Discovery Webinar

[ElizabethHerts]

I've just watched a Webinar on using Discovery (the National Archives catalogue).

If people are interested I could try to summarize the main points.

[Merry]

I'm not aware of having any problems using Discovery, but that doesn't mean I'm certain I'm getting the best from it! lol

What have you got to tell us? :D

[Chris in Sussex]

Thought I spotted you Elizabeth, with the Chancery question if I am not mistaken. I was the quiet one in the corner making notes:d

Chris

[ElizabethHerts]

Hi Chris, yes I asked the Chancery question.

What did you think of it?

I don't have much of a problem with Discovery but I know lots of people find it difficult.

[ElizabethHerts]

Two main methods of searching:

Simple search
Advanced search

(Please excuse me if I'm stating the obvious!)

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

[ElizabethHerts]

The Discovery catalogue is arranged by Government department - each record is allocated to a Government department.

Simple Search
Search by key word.

E.g. I can search for the word "Cocking".
You don't need the inverted commas, but I use them a lot.

You get a message: Records 21,736
along the blue bar.

You can now use the filters.
These can be seen down the left-hand side.

1. By who holds the record - the National Archives or some other repository.

If you want the National Archives holdings you click on that option and it reduces the number of hits.
You can choose just those that can be downloaded.

2. By date
One of my favourite ways of filtering the results is by date.
Tick the box you want - the division is by 100 years. e.g .1700 - 1799
Then press the blue "refine" button.

[ElizabethHerts]

3. You can filter by which government department holds the records.

These are some examples:
C - Chancery, the Wardrobe, Royal Household, Exchequer and various commissions (773)

PROB - Prerogative Court of Canterbury (347)

ADM - Admiralty, Navy, Royal Marines, and Coastguard (198)

E - Exchequer, Office of First Fruits and Tenths, and the Court of Augmentations (32)

HO - Home Office (28)

HCA - High Court of Admiralty and colonial Vice-Admiralty courts (20)
T - HM Treasury (17)

WO - War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies (17)

IR - Boards of Stamps, Taxes, Excise, Stamps and Taxes, and Inland Revenue (13)

SP - State Paper Office, including papers of the Secretaries of State up to 1782 (10)

TS - Treasury Solicitor and HM Procurator General's Department (10)

[ElizabethHerts]

Will continue later.

[Merry]

3. You can filter by which government department holds the records.

These are some examples:
C - Chancery, the Wardrobe, Royal Household, Exchequer and various commissions (773)

PROB - Prerogative Court of Canterbury (347)

ADM - Admiralty, Navy, Royal Marines, and Coastguard (198)

E - Exchequer, Office of First Fruits and Tenths, and the Court of Augmentations (32)

HO - Home Office (28)

HCA - High Court of Admiralty and colonial Vice-Admiralty courts (20)
T - HM Treasury (17)

WO - War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies (17)

IR - Boards of Stamps, Taxes, Excise, Stamps and Taxes, and Inland Revenue (13)

SP - State Paper Office, including papers of the Secretaries of State up to 1782 (10)

TS - Treasury Solicitor and HM Procurator General's Department (10)

No doubt I should know where they keep this list! I tend only to use the ones I can remember - it would be easier if I could find the list instantly.

[maggie_4_7]

Thank you Elizabeth :)

[ElizabethHerts]

More to follow, but it might be tomorrow!

[Chris in Sussex]

Elizabeth I always thought I was one of the few who actually liked Discovery as I play around with it a lot. I can't say I learnt anything particularly new but it at least confirmed I probably wasn't missing out on results using my search method.

Useful book describing the records and how they are organised....'Tracing Your Ancestors in the National Archives. The Website and Beyond' by Amanda Bevan.

Chris

[ElizabethHerts]

Chris, I didn't learn anything especially new either. Just different ways of doing what I already do.

One or two little things which I might try more frequently, such as sorting the results.

[ElizabethHerts]

Viewing
Pretty obvious -
click on the title

Viewing options

There are four possible viewing options:

2 digitized
- download now
- 3rd party link (e.g. for an Ancestry record)

2 non-digitized
- order copy
- view for free at the National Archives

[ElizabethHerts]

On Discovery home page -

note:

- where you type your search term
- the two check boxes beneath the search box which say "Held by the National Archives" and "Available to download from the National Archives"
- the black bar beneath this where you can select the "advanced search" and "browse" functions. These are highlighted in yellow.

[ElizabethHerts]

Arrangement of records

By government department

Then the records are arranged by series.

e.g.

HO 11

HO designates the Home Office

11 designates the series

HO 11 is the Convict Transportation Registers.

More on this later

[ElizabethHerts]

Advanced Search

There are two tabs at the top -
Records and Record Creators

I'm concentrating on Records.

- can use wildcards
*
Will* will give Williams, Willmott, William, etc.

Can use * in the middle of a word



I know most of us already know this!

[ElizabethHerts]

Advanced Search cont.

You have these options:

Find words
All of these words
Exact word or phrase
Any of these words Additional 'any' word Additional 'any' word

Don't find words
Any of these words Additional 'not' word Additional 'not' word

Search for or within references
Any of these references



These are usual search techniques.

I use the next one a lot:

scroll down to the blue "Date" box.

There is a "from" and "to" box and also check boxes divided mainly into centuries. Very useful if you are searching for an early ancestor.

Lastly there is a blue "Held by" box

Change selection to see more advanced search options
- Search all
- Search The National Archives
- Search other archives

[Phoenix]

Merry this is the browse screen:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse

Note that there are government departments for every letter save X and Y.

Browsing is not recommended unless you have a few months to kill.

[Phoenix]

Hmm *wonders why part of the Ordnance Survey is under ZOS not OS.*

[Merry]

Note that there are government departments for every letter save X and Y.


So, there isn't a short list of the most popular ones? :(

[Phoenix]

What's most popular, though? I mainly use STAC, E and C, but others might like WO, ADM, AIR.

Goodness knows what "real" users find most popular. I did once see a list of the top fifty and hadn't heard of, or felt the urge to use, most of them.

[Merry]

There are over 400 different categories. It would be helpful if they were put in some sort of groups.

[annswabey]

WO, AIR and ADM are the "most popular" for me although i do use lots more.

Don't know whether there's an actual list, but this page might be useful, although I've never had the need to use it

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-subject/default.htm

[maryphil]

Is it just me who doesn't like change, but I really found a2a useful. Discovery is O.K. and all these tips on using it will be very helpful.

[Chris in Sussex]

Webinar now available online

http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/webinar-using-discovery-national-archives-online-catalogue/

Chris