanced Search screen, type the word marriage into the Title search box and either hit "enter" on your keyboard or use your mouse to click on the Search button to begin searching.

How do I search using the "Year" field?
The Year search box allows you to search or limit your search by the year or years when a record was created. You can either type a singe year (for example: 1942) or range of years (for example: 1865-1868).

What is the difference between the two subjects fields?
The Subjects field allows you to directly enter one or more words and phrases while the Subjects (from index) field allows you to choose one or more subject headings from the entire list of available subject headings.

How do I search using the "Subjects" field?
The Subjects field allows you to enter the word or words that you would like to search for in the MARS subject heading index, also known as an Authority File.

The Subject field is not case sensitive, so you could enter either "Women" or "women" and get the same results. If you add multiple words in the Subjects field you will be searching for any records that include any one of those words, in any form, in their subject headings. Therefore a search on the words marriage and bonds will return hits for "Marriage," "Bonds," "Marriage Bonds," "Marriage Licenses," "War Bonds," etc. If you wanted to see only materials with a subject heading of Marriage Bonds, you would need to type "marriage bonds" with quotation marks (") around the phrase. If you want to search on multiple phrases, separate those phrases with semicolons (;) and do NOT use quotation marks around the phrases. If you know the beginning of a word or phrase but are not sure of the ending, use an asterisk (*) at the end of the word or phrase. For example, if you wanted to do a search for everything related to gold mines but weren’t sure whether the proper heading was "Gold Mines," "Gold Mine" or "Gold Mining," you could do a search for "gold min*" to see results for all three phrases.

How do I search using the "Subjects (from index)" field?
The Subjects (from index) field allows you to browse the MARS subject index and select subject headings that you would like to search on.

If you click on the Browse button beside the Subjects (from index) box, you will see the Subjects (from index) screen. At the top of this screen will be two lists: Authority File and Subject Type. Currently the only authority file (a list of subject headings) that you can search is the one for the State Archives. However there are several types of subjects within that authority file, including:

Subject
Personal Name – names of people
Geographical Name – the names of places, towns, counties, mountains, swamps, etc.
Family Name – the names of families and always structured as "[Surname] Family"
Corporate Name – the names of groups, clubs, government units, businesses, academic institutions, churches, or other organizations

When you first open the Subjects (from index) page all of these Subject Types will have check marks beside them, indicating that they will be included in the search. If you want to search the whole authority file then you have two options: you can browse by clicking on a letter of the alphabet; or you can type a name or phrase into the search box beside the link for "Start Search" and click on the "Start Search" link to begin searching.

If you want to search or browse only a particular types of subject headings (Personal and Family names, for example), click on the boxes beside the types of subject headings that you are not interested in. When you do that the green check mark will disappear, indicating that those types of subject headings will not be included in your search or browse.

Once you begin a subject heading search or browse, you will see a list of subject headings appear on the lower half of the screen. After each one you will see a parenthesis and a list of information about the heading with each piece of information separated by commas. For example:

Abbertons Creek ( G , 1)
Coal Mines and Mining ( S , 18)
King Family ( F , 22)
Quakenbush, Cornelia A. ( P , 1)
WBT (Radio station : Charlotte, N.C.) ( C , 2)

The first piece of information is the Subject Type, with "S" for Subject, "P" for Personal Name, "G" for Geographical Name, "F" for Family Name, and "C" for Corporate Name. The second piece of information is the number of records that include that subject heading. You’ll notice that Personal Names are inverted, meaning that they are listed last name first, first name last. Once you find a subject heading or several subject headings that you are interested, click on the red "Add" link beside the subject heading; you will see that the subject heading will then appear in a list on the right side of the screen. When you are done, click on the link "done" to return to the Advance Search screen. If you would like to clear the list of subject headings that you have added, click on the link "clear."

Remember that when you add multiple subject headings to your Advance Search using the Subjects (from index) screen that you will be searching for any records that have any one of the subjects that you have selected.

How do I search using the "Author/Producer" field?
The Author/Producer field allows you to search the creators of records. If you click on the Browse button beside the Author/Producer box, you will see the Author/Producer screen. At the top of this screen will be two lists: Creator Type and Creator Role.

There are two Creator Types in MARS: Person and Corporation, with Corporation including any group, club, government unit, business, academic institution, or other organization and Person including family names as well as the names of individuals. These Creator Types refer to the original creators of the documents that are described and indexed in MARS. Records can have multiple creators who played various roles in the document’s creation. MARS currently includes these Creator Roles options:

GIS Data Creator
Reprographer
Unspecified
Other
Artist
Cartographer
Editor
Publisher
Photographer
Author

When you first open the Author/Producer page all of these Creator Roles and Creator Types will have check marks beside them, indicating that they will be included in the search. If you want to search the whole creator index then you have two options: you can browse the index by clicking on a letter of the alphabet; or you can type a name or part of a name into the search box beside the link for "Start Search." Beside the search box is a drop-down box including the options "Last Name starts with" and "Name contains" – select which option applies to the name you wish to search for before you click on the Start Search link.

If you want to search or browse only a particular Creator Type or Creator Role, click on the boxes beside the types or roles that you are not interested in – the green check mark will then disappear, indicating that it will not be included in your search or browse. Keep in mind that the majority of creators in MARS will be listed as "Authors" so if you deselect that option you may not see many index names in your browse or search.

Once you begin a Creator search or browse, you will see a list of names appear on the lower half of the screen. After each name you will see a parenthesis and a list of information about the heading with each piece of information separated by commas. For example:

Air Force Association ( C , Author ,6 )
Mathew Carey ( P , Publisher ,1 )
Young and Delleker ( C , Unspecified ,3 )

The first piece of information is the Creator Type – either a P for "Person," a C for "Corporation," or a F for "Family Name." The second piece of information is the Creator Role for that creator. The third piece of information is the number of records that have that person or corporate body as a creator. Once you find a name or names that you are interested, click on the red "Add" link beside the name; you will see that the name will then appear in a list on the right side of the screen. When you are done, click on the link "done" to return to the Advance Search screen. If you would like to clear the list of names that you have added, click on the link "clear."

How do I search using the "Type of Document" field?
The Type of Document field allows you to limit your search to only a particular type or types of documents, also know as formats. If you click on the Browse button beside the Type of Document box, you will see a list of record types, from "Cookbooks," "Letters," "Legal files," "Architectural Drawings," "Daguerreotype," "Audio Tapes," etc. Currently these types are listed in one long, non-alphabetical list but that issue will be fixed in future versions of MARS. If you find a type or types of documents that you would like to search, click on the red "Add" link beside the type of document. You will then see the type of document appear in a list on the right side of the screen. When you are done, click on the link "done" to return to the Advance Search screen.

How do I search using the "Donor/Agent" field?
The Donor/Agent field allows you to search on the names of individuals or organizations who gave collections to the North Carolina State Archives or Outer Banks History Center or who served as an agent, meaning they physically brought the materials to the archives or otherwise facilitated the transfer but were not the persons/organizations who owned the collections.

Enter a name or part of a name into the Donor/Agent field to search this field, separating multiple names with spaces. The asterisk (*) and phrase searching option using quotation marks (") are not available in the Donor/Agent field.

[Help Pages: Table of Contents]

2c. Search Screens: Call Number Search

This portion of the help pages is coming soon - we thank you for your patience.

[Help Pages: Table of Contents]

3. Results Screen

What does "MARS Id" mean?
The MARS Id is a unique identifier that was given to materials entered into the original version of MARS. For materials like State Agency Records that do not currently have call numbers, the MARS Id functions much like a call number. However, for all materials with call numbers, you should use the call number instead of the MARS Id when requesting information from either the State Archives or the Outer Banks History Center.

So, when requesting information:

If you are interested in a State Agency record, note the MARS Id and any information listed in the call number field.
If you are requesting any other types of records, note the call number and not the MARS Id.

What does "Class" mean?
Class is one way we intellectually organize our records and we use abbreviations to symbolize those classes on the Results screen.

Here is a list of the current Classes in MARS:

Class Abbreviation	Class Name	What does that mean?
AB	Account Books	Account books created by defunct companies, etc.
AR	Academic Records	Records created by defunct non-public schools and colleges
AV_IC	Audio Visual and Iconographic Collections	Photographs, negatives, motion picture films, sound recordings, etc.
BR	Bible Records	Copies of family information pages from privately-held Bibles
CEM	Cemetery Records	Information collected as part of the North Carolina Cemetery Survey
CR	County Records	Records created by county governments
FA	Foreign Archives	Copies of documents related to North Carolina located in foreign archives
GIS	Geospatial Information Systems	Information about geospatial data layers created by various government agencies. While data about these records can be found in MARS, the actual records themselves are not found at the State Archives but are in the custody of the creating agency or hosting entity.
HICATS	Records from the Outer Banks History Center	HICATS was the name of the first OBHC online catalog, so all of their records are listed in this class.
MC	Map Collection	Maps depicting North Carolina or some portion thereof
MIL	Military Collection	Records related to the military affairs of the State of North Carolina and the military service of her citizens from the 1740s forward
MISC	Miscellaneous Collection	An artificial collection gleamed either from other collections or placed here due to their content. For example: Bibles of historical value, genealogies, etc.
OR	Organizational Records	Records created by private, professional, civic organizations or other such groups
PC	Private Collections	Our equivalent of a "manuscript collection" – the papers of individuals and families.
PO	Poster Collection	World War I, World War II, Political, Exhibition, and Miscellaneous posters
SR	State Agency Records	Records created by state agencies

What does "Title" mean?
This field indicates the titles of the records in your search results. Note that the amount of information available from the Title field may vary greatly depending on the Container Type, or level, of the records in your search results (see the question What does "Container Type" mean? for more information about the Container Type field). If you need more information about a record than is available from the Title field, double click on an individual record to view its Details Screen.

What does "Years" mean?
The year or years listed in the Years field are the dates that the original records listed in your search results were created.

What does "Container Type" mean?
Container Type indicates the level of the record you are looking at. Possible levels are, from largest to smallest:

Record Group
Series
Sub Series
Box
Folder
Item

What does "Call Number" mean?
This is the number used by staff to retrieve information that you request. If there is no call number in the call number field, please use the MARS Id instead. See the question What does "MARS Id" mean? for more information about that field.

What does "Child Count" mean?
The Child Count indicates how many records are entered into MARS below the level, or Container Type, of the record in your search results. For example, if one of the records in your search results is at the "Box" level/Container Type, then the number "5" in the Child Count field would indicate that there are five folders described in MARS that are part of that box. If the Child Count field is blank then there are no lower levels currently entered into MARS.

To find out more information about the "children" of the records in your search results, double click on a record to view its Details Screen.

What does "Has Image" mean?
If there is a green check mark in the "Has Image" field, then a scanned copy of the document is available on the Details Screen for that record. To view the Details Screen, double click on the record that you want to view.

If the "Has Image" field is blank, then there are no scanned copies of that record available through MARS at this time.

I have multiple pages of results. How do I move past the first page?
There is a small bar at the bottom of your search results with an arrow on either side of it and series of numbers below it. You can click on the arrows to move forwards or backwards in your search results list. You can also slide the bar to either jump multiple pages or to locate a particular page in your list. For example, if there are 8 pages, clicking in the middle of the bar would take you page 4.

You can also click on the green arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen to page up or down in a list.

The numbers below the bar indicate what page of search results you are on currently and how many total pages there are in your search results.

[Help Pages: Table of Contents]

4. Record Details Screen

This portion of the help pages is coming soon - we thank you for your patience.

[Help Pages: Table of Contents]

5. Child Lists

This portion of the help pages is coming soon - we thank you for your patience.

[Help Pages: Table of Contents]

6. Child Results Screen

This portion of the help pages is coming soon - we thank you for your patience.

[Help Pages: Table of Contents]

Last updated: 08/10/2009