Oral History Master Index Searching Tips
As much as possible, terms have been standardized to allow for more precise retrieval. Please note, however, that earlier and later forms of names do remain for corporate bodies, such as Doernbecher Memorial Hospital for Children (earlier name) and Doernbecher Children's Hospital (later name). Both terms need to be searched in order to find all references to that hospital.
Major topics indicate topics that can stand alone. Sub topics are those terms that apply directly to a larger term, without which they would lose context. A good way to start exploring the database is to click on the link to "List of all Major Terms." Here, you will find a complete list of topics, each linked to a dynamic results set for that term. The "List of all sub topics" will provide a similar list of linked terms. (As a reminder, broad topics for each interview are listed on the main interviewee roster, and are often a good way to begin looking at the overarching theme(s) of each individual session.)
Because the display of major and sub topics is problematic, we have included links to several examples of term hierarchies. These links, located below the search boxes on the main search page, display a major topic and all of its associated sub topics. Each of these topics is linked, so that results can be seen without redoing a search.
Searching is based on exact strings of data, so that a search on "Oregon" will retrieve not only topics beginning with the word "Oregon," but all topics with "Oregon" in the name, such as "Board of Medical Examiners of the State of Oregon."
In the same way, entering a term which does not exist exactly in that form in the database will retrieve no topics. For example, entering "Laurence Selling" will produce zero results, since names are entered last name first, e.g. "Selling, Laurence." When in doubt, put in as little of the term as possible when beginning a search.
Page numbers listed in the online index refer to pages of the final printed transcripts available either through the Main Library or Historical Collections & Archives.