Collections Online — Help/About

About Collections Online

Collections Online is the best place to start searching for:

Photographs
3-D and archaeological objects
Artwork
Oral histories
Maps
KSTP moving image clips
Some World War I records (Bonus, Service Questionnaire, Photographs of Soldiers)

Our other search systems can help you find other types of items:

Library and Archives Catalog: Books, manuscript collections, State Archives collections, pamphlets, periodicals, maps, newspapers by title, and much more.
Minnesota People Records Search: Birth, death, MN state census, Veterans Graves Registration, and World War I Gold Star Rolls
Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub: Full-text search of newspapers

Basic Search Tips

Keep it simple! Start with one or two search terms, then add filters to focus your search.]
See your entire search history or go back to a previous search using the “View Search History” link above the search box.
Think creatively about search terms.
- For items related to horse-drawn carriages, you might try separate searches for carriage, coach, and buggy.
To search for an exact phrase in an exact order, use quotation marks
- Examples include "Civil War," "State Fair," and "Minnesota River"
Use Booleans (AND, OR, NOT) in all capital letters between search terms to build a more specific search
Use * as a wildcard to help with alternate spellings or uses of a word.
- Lift* searches for lift, but also lifting, lifted, lifts, lifter, etc.
- Johns*on searches for Johnson, Johnsen, Johnston, etc.
Want fewer results? Use filters!
- Select filters to specify a type of record, names, subject, date range and/or year, then click the yellow “Update Search” button.
- To see only items that have images online, click the “Has Digital Content” box at the top of the filters.
- If you know an item’s exact or partial identifier number, try using the Record Identifier search box in the filters list.
- Filters are "sticky". To start a completely fresh search click the "Start Over" button

More Advanced Search Tips

Search terms:

Start with one or two search terms, then use filters to focus your search.
- Using more search terms will broaden your search, not narrow it.
- Using a search term first will make the available filters more accurate and easier to use.
If you know an item’s exact or partial identifier number, try using the Record Identifier search box in the filters list.
Think creatively about search terms
- For items related to horse-drawn carriages, you might try separate searches for carriage, coach, and buggy.
To search for an exact phrase in an exact order, use quotation marks
- "Civil War" "Minnesota River" or "State Fair"
Use * as a wildcard to help with alternate spellings or uses of a word.
- Lift* searches for lift, but also lifting, lifted, lifts, lifter, etc.
- Johns*on searches for Johnson, Johnsen, Johnston, etc.
Punctuation can make a difference
- Ramseys (plural) will give different results than Ramsey’s (possessive)
Diacritical marks (pronunciation marks) that are part of a particular letter should not impact your search
- Husker Du will give the same results as Hüsker Dü
Searches are not case sensitive
- Duluth will give the same result as duluth
The standard search is default set to be a broad OR search, so you don’t have to use this term in your search
- Farm field as your search term actually searches for farm OR field and you will get all records that contain the word farm OR the word field (or both!)
To make your search a more narrow AND search, use AND (in all capital letters) between terms.
- farm AND field will give you all the records that have both terms.
To exclude a word from your search results, use NOT (in all capital letters)
- Hennepin NOT Minneapolis
Abbreviations may give different results than full words
- Ave vs. Avenue, St vs. Street vs. Saint

Filters:

Select filters to specify a type of record, names, subject, date range and/or year, then click the yellow “Update Search” button.
To see only items that have images online, click the “Has Digital Content” box at the top of the left-hand column.
The filters for year, names, and subjects can include or exclude something.
- To see all the results that are from 1919, filter with the +.
- To see all the results that are NOT from 1919, filter using the –.
Click “Show More” in any filter box to see more options for filters.
Within a filter box, you can select Any or All.
- Any will find item records that include any of the filters you selected. This is an OR search and provides broader results. Using Any on a filter list of the years 1915, 1932, and 1965 will return the results that include one or more of those years.
- All will find the item records that include all of the filters you selected. This is an AND search and provides narrower results. Using All on a filter list of the years 1915, 1932, and 1965 will only return any results that include all 3 of those years on the same item record.
Filters are “sticky” and can apply to more than one search, just put a new term to search box.
You can remove a filter by clicking the X next to the filter under the search box
To start a completely fresh search click the "Start Over" button

Navigation:

Your browser’s Back and Forward buttons may not work as expected.
- Using the system’s onscreen links may give you a better experience.
- To get to a previous search’s results, click on View Search History (top right corner of the search page, above the search box).

Need more help?

Contact Library staff with any questions or to get assistance with your searches. They can provide help in person, on the phone, or by email.

Have feedback or comments on the new system?

Please fill in the Collections Online Feedback Form.

Collections Online