Tips for Getting Started

The Local History Collections are constantly being digitized and brought online for customers to use no matter where they are. Use the following tips to explore our ever-expanding collections!

If you’ve found something you would like to view in person that has not been digitized yet, please contact the library at localhistory@tscpl.libanswers.com or 785-580-4400 to set up an appointment.

Browsing

If you want to explore our holdings, click on the “Browse All” button on the left toolbar. This will display every item in our collections, with the most recent additions at the top. Hover over an item to see more information. You can also filter your browsing experience by format, first letter of the title, date, and whether the item has OCR’d (transcribed and searchable) text.

Searching

You can search for something more specific with a basic search. Simply enter a keyword or phrase into the search bar on the homepage to search our collections. The most relevant results will be at the top of the page. Filters can be used to narrow your search results.

You can achieve more accurate results by using an advanced search. Click on the “Search” button on the left toolbar. You can narrow your results to item type (e.g. photograph, map, blueprint). You can also determine where to look for your keyword search (title or other fields), and you can define which fields the system should search within. Within these search results you can limit by date or specify whether the system should match all the search keywords, any search keywords, or exact matches only.