Rare Books and Manuscripts Department

The research catalog is an excellent option when trying to find manuscripts without knowing the exact details of what you are looking for. For example, if you plan to use keyword searches to locate relevant materials, the research catalog is ideal.

• A simple keyword search can give you a general idea of the manuscripts you might be interested in
• An advanced search is a more targeted way to find specific manuscript material in the research catalog

Keyword searching

A keyword search will look for manuscript catalog records that contain a specified word or group of words. If you want to search by keyword, it is a good idea to include the word "manuscripts" so that you will narrow down the number of relevant results.

For example, if you want to get a quick idea about the number of manuscripts in the BPL online catalog relating to Newburyport, Massachusetts, you might enter the words "Newburyport" and "manuscripts," as in the image above.

Keyword searches will return a lot of results, often including records for materials you will not be interested in. You can click on each title in the list for the full details. The search pictured in the image above returned all records where the words "Newburyport" and "manuscripts" both appear (click the image to view the search results).

The blue arrows above show some of the many areas where you can make adjustments for easier browsing. You can:

• Filter by material type by selecting the options on the left side of the screen
• Set the number of results to display on each page
• Sort your results by relevance, date, title, author, and other criteria, with the pull-down menu on the right

Advanced search

Advanced search allows you to be very specific about what you are looking for, because it provides several options for narrowing your results.

When performing an advanced search for manuscripts, it is always a good idea to set the first search option to genre: manuscripts. This will assure that your search results will be for manuscripts only. With genre set to manuscripts, use any of the additional options to search for keywords, author names, titles, etc. 

Advanced search using two options: genre and keywords

To perform an advanced search for all manuscripts related to Newburyport, Massachusetts, search for genre: manuscripts and any field: Newburyport (in the research catalog, "any field" means the same thing as a "keyword").

Note that 87 results are returned with this advanced search, as opposed to 99 results for the simple keyword search at the top of this page.

Advanced search using three options: genre, keywords, and author

To perform an advanced search for all manuscripts related to Newburyport, Massachusetts, by authors named "Gould," search for genre: manuscripts AND any field: Newburyport, AND author: Gould. The results, shown above, have now been greatly narrowed down to just five records.

The catalog is easy to find - it's the search bar that runs across the top of the library's website, bpl.org. Every page on bpl.org has the catalog on the top of the page, so you can find it no matter where you are on library website.

For detailed instructions on using the catalog, consult the research guide Using the library catalog.

The interface and some of the functions are different in the catalog. In particular, descriptive notes within catalog records -- in other words, descriptions that are neither part of the title, nor publication info -- do not display by default and are not readily retrievable through searches. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you use the research catalog.

The manuscript geographic file contains approximately 50,000 catalog cards, filed alphabetically by place of creation.

In the geographic file, most manuscripts are filed by continent, then country, then state/province, then city. Additionally:

• Manuscripts created aboard seagoing vessels are filed under "A" for "at sea"
• Manuscripts created in Ireland or in the U.K. are filed chronologically under Europe-->British Isles-->country-->city
• Manuscripts created in the West Indies are filed chronologically under North America-->West Indies-->country-->city

Click on the links below to browse the cards online.

The default view for all digitized catalog cards is in the form of a book reader. With the scroll bar, you can navigate quickly through the whole drawer, or you can click from one card to the next using the "left" and "right" arrows. Limited keyword searching across the entire main entry file is available through the Internet Archive collections page. See the Keyword search tab above for detailed instructions.

The manuscript chronological file contains approximately 50,000 catalog cards, filed alphabetically by place.

Click on the links below to browse.

The default view for all digitized catalog cards is in the form of a book reader. With the scroll bar, you can navigate quickly through the whole drawer, or you can click from one card to the next using the "left" and "right" arrows. Limited keyword searching across the entire main entry file is available through the Internet Archive collections page. See the Keyword search tab above for detailed instructions.

Card catalog searching guide

1. Do you know the author's name, or the name of a person who is associated with the item, like the recipient of a letter or the subject of a biography?

• Yes. Go to the digitized card catalog (above) and search by name. If the work is anonymous, search under the title.

• No. If you do not know the name of an author or creator, go to step 2.

2. Do you know the place where the item was created?

• Yes. Go to the geographic file (above) and search by place.

• No. If you do not know the place of creation, go to step 3.

3. Do you know the date when the item was created?

• Yes. Go to the chronological file (above) and search by date.

• No. If you do not know when the item was created, go to step 4.

4. Is the item you’re looking for related to a particular subject, like mathematics or astronomy; or is it a particular kind of book or manuscript, like a diary or a Bible?

• Yes. Search the digitized card catalog (above) by the subject or type of material. Certain special subjects and types of books and manuscripts have their own sections.

• No. If you can't find your item by subject, go to step 5.

5. Can you think of ay keywords associated with the item?

• Yes. Go to the keyword search tab, above.

• No. Contact the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department. Just because something does not appear in our card catalogs, or elsewhere on our website, doesn’t mean we don’t have what you’re looking for!

Reading Catalog Cards

The information found in catalog cards is typically structured in order to be consistent from one card to the next. Information is also formulated to adhere to cataloging standards. So, for example, names are typically recorded last-name-first, certain abbreviations are used regularly, and the extent of an item (how many pages it contains) is recorded in a very particular way. Understanding where these pieces of info typically appear and what they usually look like will make it easier to use the card catalog. See the explanations below.

1. Author name. Allen, Joseph, Bp. of Ely, d. 1845

This is the name of the person primarily responsibly for the creation of the item. In this case, we are looking at a description of a letter written by Joseph Allen, Bishop of Ely (1770-1845).

2. Other associated name. To A[nthony] Panizzi

Anthony Panizzi was the recipient of this letter. Brackets typically enclose words or letters not found in the original manuscript. So in this case, we can assume that the name of the recipient appears in the letter as "A. Panizzi."

3. Date of creation. 1847 May 17

This is the date on which the item was created. The date typically appears in the upper-left portion of the card. If no date is known, cards are sometimes marked "n.d." (for no date). If date and month, but not year, are known, cards are sometimes marked "n.y." (for no year)

4. Place. [Dover St. London]

This is the place where the item was created. Usually this information is taken directly from the item. If it is not found on the item, but has been added to the description by the cataloger, it will usually be enclosed in brackets, as with this example.

5. Summary. Would be glad to purchase the brass bishop for the Cathedral . . .

This is a brief summary of the content of the item. These summaries are sometimes very lengthy, containing direct quotes. At other times, they can be very brief. Often they are omitted entirely.

6. Call number. G.51.7.1 no. 15.

A call number is a unique ID given to every item in the collection. A call number tells librarians where the item is stored. If you end up requesting to see a particular item, remember to always include the call number in your request. If you're not sure where the call number begins or ends, it's always better to include more info than less.

7. Extent and size. 2 pp. 4 1/2 x 7 1/2 cm.

In this area, the extent of an item (how many pages it's made up of) and the full size of the item is recorded. In this particular note, "pp." stands for pages -- the letter is two pages long and it measures 4.5 x 7.5 cm.

BPL's digitized card catalogs are hosted online by Internet Archive. Each card catalog has been digitized along with the geographic and chronological files that go along with it. Limited keyword searching within the card catalogs and their accompanying files is available through the Internet Archive collection page for each:

• Search the main entry catalog
• Search the geographic file
• Search the chronological file

For best results, and to fully understand the significant limitations of keyword searching, please read the guide below.

Guide to keyword searching

To perform a limited keyword search of all cards in any specific catalog, first go to the Internet Archive collection page for the catalog you want to search.

Each collection page will have a search box on the left side of the screen. There are two buttons underneath the search box. Select the "text contents" button, type your query into the search box, then hit "enter." Files that contain matching results will appear. Click on each file to browse any cards that matched your search.

Once you have clicked on the file, you will see one or more blue marks along the scroll bar in the book reader. These marks show the locations of cards that contain text matching your search. You can scroll to the matches, or navigate directly to them using the arrow buttons above the scroll bar.

Limitations of searching

Search results should never be considered complete. The search engine relies on text files that have been automatically generated from digitized images of the cards themselves. The process of generating machine-readable text from images is called optical character recognition (OCR). OCR is far from perfect. Blurry or poorly printed cards, handwritten notes close to text, and even different typefaces can all render text generated via OCR extremely unreliable.

Above, a standard catalog card, with small, slightly blurred text. Below, the searchable text file generated from this image is partially garbled.