ABOUT THE ONLINE LOCAL STUDIES CATALOGUE

The online archive catalogue provides access to over 200,000 catalogue entries and is updated daily. The catalogue lists books, pamphlets, maps, journal articles and illustrations held at the Somerset Heritage Centre (Local Studies section), Devon Heritage Centre (Local Studies section) and North Devon Record Office.  It encompasses the local studies collections of the two county local studies libraries, as well privately owned collections of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, the Devon and Cornwall Record Society, and the North Devon Athenaeum.


CONSULTING ITEMS HELD IN THE LOCAL STUDIES COLLECTIONS

Please let us know when you would like to visit, either by phone , email. Please see the Contact Us section of the relevant Centre: http://www.swheritage.org.uk/ 

While it is not normally necessary to make an appointment to view library items, we can make arrangements to have items waiting for you if we know you're intending to visit. Please see the "planning a visit" section of our website for further information, including details of our opening times and readers ticket system for the relevant Centre:

Somerset Heritage Centre

Devon Heritage Centre

North Devon Record Office
 

HOW MANY ITEMS CAN I PRE-ORDER BEFORE MY VISIT?

You can pre-order up to 4 items in advance. Additional documents can be ordered out during your visit.

 

A QUICK GUIDE TO SEARCHING THE CATALOGUE

You can search the online archive catalogue using four different search options:

  • Title Search: use to search just the titles of items in the catalogue for a key word or words 
  • Author Search: use to search for the name of a person who authored or contributed to a work
  • Keyword Search: use to find keywords anywhere in the catalogue record of an item, including author, title, but also including publishers, places, subjects, notations or ISBNs and other referencing codes
  • Advanced Search: searches for key words within specified fields and date ranges, or to specify the collections or type of material to search for (found under the "Advanced Search" option).

Basic things to remember:

  • Place an asterisk (*) at the end of the main stem of a word to find variations of the ending of the word (including plurals). For example: a search for Ham* will find catalogue entries containing the word Ham Hill and Hamilton.
  • To view a catalogue entry in full (including details such as access conditions and where the records are held) click on the title.
  • All searches default to alphabetical order. To sort the catalogue entries by date of publication, click on Date .
  • Searches will work whether you use upper or lower case letters (e.g. John Smith or john smith; TAUNTON or taunton).
  • Searches for ISBNs and other referencing codes should be done in the Keyword Search

For a detailed guide on using the online local studies catalogue (including helpful tips) please see the Full Guide.


SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

There are a number of smaller collections within both libraries, usually on a specific topic which have been either deposited on permanent loan or bequeathed or gifted to the Trust. They include the Somersettings literary collection, the collection of the Somerset Military Museum Trust and the Etched on Devon's Memory illustrations. A guide on searching for these collections can be found here:

Special Collections 

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO SEARCHING THE CATALOGUE


Text Search

If you want to search the whole of the online local studies catalogue for a key word or words:

  • Enter a key word or words in the relevant search box. Click on "Search". (See below for "Searching for two or more words").
  • To view a catalogue entry in full (including details such as publication information and in which library the items are held) click on the  title.

Remember:

Searches will work whether you use upper or lower case letters (e.g. John Smith or john smith).

All searches default to alphabetical order. To sort entries by publication date, click on Date in the top right corner

 

Searching for two or more key words (Applicable for Keyword Search and Author Search)

When searching for two or more key words you can narrow or widen your search in the following ways:

  • Search for two or more key words: for example: Exeter churches. This will find any catalogue entries containing the words Exeter and churches.
  • Search for a selection of words: For example: buildings or architecture. Type buildings OR architecture.
  • Exclude certain words from a search: Type NOT before the word you wish to exclude. For example: a search for "West Bagborough" will bring up the parishes of West Bagborough in both Somerset and Devon. To exclude the parish in Somerset, type "West Bagborough" NOT Somerset.
  • Variations of a word: Place an asterisk (*) at the end of the main stem of the word.  For example: a search for ham* will find catalogue entries containing the word Ham HIll, Hamilton, hamstone. This is also true when searching for surnames: a search for John Smith will not find entries including John Smith's.
  • Spelling variations: To search for variations of a spelling (for example Frances and Francis) type Franc?s.
 

Narrowing results within an existing search 

  • Options at left of screen: You can narrow the number of catalogue entries found by selecting the various options on the left of the screen. These include: Library (e.g. Somerset Studies Library) and Category (e.g. Adult Fiction, or Maps)
  • Adding further key words: You can narrow your search by adding other key words to the Text/Search box that appears at the top left hand side of the screen immediately below the green options bar. This notes the current search terms being used. For example, if you've done a search for hunting and want to narrow the results to entries that contain the extra term stag: add stag to the Text/Search box (hunting stag) and then click on the yellow magnifying glass icon.
 

Names, Places and Subjects

A search for a key word or words will list the number of results found within the following categories:

  • Keyword: Catalogue entries found containing a key word or words.
  • Author: Results found for a key word or words in the catalogue author and contributor index. Alternative forms of a name or pseudonym are often noted under an index term (e.g. the index term for Agatha Christie also links to the index entry for Mary Westmacott)
  • Places: Results found for a key word or words in the Places Index (parishes, hamlets, towns and place names, but also including rivers, hundreds and major buildings)
  • Subjects: Results found for a key word or words in the Subjects Index. Closely related subjects are often noted under an index term (e.g. the index term food also links to terms such as recipes, drink, cookery etc.)
The Names, Places and Subjects tabs are particularly useful if wishing to narrow a search for a key word that can apply to more than one of these categories (e.g. wells). 

IMPORTANT: only a small percentage of catalogue entries have been indexed by surname, place or subject, but work is ongoing to embellish existing catalogue records in this way.

 

Advanced Search

This is useful if you want to search for key words within specified fields and date ranges.

  • Type a key word or words in the text box.
  • Select the field/fields for which you would like to search for a key word or words (title; author; repository; library; images only).
  • Click on 'Search'. 
Each advanced search option will limit your search in specific ways:

  • Title: this field will search for words only in the title or subtitle of a work, and will only search for exact words. If you enter foundation, it will not automatically return entries containing the word foundations. Use an * or ? where you are unsure or spellings
  • Author: this field will search for author and contributor names only: if you are interested in a person as the subject of a work, rather than as the author, search for their name in the Subject field
  • Keyword: this will search for a word or words anywhere in the item's catalogue record, including publication details, subject indexing and notations
  • Date: use this field to narrow the publication range of the work. For example, a search for Collinson as an author will return multiple entries, but also entering between 1700 and 1800 will narrow the search to Collinson's History and Antiquities of Somerset, without you having to remember the full title
  • Place: this will search the catalogues index of place names. This is includes Somerset and Devon, but also includes publication places and subjects from around the world.
  • Subject: this will search the catalogue's index of subject terms. 
  • Repository: There are two main repositories within the South West Heritage Trust: Somerset and Devon. Items in the SANHS and Rural Life Museum are managed under the Somerset aegis: the North Devon Athenaeum, North Devon Record Office and Devon & Cornwall Record Office are managed under Devon. This field allows you to search for collections managed by each county.
  • Library: this field allows you to search for items held in a specific library. However, it won't exclude items held in multiple collections: when you look at the full record for an item, you may find it is also held by other libraries.
  • Images: This allows you to search only for items where an image has been attached to the record. The majority of these will be from the project Etched on Devon's Memory.
  • Periodical Articles: there is a large number of journal articles catalogued which act as virtual place markers, alerting the user that an article exists, but without the need to load up pages of text onto the catalogue. By looking at the full catalogue entry for these items, you will see what periodical it was written for, and where to find a hard copy.  Any item listed as being part of the Virtual Library will be one of these bibliographic records.
Remember: multiple fields within an advanced search can be used together, but the more specific the search, the greater chance of missing something with a variant spelling or other unexpected attribute. 

 

Terms Used 

Each catalogue record will show different fields depending on what information we have about a book, illustration, map etc.  Some of the field names or contents may be unfamiliar, so we have produced a glossary of terms:
  • Aspect: This field can contain either a broad term of the subject of the book, or the language the book is written in.
  • Associated author: authors other than the primary researcher or author. These are hyperlinks and can be clicked on to search for more items including their names
  • Class: The Dewey Decimal Classification, which may or may not be the same as the Shelf Location
  • County: The West Country Studies library has historically collected for all the counties in the south west, so this is a useful guide to which part of the area the book covers
  • Date: the date of publication
  • Dates: the covering dates of the book itself. A book on the Monmouth Rebellion might have been published in 2007, but its covering date would be 1685
  • Dimensions: the height x length of the physical item
  • Editor: the name of the editor of the book. The name is a hyperlink: you can click on it to find any other items in which that person has been involved.
  • Embellishment: Any illustrations, maps, photographs or other non-text visuals included in the book
  • Format: Whether the book is a hardback, paperback, spiralbound etc. For audio-visual items, it may also say what format (VHS, cassette, DVD etc).
  • Forward: The name of the writer of the forward of the book. The name is a hyperlink: you can click on it to find any other items in which that person has been involved.
  • Height: the height of the book: where an item is more than 28cm (or roughly A4 size) it is likely to be in the library’s oversize section
  • ISBN: The International Standard Book Number. Where books have this barcode number or other standard referencing code, it will be included in the record and can be searched for through ‘Keyword’. 
  • Joint Author: authors other than the primary researcher or author. The name is a hyperlink: you can click on it to find any other items in which that person has been involved.
  • Names: the names of any historical persons or organisations included in the book i.e. Ian Botham, Royal National Institute for the Blind etc. The name is a hyperlink: you can click on it to find any other items in which that person has been involved.
  • Note: Anything the cataloguer has felt it necessary to mention about this specific book, for example if it has been signed by the author, or has extra illustrations.
  • Number of pages: Number of pages in the book, including front matter numerated in Roman Numerals.
  • Place: Where, as far as is known, the book was published or printed. The place is a hyperlink: you can click on it to find any other items in which that place has been involved.
  • Places: Any places included in the book. The place is a hyperlink: you can click on it to find any other items in which that place has been involved.
  • Preface: the author of the preface. The name is a hyperlink: you can click on it to find any other items in which that person has been involved.
  • Publisher: the name of the publishing or printing company. The name is a hyperlink: you can click on it to find any other items in which that company has been involved.
  • RCN: Record catalogue Number. This will often be the same as the ISBN, but for items published before the ISBN became standard, this will be a computer-generated number.
  • Scale: For maps, this will usually be expressed as either 1:50,000 or 25”
  • RCN variant: Books are often given both a 13 digit ISBN and a 10 digit one: the one not used in the RCN/ISBN field will be used here.
  • Subjects: Tags relating to the subject of the book. For example, a book on the Battle of Sedgemoor may also include the tag for Monmouth’s Rebellion. The subject is a hyperlink: you can click on it to find any other items in which that subject has been involved.

 

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CONSULT ITEMS HELD IN THE LOCAL STUDIES COLLECTIONS:

  • Please see the 'planning a visit' section of our website for further information, including details of our opening times and readers' ticket system for the relevant Centre.
  • You can pre-order up to 4 items in advance. If your list contains more than 4 items please specify which 4 items you would like to consult first. Additional items can be ordered out during your visit.