The Advanced Search can be used to search in three categories: People Search, Resources Search, and, Author Search. Boolean Operators can be used throughout to further refine a search.
People Search
This is the default Advanced Search page. It can also be accessed by the People Search link under the banner from any other Advanced Search page. People Search is used to find a person or a group of people based on a number of parameters, such as date of birth, date of death, occupations etc. The search options may be utilized individually or in conjunction with each other. The different options are described below.
Search for
Biographical subject - use this option to search for people who are the subjects of biographical articles; enter the family and/or given names of a person, in any order, without commas, to retrieve his or her article.
Full text - use this option to find words anywhere in the text of biographical articles, excluding the select bibliographies.
Enter one or more words and hit Enter on your keyboard, or, click the Go! button on your right.
- A search for terms, e.g. Durack swimming, will return biographies containing all the search terms i.e. Durack AND swimming.
- To be more specific try double quotes, e.g. "Lyceum theatre", will return biographies containing the words Lyceum Theatre together in that order.
- To broaden the search try using OR, e.g. Henry OR Harry, will return those biographies containing either word.
- An asterisk stands for one or more characters, e.g. r*y will find Roy, Ruby, Ramsay, Rosemary etc.
- A question mark stands for a single character, e.g. r?y will find Ray and Roy
Gender
The Gender option limits the search for people based on gender. All is the default. To limit your search select Female or Male then hit Enter on your keyboard, or click the Go! button next on the right of the page.
Alive/Born/Died On or Between
Use these fields and restrict your search to people who were alive, born and/or died on a specific date, or in a given date range. There are a variety of ways of entering dates in the 'Alive/Born/Died On or Between' fields, which include:
- day and month e.g. a search for people 'Born...' 22 April will return those born on that day in any year;
- month and year e.g a search for people who 'Died...' March 1946 will return those who died anywhere from 1 March to 31 March 1946;
- month e.g. a search for those 'Born...' in June will return people born 1 to 31 June in any year;
- year e.g. a search for those 'Alive...' in 1888 will return people alive from 1 January to 31st December 1888.
All of the following date formats are recognised and will retrieve the same results. The month is emphasized in bold:
- 22 March 1890
- 22 Mar 1890
- 22 3 1890
- 22 03 1890
- 22-3-1890
- 22/3/1890
For dates NOT using the Mar or March month format, and where the day is any number from 1-12, it is necessary to enter the month first. For example, if you were searching for people/alive/born/died on 6 March 1890, enter:
- 3 6 1890
- 03 06 1890
- 3-6-1890
- 3/6/1890
Combinations of these can be used for date ranges using the separators to , and , - (NOTE: a space must be included before and after the separator; this is particularly important when using the hyphen to separate dates). For example,
- a search for people 'Born On or Between' April 1906 to 1907 (or April 1906 - 1907) will return people born any time from 1 April 1906 to 31 December 1907;
- a search for people 'Alive On or Between' 1955 and 1956 will return those who were alive any time from 1 January 1955 to 31 December 1956.
All of the following date range separators are recognised and will retrieve the same results:
- 1890 to 1899
- 1890 and 1899
- 1890 - 1899
To begin searching type in a date or dates and hit Enter on your keyboard, or click the Go! button on the right of the page.
Place of Birth and Place of Death
Use these fields to find people who were born or who died at a particular place. Enter a town, suburb, city, region and/or country, or combinations of these. For example,
- A search for people whose 'Place of Birth' is Perth will return people born in Perth, Australia and Perth, Scotland and Perth, Canada.
- To limit your search to those born in Perth in Australia, and exclude those born in Perth, Scotland and Perth, Canada, enter the search terms Perth, Australia in 'Place of Birth'.
- A search on Wales in 'Place of Birth' will return people born in Wales and New South Wales, Australia. This is because the search term Wales appears in both.
If the person was born or died when the place had an earlier name, enter either its historical or present-day name. For example,
- a search for people who died in Bendigo, will return those who died in Sandhurst (now Bendigo), and Bendigo. However,
- a search for people who died in Sandhurst, will return only those who died when the town was called Sandhurst, and will exclude those born in Bendigo.
To activate your search click the Go! button on the right of the page.
Cultural Heritage
A 'cultural heritage' has been assigned to a biography subject in one or more of the following circumstances: the person had a parent or parents born outside Australia; he or she spent his or her formative years outside Australia; he or she identified with a particular culture in addition to, or other than, that of Australian.
'African' has been used for persons whose specific cultural heritage is unknown but who had forebears from Africa.
To search, click on the appropriate 'cultural heritage' in the scroll down list. Hold down the Ctrl or Apple key to select multiple items from the cultural heritage list. Then click the Go! button on the right of the page (Note: It is not possible to use Enter on your keyboard when searching on Cultural Heritage).
Activate the AND radio button located underneath the list to find people with more than one cultural heritage. For example (see above illustration), select Afghan AND Austrian to find those people with both American heritage and Belgian heritage.
Activate the OR radio button located underneath the list to find people with any number of cultural heritages. For example, select Afghan OR Austrian to find those people with either American or Belgian heritage.
Note that a search on African will return people with both African and South African heritage. This is because the search term African appears in both.
Religious Influence
A 'religious influence' has been assigned to a biography subject if the text of the article reveals that he or she adhered to that religion. Where the text does not disclose a religion, attendance at a church school and the denomination of funeral rites have been taken as indicators of 'religious influence'.
To search, click on the appropriate 'religious influence' in the scroll down list. Hold down the Ctrl or Apple key to select multiple items from the list of religious influences. Then click the Go! button on the right of the page (Note: It is not possible to use Enter on your keyboard when searching on Religious influence).
Activate the AND radio button located underneath the list to find people with more than one religious influence. For example, select Catholic AND Lutheran to find those people influenced by both the Catholic and Lutheran religions.
Activate the OR radio button located underneath the list to find people with any number of religious influences. For example, select Catholic OR Lutheran to find those people influenced by either the Catholic or Lutheran religion.
Note that a search on Catholic will return people influenced by the Catholic faith, and those influenced by the Catholic Apostolic denomination. This is because the search term Catholic appears in both.
Occupation
'Occupation' defines the occupations or spheres of activity of a person. Major occupations are included. Minor occupations, of little historical significance or importance to the life of the subject, are excluded. The occupations of immigrants before they came to Australia are excluded. The occupations of foreign visitors are included in Australia only. The occupations of expatriate Australians are included.
The Occupation list (seen below) is in three tiers with the broadest headings in Column 1. Columns 2 and 3 sub-categorise the occupations for a more specific search. To view the occupations list in its entirety click on the 'View a pdf version of the occupations' link.
Move from broader to narrower terms in the occupations lists by clicking on a term. Click on a heading in Column 1 to view the occupations listed in Column 2. Likewise, click on a sub-heading in Column 2 to view the occupations listed in Column 3.
It is possible to search on headings and occupations from any level/column. To add a term to the query from any level, either double click on the desired occupation, or, highlight the term and click 'Add Term'. For example (see above), to add the term "peanut farmers" to your search, highlight Agricultural, Pastoral and Fishery in Column 1, then farming from Column 2, and finally peanut farmer in Column 3, and click 'Add Term'. The occupation now appears in the search field beneath the list.
More than one term can be added. To add another occupation repeat the process outlined in 2. (Note: the two terms will be separated by the word AND).
To remove a term from the occupation search field, use the delete or back space buttons on your keyboard, or, highlight the term and click 'Remove Term'.
To narrow the search further, use the 'Occupation Years' and 'Place of Occupation' fields.
To activate your search once all the required terms have been added, scroll to the bottom or top right hand corner of the screen and click Go! (Note: It is not possible to use Enter on your keyboard for Occupation searching).
Occupation Years
To search for dates in 'Occupation Years' enter the year, or a range of years using the separators to , and , - (NOTE: a space must be included before and after the separator; this is particularly important when using the hyphen to separate years). For example,
- a search for 'ballroom dancer' in 1946 will return people who were ballroom dancers any day in the year 1946, in other words, any time from 1 January 1946 to 31 December 1946.
- a search for 'woodchopper' in 1890 to 1910 (or 1890 - 1910) will return people who were woodchoppers any day in the years 1890 to 1910, that is, any time from 1 January 1890 to 31 December 1910.
To begin searching type in a year or range of years and hit Enter on your keyboard, or scroll to the bottom or top right hand corner of the screen and click Go!.
Place of Occupation
Occupations have been recorded for each State or Territory of Australia, the former and present external Territories of Australia, Federal and Overseas. Generally, Place of Occupation means that the individual was physically located in the region shown. One exception is the case of a person performing a State function overseas e.g. the Victorian agent-general in London would have Victoria as Place. Another exception is the case of persons performing Commonwealth functions e.g. Commonwealth politicians, public servants and military personnel have Federal recorded as their place of occupation, wherever in the world they are serving at the time. Overseas is reserved for expatriate Australian working abroad, e.g. Australian artists working in Britain, Europe or North America all have Overseas recorded as their place of occupation.
To simplify searching, only the present-day names are listed for place of occupation in the Advanced Search form e.g. Tasmania instead of Van Diemen's Land. Selecting Tasmania, and no period of Occupation, will return people with occupations in both Tasmania and Van Diemen's Land. Selecting Tasmania and an occupation date before 1854 will return people with occupations in Van Diemen's Land as it was then known. (See also tips on the use of AND/OR radio buttons).
Here is a list of the places of Occupation on the Advanced Search form and their descriptions. The present-day names are listed and their historical names are given where appropriate:
- Australian States and Territories
- All Australian States and Territories, as listed below (and excluding external territories):
- Australian Capital Territory
- The former part of New South Wales that became the Federal Capital Territory (1909-1938), and the present Australian Capital Territory in 1938.
- New South Wales
- The region of the present State of New South Wales from 1788 to the present.
- Queensland
- The former part of New South Wales that became the present State of Queensland in 1859.
- Northern Territory
- The former part of New South Wales (east of longitude 135°E only until 1825) in the period 1788-1863, then part of South Australia in 1863-1911, then divided into North Australia and Central Australia in 1926-1931, that became the present Northern Territory in 1931.
- South Australia
- The region of the present State of South Australia from 1788 to the present (including the sections that were part of New South Wales until 1861).
- Tasmania
- The former part of New South Wales, called Van Diemen's Land, that became a separate colony in 1825 and the present State of Tasmania in 1855.
- Victoria
- The former part of New South Wales, called the Port Philip District, that became the present State of Victoria in 1851.
- Western Australia
- The region of the present State of Western Australia from 1829 to the present.
- Federal
- The term "Federal" is used for occupations connected to the Commonwealth of Australia as a whole rather than to a State or Territory e.g. Commonwealth politicians and Commonwealth employees such as public servants and military personnel. People with occupations categorised as "Federal" are not recorded as serving in any particular location, whether in Australia or overseas.
- External Territories and Regions
- The Antarctic continent before 1936, the present Australian Antarctic Territory and territories formerly and currently administered by Australia, as listed below:
- Antarctica
- The Antarctic continent. The islands and mainland (except Adelie Land) south of the 60th parallel of latitude and lying between longitude 45° East and longitude 160° East were claimed as the Australian Antarctic Territory in 1936.
- Nauru
- The island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Australia in the period 1921-1968.
- Norfolk Island
- The island in the Pacific Ocean administered by New South Wales in the periods 1788-1844 and 1856-1914, by Tasmania in the period 1844-1856, and by the Commonwealth of Australia from 1914 to the present.
- Papua New Guinea
- The former Australian territories of Papua (1906-1946), the Mandated Territory of New Guinea (1921-1942), New Guinea (1942-1946), Territory of Papua-New Guinea (1946-1949), Territory of Papua and New Guinea (1949-1971), and Papua New Guinea (1971-1975) that became the independent country of Papua New Guinea in 1975.
- Overseas
- This is reserved for expatriate Australians carrying out occupations overseas, but does not include public servants or military personnel serving abroad (see Federal).
Printed Volume
All of the Advanced Search functions can be limited to a particular volume of the original printed version of the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Use the drop down menu to select a volume number, then hit Go! at either the top or bottom of the page.
Resources Search
Use this to search for published and archival resources connected to the subject of an ADB biography. Many of the Resources have been gleaned from the Select Bibliography of the article page. Separate searches are available for archival and published resources.
Published Resources Search
Search for articles, books, periodicals and government publications by Author, Title and or Year of publication. The search results include a "details" link with a publication if there are other biographies connected to it.
Author/Title Search
All - This is the default setting when searching for titles and authors. Like the Boolean operator AND, 'All' is used to find multiple search terms within a record. For example,
- entering mawson antarctica in the Title field will retrieve publications which contain both Mawson and Antarctica in the title if All is selected.
- entering E. H. Shackleton in the Author field will retrieve publications authored by E. H. Shackleton if All is selected. (NOTE: entering Shackleton, E. H. will retrieve the same results)
- entering Shackleton Bean in the Author field will retrieve publications co-authored by Bean and Shackleton if All is selected.
Any - 'Any' operates like the Boolean operator OR. For example,
- a title search for terms mawson antarctica (as seen above) will retrieve archives/publications which contain either Mawson or Antarctica in the title if Any is selected.
- an author search for E. H. Shackleton will retrieve publications where E. or H. or Shackleton appear in the authors name if Any is selected. (NOTE: entering Shackleton, E. H. will retrieve the same results)
- entering Shackleton Bean in the Author field will retrieve publications authored by Bean or Shackleton or both if Any is selected.
Year/s of Publication Search
This searches the date of publication and can be used to refine your author/title search, or as a stand alone search. Enter years (e.g. 1976) in these fields and to find material published in a particular year or range of years. It is not necessary to fill in both date fields. For example,
- entering 1976 in the first year field (as seen above) will return material published any day in the year 1976.
- entering 1976 in the first year field and 1977 in the second year field will retrieve material published anywhere from 1 January 1976 to 31 December 1977.
Result Display Options
This gives you the option to organise your search results. For example, if you would like no more than ten results to appear on one page, select the '10 per page' radio button. NOTE: the default is set at 25 per page.
You can also order your search results alphabetically according to the Author's surname (select the Author radio button as seen above), or, alphabetically by the Title (select the Title radio button), or, in chronological order by year of publication (select the Year radio button). NOTE: The default is set at Author.
To activate your search, type in one or more search terms and hit Enter on your keyboard, or, click the Go! button. Click on Reset to empty the fields.
Archival Resources Search
Search for archives held in major archival institutions by keyword, years, repository name and or Reference number. The search results include a "details" link with an archival item where there are other biographies connected to it.
Author Search
This searches authors of ADB Biographies. Hundreds of authors have contributed to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, and many of these have written multiple biographies.
To search for a specific author and the list of ADB biographical articles he or she wrote, enter the author's name in the search field of the Author Search form. When using multiple search terms, select 'All' or 'Any' in the adjacent box to limit the search. Next, hit 'Submit Query' to view the results of your search. NOTE: The author's name can be entered in any format e.g. Jones; Jones, Helen; or, Helen Jones.
