Help
Using help
Select one of the help topics listed above or scroll down the page.
Use the red arrow on the right of the screen to return to the list of help topics.
Trouble connecting?
Australian Indigenous Index uses a non-standard port which may be blocked by some firewalls. If you experience difficulties using the Australian Indigenous Index, please ask your network administrator or IT Support staff to allow firewall access (inbound and outbound) to library.sl.nsw.gov.au on port 1084.
Basic features
The Australian Indigenous Index is an index to the Koori Mail, a national fortnightly newspaper published in Lismore, NSW, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from May 1991 onwards. It also indexes biographical information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from the magazines: Our Aim (1907-1961), Dawn (1952-1969), New Dawn (1970-1975) and Identity (1971-1982).
You can do either a Simple or an Advanced keyword search to find articles.
Within these searches, there are two search types available:
'Starts with' search types
'Starts with' searches are only available from the Simple search. In 'Starts with' search types you need to enter your search word(s) in the exact order that they appear in the Australian Indigenous Index. 'Starts with' searches will show you an alphabetical list of results which link to full bibliographic information, including the date and page number of the article.
'Keyword' search types
'Keyword' searching is available from the Simple search or the Advanced keyword search. In keyword search types you can enter your search word(s) in any order. Keyword searches give you a list of titles that contain your search word(s) in their records. Click on a title to see the full bibliographic information, including the date and page number of the article.
Simple search types
Using the drop down menu, you can choose one on the following search types.
| Keywords | Searches all fields in the entire record for your word(s). This will search in all title, author, subject fields, etc. |
| Title (starts with) | Searches the title field and gives an alphabetical list of titles that begin with your word or phrase. |
| Subject (starts with) | Searches the subject field(s) and gives an alphabetical list of subject headings beginning with your word or phrase. Click on a subject heading to see a list of titles containing this subject. Library material is described using a controlled vocabulary. If you do not find what you are looking for try a Keywords Search. |
| Author (starts with) |
Searches just the author field(s) and gives an alphabetical list of author headings beginning with your word or phrase. Click on an author heading to see a list of titles by this author.
Type the individual's family name, then other names if known.
Ridgeway |
Advanced keyword search
An advanced keyword search allows you to search a combination of fields using keywords and add limits to your search.
Advanced Keyword Search types
| Any Field search | The Any Field search allows you to search for words anywhere in the Australian Indigenous Index record including the headline (title), subjects, abstract, notes or author. |
| Author keyword search | The Author keyword search allows you to search for an article by the name of the author of the article. You can type their first name and/or their surname in any order. Photographers and illustrators are also considered authors. |
| Subject keyword search | The Subject keyword search allows you to search for words that appear anywhere in the subject headings. |
| Title keyword search | The Title keyword search allows you to search for words anywhere in the headline (title). |
| Note keyword search | The Note keyword search allows you to search for words anywhere in the note fields. |
Limiting Advanced keyword searches
You can limit an advanced keyword search with any of the following options to return a more specific result.
| Type of article | To find articles of a particular type, for example interviews or obituaries, select one or more of the choices in the 'Type of article' box. | ||||||
| Article contains | To find articles containing particular types of graphics, for example cartoons or maps, select one of or more of the choices in 'Article contains' box. | ||||||
| Newspaper source | To find an article from a particular newspaper source, for example Koori Mail or Dawn, select one or more of the choices in the 'Newspaper source' box. | ||||||
| Year |
To limit your results list by year you need to fill out both boxes. For example: To limit your results to articles published in 1997: After 1996 and Before 1998 To find articles after a certain year, fill in the first box. For example, to limit your results to items published after 1998: After 1988 and Before |
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| Sort |
From the advanced search, you can choose to arrange your results in date order, alphabetically by title or relevance. Select your choice from the drop down 'Sort by' box.
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Starting your search
Type your search word(s) in the space provided and click on the search button or press the enter key.
In the Advanced search, you can enter search terms in one or more boxes and click on the search button or press the enter key.
Once you have made an initial search, you can browse your results, modify your search, or view your search history. You may also save and email your results.
The results of your search will be listed with 15 per page. You can then select next page or previous page to move through all your results.
Search techniques
Search tips
Combining more than two Boolean operators
For searches using more than two Boolean operators use the Advanced search. If you use OR in conjunction with another Boolean operator, put the search words combined by 'OR' in the first search box. For example:
("state government" OR parliament) AND NOT Victoria will find records containing either the phrase "State government" or the word parliament, but excluding those records which also contain the word Victoria.
Selecting keywords
To find articles on a particular topic, first ask yourself what words are likely to be used in the headlines (titles) or subject headings of relevant articles. For example:
if your question is about tourism in Uluru, try:
Uluru AND Tourism.
It is best to choose nouns as your keywords and words which are specific to your topic. Start with specific words and if you get no results, choose new words which are broader in meaning. For example use:
kangaroos rather than animals
If your keyword(s) are very common in the Australian Indigenous Index for example, politics, economics, art, Australia they will give too many results, so combine them using AND with other words related to your topic For example:
art AND awards AND Australia
You can also truncate your search word(s) to find both singular and plural forms.
Sorting or refining your results
'Keyword' type searches
If you have completed any 'Keyword' search you can select from the results screen to modify your result set. You can use any of the fields available in an advanced search to refine your search. You can also select AND to include new terms in your search, or AND NOT to exclude terms from your search.
'Starts with' type searches
If you have completed a 'Starts with' search you can select from the results screen to limit or sort your result set. You can use any of the available fields to refine your search which includes searching by keywords.
Saving and emailing your results
You can save and send your results to an email address.
Save selected records
- Mark your selected records in the results list by clicking in the Mark box, then Save marked records (button at end of record list) on each screen that has the items you wish to save
- Click Save/email item button when the full record is displayed.
Email saved records
- Click Email item button to see a list of records you have chosen.
From here you can click the titles to view your records individually, or send them to an email address.
You can choose between the formats Full Display, Pro-Cite or End-Note.*
You can de-select individual records if you wish by clicking in the Mark box and then the clicking the Remove marked records from this list button. Enter your email address, and click Email item button to send.
To clear all your saved records at once, click the Clear saved button. You should do this after you have emailed your selection.
*Pro-Cite and End-Note are bibliographic management software products used by researchers to manage their references. The Library does not provide access or assistance in using these products.
