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Search Tips
& More
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Find an
organization by name
Type the name of the organization in the box; select
agency/program from the list; hit the search button.
Shortcut:
type in just the first few words or letters; you will get a list
of all agencies that start with those words, and can select the one you want
Hint:
you must use the exact name for the agency.
Variations (such as Wicomico Commission rather than Wicomico County
Commission) will not work. If the
agency you are looking for is not listed,
try clicking on “search as
words”
Find
Organizations by topic
To find organizations or
agencies that relate to a type of service or area of interest, type in one or more words, select “subject” from the dropdown menu, and click the search
button. This results in a list
based on the standard subjects used by the library –
so that a search for agencies serving teens, for example, will include
all relevant agencies including those using other terms (adolescents, youth,
etc.).
Shortcut:
type in just the first few letters of the word to get to the
list of subjects available
Think there may be more
agencies that meet your needs? Click
on “search as words” to see if your words appear in the agency name or
description of services.
You can start a new search
by word by typing in a word or words and clicking on search. A keyword
search will usually give you a longer list of "hits", but may include
some groups that are not relevant.
Hint:
The word you use will display in red so that you can easily see it.
Hint:
When you search by word, typing
the first few letters followed by an asterisk (*) will find all the words that
start with those letters . Chil*
, for example, will find child, children, childhood, childcare, childbirth,
and child’s.
Hint:
You can search by more than one word. You will find records
where all of the listed words appear. To broaden your search,
type in fewer words; to narrow your search, add words.
Hint:
You can eliminate some records from a search by using NOT in
front of any word that you do not want included. For example, if you
want a list of theater groups that does not include any from local colleges,
type in "theater not university".
More
specific search?
You can refine
any search to create a list that meets your specific interests.
From the
search results page, choose
“limit this search” from the top
This will bring
you to a page where you can choose more ways to select just the organizations
that you want to include in your list.
You can select
some agencies from your list by any or all of these criteria.
Type in the name of the county; use the pull-down menus to select
agencies that provide service in languages other than English , are looking for
volunteers, or are accessible to the handicapped.
You can also put in any words that you think would appear in the subject
or agency name. Then click on the Limit/sort
items retrieved button.
Printing
options
To print out the
record for a single organization, simply use the “print” button on the
toolbar
Or, you can
print out the list as it appears on the search results page by using the print
button. To include the telephone numbers of the organizations on the
list, click on the blue extended display button to get a list as shown
below.
You can also
print out a selected list of agencies from Your Community Link in a variety of
formats.
Agency names and
phone numbers : search for the
agencies you want on your list, click on the blue“extended display”
button on the top tool bar to get the phone numbers, then print
You can also
select the records you want, and print information just on those.
Click in the box
in the “mark” column for each agency you want to select, then click on the
“save marked records” button at the bottom of the list.
You can mark records from more than one page of results, or from more
than one search. When you have
finished saving the records you want, click on
the blue “export saved list” button. (Note: the "export
saved list" button appears only after you have saved some records).
This will
bring up a screen that allows you to choose where to save your list, and how
much information on each organization to include.
Select
“Full display” to get the entire record;
“Brief Display” lists only the agency and program name, address, and
telephone number
You may
email the results to your own email account by selecting E-Mail and typing your
entire e-mail address into the “mail to” box and clicking the submit button.
Or, you can save them to a file on your computer or a floppy disk by
selecting “Local Disk”. After you click “submit” you will be asked whether to
open or save the file; select save; then choose where to save it.
If you are using a public computer, please use the a: drive and insert a
diskette. If you are asked to select a program to open the file,
select Notepad or Wordpad; this will open as a text file.
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