Search Tips

Use Profile Search to find basic biographical information about an individual and to be directed to the full-text biographical sketches for the subject of your search. All subjects of full-text biographical sketches appear in Profiles. Each field in a Profile is indexed to help you locate the subject of biographies in AABD.

The Full Text Search searches the full text of AABD, but does not search any information in the Profiles. If you are searching for a biography of an individual, it is advisable to use the Profile Search first, and then if you cannot find the person you are looking for, to proceed to a Full Text Search. You can use the Full Text Search option to find mentions of the person in biographies and textual paragraphs other than the subject's own biography. The Full Text Search option can also be used to find points in the text where specific subjects or topics are mentioned.

Below are some instances of when to use each Search. For most effective searching, remember to implement Boolean Searching, Proximity Searching, and Truncation Searching when appropriate.

Use a Profile Search when you:

• are searching for a specific person. Using the Name field, enter the name last name first (i.e.--Brown, Morris). If you know the name of a person's spouse or a nickname, you can search for these using the field also.
• are searching for a specific person, but are unsure of the name. You limit your search using other fields. For example, you may know the subject was born in Charleston, SC around 1810 and became a journalist. By entering that information in the State/Country, City/County, Date of Birth, and Occupation fields, you can browse a small set of results.
• are searching for specific groups of people. For example:
• Political figures (Occupation) born in Kentucky (State/Country)
• All Females (Gender) covered in Who's Who in Colored America (Source)
• Baptist (Religion) Religious Workers (Occupation)
• Educators (Occupation), born in Annapolis (City/County), who lived during the turn of the century (Date of Birth, Date of Death)

Use a Full Text Search when you:

• can't find a profile for an individual. By searching on the name in the All Keyword field, you may find details about the person through a biography of a relative, friend, or associate.

• want to find all mentions of a name, even in biographical sketches about other subjects. You can enter a name first name first (i.e.--Morris Brown) in the All Keyword field.

• want to find coverage of a geographical region, political movement, school district, area of missionary work, church, or other group or area.

• want to find relationships between people. For example, you can enter two names connected by a Boolean AND, and find instances where both people are discussed on the same page, perhaps in relation to one another.