Help

Using Help
Searching PICMAN
Select your search area
Navigating
Keywords, Phrase or Browse searching
Basic search
Creator/Author/Artist search
Subject search
Advanced search

Exhibition search
Refining your search
Sorting your results
Finding a word in a record

Call number search
Digital order no. and Frame no. search
Language search

Select one of the Help topics listed above or scroll down the page.

Use the green arrow on the right of the screen to return to the list of Help topics.

Remember that PICMAN only contains records for pictorial and manuscript material held by the Mitchell and Dixson Libraries, and the Dixson Galleries, which have been Catalogued since 1992. For complete coverage of the Library's collections you will also need to consult the card catalogues in the Reading Room, at the Mitchell Library. PICMAN only covers about 10% of the Library's collections.

To start your search, type your search word(s) in the space provided and click on the Start search button or press the Enter key.

To enter search terms in another box, click inside the box using the mouse.

PICMAN offers many ways of refining your searches.

Each search screen includes a drop down menu which allows you to choose the area of the database you wish to search. By clicking on the arrow at the left of the Select your search area box you can view the drop down menu. PICMAN will search the Entire PICMAN database unless you limit the search to a specific area.

You can choose to Exclude digitised photographic collections from your search, or to limit your search to Pictures records only, Manuscripts records only or Oral history records only.

The results of your search will be listed with 15 records per page. You can then select Next page or Previous page to move through all your results. An Advanced search allows you to select more than 15 records per page.

For more information about a particular record, select by clicking on the blue hypertext title. The full record display will include allocated subject headings and topics. If there are other items in this catalogue with the same subject or topic, these headings will also be in blue hypertext. You can click on the heading to navigate to other items about the same subject or topic.

In some cases a collection record will include attached records describing individual items or record series. Click on the red hypertext to see the attached records. You can also navigate from individual items in collections back to the main collection record, the results screen, the search screen, or the help screen.

In a Basic search you can select either keywords or phrase searching. In a Creator/Author/Artist search and Subject search you can select keywords, phrase or browse searching.

Keywords searching will locate records including your search terms, separately and together, so that a search for Patrick White will locate all the records which include the words Patrick and White.

Phrase searching will locate all the records using the group of words together. A search for Patrick White will locate all records including the words Patrick and White together but eliminate records including the words Patrick and White separately.

Browse searching will locate a list of records or subject headings beginning with your word(s).

To Browse search for a creator/author/artist you need to use the surname first. A search on the word White will locate a set of creator/author/artist records whose surname is White. A search on the words, White, Patrick will locate only records concerning Patrick White.

A Browse search of subject headings will locate only records beginning with your word(s). You can click on each of these subject headings to see the records catalogued with that subject heading. For a list of subjects headings, including, but not beginning with, your word, use a Keywords search.

Select Basic to search for word(s) anywhere in the Author/Artist/Creator, Subject, Title, Name or Notes fields.

Typing a word or phrase in a Basic search returns all records in which that word or phrase appears. If you type in Patrick White, PICMAN will display records in which those two words appear together as well as completely separately, in different fields which are irrelevant to your query.

A Basic search will often give you a big return. This can be refined by selecting Refine set at the top of your brief display screen. You can also limit your search by using the Select a search preference box.

You can use Keywords or Phrase searching in a Basic search.

Select Creator to search by the name of the creator of the collection, or by the name of an author or artist who is represented in the collection.

A Creator search allows you search for an artist, photographer, writer, or creator of a collection. This limits a search to people or organisations who are the creators of collections or items on PICMAN. Creators can include writers, companies, organisations, artists and photographers. You can select to search only Author/Artist. This field is mainly used in manuscript collections to describe people or organisations who have contributed to a particular collection, but are not its principal creator, that is, a person who writes a letter to the principal creator.

You can use Keywords, Phrase or Browse in a Creator search.

Select Subject to search the subject headings allocated to each item or collection. Subject will search the Topic, Name, Place and Subject fields.

To limit your search you can use the drop-down box to select only Topic, or Place, or Name of a person or organisation, or Library of Congress subject headings.

You can use Keywords, Phrase or Browse in a Subject search.

Select Advanced to create a complex search by setting a number of different parameters.

In an Advanced search you can set a variety of search parameters including:

1. combine Subject, Creator, Place or any combinations offered through the three drop-down boxes
2. you can set limits for the Date range of your search
3. you can make a Format search on fields such as drawings, manuscripts, ephemera or design drawings by making a selection in the drop down box
4. you can choose to limit your search to a geographical area, through an Area search (this feature is limited to NSW)
5. you can search for individual frame numbers of digital photographs from a Subject drop-down box

An Advanced search allows you to search any combination of the following types of searches. Use the arrow on the right of the text box to select from the drop down menu showing the available options.

Using the Select your search area box you can view the drop down menu. PICMAN will search the Entire PICMAN database unless you limit the search to a specific area. You can choose to Exclude digitised photographic collections from your search, or to limit your search to Pictures records only, Manuscripts records only or Oral history records only.

You can also choose to limit your search to a Digitised collection. The drop down box allows you to limit your search to specific digitised photographic and manuscript collections.

By using the one or any combination of the three search details boxes you can create a complex and specific search request using Keywords, Phrase or Browse searching in each box. Using the drop down menus you can choose to search Anywhere, which will search across all the fields. To limit the search you can choose one of the fields including Title, Name, Place, Subject, Creator/Author/Artist, Exhibition title, Publisher, Contents, Notes, Frame order no., or Digital order no. You can be more specific in your search by using all three boxes to search separate fields.

Using the Date of work box you can limit your search to one year or to a range of years, e.g. 1850; <1860; >1900; 1939–1945.

Use the Format box to limit your search to a specific format.

Use the Other languages box to locate records which include foreign language material.

The Persons box includes the options of searching Any, Boys, Children, Adult females, Girls, Babies, Adult males. This field is used mainly to index pictorial material.

The Area box gives you a choice of a specific list of geographic areas in New South Wales.

Records per page gives you the option of increasing from 15 the number of records on your results page.

Sort by allows you to choose the method of sorting search results.

Select an Exhibition search for details of Library material which has been included in exhibitions held by the Library or by other institutions. You can search by either the name of the exhibition or by using a date range. This search will give you information only on those items which have been catalogued on PICMAN.

When you have the results from your search, you can select Refine to narrow your search using any of the fields available in an Advanced search.

You can select AND to include terms, or NOT to exclude terms from your search.

When you have the results from your search, you can select Sort set to arrange the results in date order, reverse date order or alphabetically by author. You can only sort your results if there are less than 500 hits.

If you cannot find your search term within a long record, you can locate it by pressing 'Ctrl' + 'F' in both Netscape and Internet Explorer. This brings up a 'Find' option. Type in your term and press enter.

If you want to search for an item by its call number go to an Advanced search and click on any of the three drop-down boxes and highlight Call no..

To find a digital image which only has a Frame order no. or Digital order no. reference go to an Advanced search from the introductory search screen. Click on any of the three drop-down boxes and highlight Frame order no. or Digital order no. Type in the number and then click on Start search. This will generally bring up six images and their thumbnails — the appropriate image can be selected from there.

PICMAN assumes that the language of the majority of records is English. If however, you wanted to look at any PICMAN records in a language such as French, go to an Advanced search at the introductory search screen. Look for the Other languages drop-down box and click on it. This brings up a list of languages — highlight in this instance French — and then click on Start search. This search will bring up all records which have been tagged by indexers as having French language material in them.