VDOT Bulletin Quick Start Guide: Tips and Tricks

• Begin your search with a keyword search (e.g. Parks, Dogs, Crime, Bridges).
• Do not use quotation marks or Boolean operators (i.e., AND, OR, NOT) in keyword searches.
• Search terms must be spelled correctly, but order and case do not matter.
• Use facets (side bar links) to narrow results. Facet options change from collection to collection.
• Results when searching across all collections will default to sorting by description. Date sort will only work for objects with an exact date, not a year or decade.
• Find related material by clicking on the hyperlinked text in the metadata.

Advanced Search:

• Click button in top right corner of page "Advanced Search".
• Check box next to collections you wish to search.
• Click save.
• Enter search terms, choosing fields you wish to search.
• If needed click "Add Row" to add more search terms. Be sure to change the search method to "AND" or "OR".
• Include date, if needed
• Press search.

TIPS:

• Advanced search allows for searching an exact phrase.
• Advanced search allows for excluding terms (i.e., “none of the words”).
• Use “Any of the words” to do an OR search—this only works for single-word searches (ex: baseball football—this search will show results for baseball OR football).
• Date search is fickle. Better results generally come from leaving out a date.
• Searches in quotations DO work, however, once you get inside the document they do NOT.
• Reenter the search without quotes once inside the document.

Over the years the Bulletin utilized a number of recurring sections that make browsing for certain information much easier. A few of these sections are listed below:

"News From the Districts":

"Prevent Accidents":

"Contracts Awarded":