Getting Started

Getting Started with Digital Collections

 

GTHC’s Digital Collections contains several thousand items including photographs, postcards, maps, documents, letters, and manuscript pages, as well as some Galveston yearbooks. Digital collections focus heavily on historical Galveston. Use the following tips to explore our ever-growing collection.

Note: Not all GTHC collections have been digitized.

 

Browsing

The Browse All button on the left toolbar will display every item in Digital Collections, with the most recent additions at the top. Hover over an item to see its full title and additional information. You can also filter by format, date, first letter of the title, whether the item has OCR’d text (transcribed and searchable text), or in the case of Spanish language materials whether they have a transcription.

Searching

Perform a basic search from the homepage to pull up any items that have a title, description, or OCR’d text matching your keyword. The most relevant results will be listed at the top of the page and you can use the filters on the left to narrow your results.

 

Advanced Search allows you to refine your search initially with more powerful parameters. Click on the Search icon on the left-hand menu to begin an Advanced Search. In addition to narrowing your results by item type (e.g., photograph, newspaper, etc.), use Advanced Search to direct the system where to look for keyword matches (title or other fields) and even define which fields the system should search within. From here you can also limit by date and specify whether the system should match all your searched keywords, any searched keywords, or exact matches only.

 

As part of our mission to preserve and provide access to the historical record, our digital collections include materials that reflect the time and context in which they were created. Some content may include language, images, or perspectives that users may find upsetting or offensive. These materials are presented in their original form to support research, education, and historical understanding.