Help on Searching
Search Methods Available:
Keyword search ship name
Enter some or all of the primary ship name. This is a useful search for when you know the ship name but not exact initials that might
appear before the name, or the likely spelling of the ship name. The keyword search is truncated, so a search for "wetm" will retrieve the
Steamship C. W. Wetmore, and "maru" will retrieve everything from the Alaska Maru to the Yokohama Maru. Records will display
in order by ship name. Multiple citations may appear for a specific ship name. Each citation constitutes a different record in the index.
Different ships may have been given the same name. You may have to do additional research to determine which is the correct result.
Soundex (first two words of ship name only)
When you are unsure of the spelling of a ship name you can enter a name as generally spelled in the Soundex search field. The Soundex code will
be generated and all the potential variations returned. This is an effective search when you have a general idea of how the last name
sounds or when looking for variations such as Johnson and Johnsen and Jensen. Soundex is not perfect, but it is a commonly used
method for finding names which might have been misspelled or when you are unsure of their spelling. Enter just a single
word from the first two words (if present) of the ship name. The Soundex code is displayed for each obituary record. Do not enter the actual soundex code in this search field.
The soundex code for the search will be generated from your search term.
Notes keyword (slower search)
You can search the sometimes extensive descriptive notes of the record by using the "Notes keyword" search. This is the slowest search. Enter a word or words into the field. The description
will be searched in a truncated keyword manner, with each word ANDed together. Thus a search for "tacoma fog" will retrieve any record with the words "tacoma" and "fog" appearing anywhere in the description. It will also
retrieve "tacoma" and "foggy". This search is useful for names of crew, ships capsized at specific locations, builders, etc. Hits are not highlighted at this time.
MUST contain ALL the items / CAN contain ANY of the items
Choose between whether searches "MUST contain ALL the terms" (Boolean AND) or
"CAN contain ANY of the terms" (Boolean OR). In general you should not modify the default
setting for boolean AND. In a boolean AND search, any record in this
database must contain ALL the terms or settings you have included. For example, a
search for "America" retrieves 51 ship names (as of July 2004). A search for "America" with "bark" in the Ship Type field means that any result must
contain ship name keyword America AND ship type bark. This is more precise and returns the single ship record you are looking for.
If you select
the boolean OR option then the results can contain ANY of the terms or settings you have
included. With that setting the results are much more numerous, and would include for this
example any record with a ship name including America (no matter what the ship type),
plus ALL the records for any ship type "bark" (bark, bakentine, iron bark, etc.), no matter what the
ship name was. This is a lot more results to look at -- 982 resulting records as of July 2004. The Library recommends leaving
this setting at Boolean AND unless your search specifically requires it.
Display matches ONE at a time / Display matches 15 at a time
Searches can display one matching record at a time, or display them in groups of 15 at a time. The default is to display 15 at a time. This is much faster to browse through
when you have more than one or two results, and does not slow down a small result very much. The Library recommends leaving this setting at 15 at a time.
Perform Search button
You can normally start a search by entering information in any of the search fields and then pressing the Enter key. To move from field to field
use the <tab> key on your keyboard (normally toward the upper left of the keyboard in the third row down--this key may be labeled "Tab" or just "<- ->" or some
variation). You can also fill in the various fields by clicking on the field and entering your search, then clicking on the [Perform Search] button.
Copyright
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Tacoma Public Library is not responsible for the improper or illegal use of any copies of materials from its collections. It is the user's
responsibility to guard against the infringement of rights that may be held by others and for clearing reproduction rights and copyright restrictions.
Tacoma Public Library does not claim to control the copyright for pictorial and textual materials in its collections. Library staff will provide any information available for specific items that
it has available to the user in this regard if a specific request is made.
The Library provides such information as a service to aid patrons in determining the appropriate use of an item, but that determination ultimately rests with the patron.
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Tacoma Public Library Ships & Shipping Index web site. The full text of the specific article or reference, which may appear as part of this index or be supplied by the
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or use beyond the legal bounds of Fair Use without the specific permission of the copyright holder is forbidden.
The Tacoma Public Library is eager to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified so that appropriate information may be provided in the future. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement
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activity. Pursuant to 17 United States Code 512(c)(2) (Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998), the Tacoma Public Library is the designated agent for notice of alleged copyright infringement appearing on our Site. Direct any notices of infringement to:
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