Catalog Description

The Utah State Archives catalog includes a wide variety of Utah government records, both records in our custody and those still in the custody of the creating agency or which are eventually destroyed. Knowing whether certain records are kept permanently or are destroyed at some point will tell you what may be available and can help focus a research project. Access to many permanent records is provided through the Utah History Research Center. Most agencies provide access to records in their custody. The catalog may be searched through a simple search or an advanced search.

Simple Search Screen

This is the first screen you get when you enter the catalog. Searches can be done as with library catalogs; that is, by author (agency in our case), title, or subject. The full text option searches by all of these as well as by data anywhere in the catalog record.

Some tips for limiting your search:

Pick the field you want to search: agency, title, subject or leave the default on full text.
Decide whether you want to see an abbreviated description of each or just a list of series titles in your initial results. For a simple list, remove the check from the "Show series descriptions box."

Enter a term directly in the search box and click on the "Search" button. If you already know a specific series number, you can enter it in the series number box and click on the "Search" button to go directly to the record.

Advanced Search Screen

Select the advance search screen to combine searching on two or more fields (agency, subject, title, subject, keyword) simultaneously. This can often make searches more precise.
- Example: Type "District Court" in the Agency box. Type "minutes" in the subject box. Click on "Search chosen terms." This example returns all series created by a district court that are also minutes.
You can pick a specific agency, subject, or title from the "list" box to the right of the text box, or you can simply type in text for a broader search.
- Example: If you want all records created by Kane County agencies, you can go into the agency list and pick each individual Kane County agency and do a separate search, or you can simply enter "Kane County" in the agency box, hit "search chosen terms," and retrieve records from all Kane County agencies.
- To go directly to a certain point in the list instead of paging through from beginning to end, enter a term close to what you want to find in the box and then press the associated list button. For example, to get to Kane County agencies, type "Kane" and then hit the "List Agencies" button to get to agency names that start with Kane.
Wildcard search: The wildcard symbol "*" can be used to truncate a word to pick up variations. For example, Milit* selects records containing the words "military" and "militia."
Search Results and Moving Around: After typing your terms into one or more boxes, press "Search chosen terms" to go directly to your search results. You will get a list of series of the series you retrieved plus the first paragraph of the description if you chose that option. Pick the link to the left of the series number to see the full record. If you have a large number of hits, go to the bottom of the screen and page down through all the hits or use "You may further limit search" to narrow your original search.
Tips for Searching Specific Lists. The three authority files (agency, subject, title) work similarly, but there are individual differences.
- Agencies
  - This authority list uses full cataloged names: "Utah. Dept. of Health" as opposed to simply "Health Department."
  - Old names of an agency are entered separately: "Utah Secretary of State" has series listed under it as does the current name of the agency "Utah Lieutenant Governor."
  - The period character (".") and some common words do not bring up search results. Search "Utah Secretary of State", not "Utah. Secretary of State."
  - Agency number: If you know an agency number, use this syntax to retrieve it: #A[the number]# . For example, typing #A70# and using the "search chosen terms" button retrieves all the series of the Auditor's office, agency 70.
- Series Titles
  - Search for dates: Dates are part of series titles so you can use them in your search. Typing 1896- in the series title box and then using the "search chosen terms" button retrieves all open series starting in 1896. Typing 1896-1921 just retrieves series with that specific date span. Typing 1896-1921 will not, however, retrieve anything within that span; for example it will not retrieve records dated 1896-1917.
- Subjects
  - Authority lists for subjects use full Library of Congress subject terms: "Taxation-Utah-Carbon County" for example. You can pick this term from the authority list or enter "Taxation" and "Carbon" in the search box to get the same series. "Carbon and County" is the same search as "Carbon County."
  - Since all series are not yet cataloged, only those that are will have chosen subject terms.
  - Specialized searching terms are included in the Subject search. Genre/Form describes types of records or how information in records is presented. Types include photographs, maps, etc.

Navigating the Search Results

All search results will be shown alphabetically by agency name, thereunder by record series title. Follow the link on the title to view the full catalog entry. If you checked the "Limit Search to Show Series Description" box on your initial search (the default), the first paragraph of each series will display below the title. This selection will display 10 records on screen at a time. If you uncheck that field, the results will only display the titles, but more will be shown per page.

To view results beyond the current page, click on the Page Down button. Just above the Page Down button, in red, is an indication of how many hits your search found—whether greater or less than 50. The term "Alphabetically there are no record series prior to those shown below" means that you are on page 1 of your search results. After you use the Page Down button, a Page Up button will appear so that you can scroll back through your earlier results.

To jump to a specific place in the search results, use the "Begin Listing At" box at the bottom of the results screen. Since the results are organized alphabetically by agency name, typing in a letter and clicking on the submit button will take you to the first agency name that starts with that letter (or, if no results were found for an agency that starts with that letter, it will place you by the next closest agency).

The Catalog Record Itself

Agency: Creating agency catalog information is linked to the catalog through a highlighted agency name. A more comprehensive agency history record, if one has been written, is available further down the page through a link in the "agency note" field.
Description: Basic descriptive information we have compiled from each series is shown. If no description exists, it means that no one has yet written one.
Finding Aids: All processed series have a finding-aids note that reads "A series inventory is available in the Archives research center." When an inventory is available electronically, a link will appear in the catalog and can be followed directly into the inventory description.
Location of Holdings: This field indicates the status of a series. Exact holdings for processed series (permanent records in our custody which have been arranged and described) can be found by following the link to the series inventory. Exact holdings of unprocessed series can be found by research center staff who can search in other databases not available to the public. Three different notes are used:
- "Only portions of the series may be in archival custody" is used for continuing series where we have part and the agency still has part.
- "Utah State Archives Research Center" means that these records are in the custody of the archives and can be used in most cases.
- "This series is in custody of the agency" means either that the agency has not transferred it to us yet or that is destroyed after so many years.
Access Points: Similar subjects, called "access points," in other records are linked to the catalog record. Chose any link to the right of the access point to go to other series with the same subject term.
Incomplete Records: Some records may be incomplete. Cataloging standards have evolved; early records may not have all the fields that later ones have. As records are updated, this should be gradually corrected.