Search help

All the texts displayed on arkiv.dk are searchable. In a simple search, it is the exact word you write in the search field that is searched for. For instance, if you were to search for the name “Hans”, then you would only get the search results where the word Hans appears.

If you write several words in the search field, then the search includes the term “and” between the words. A search for the Hans Ejlersen thus gives results where the words Hans and Ejlersen appear, but not necessarily in the same order. If you wish to search for a combination of words in a precise order, then you need to add quotation marks (” ”) around the words: ”Hans Ejlersen”.

Search with wildcards

In order to search for combinations of words, where the name Jens is included as the first part of a word, you would need to add an asterisk (*) after the word. Searching for Jens* would also give you search results that include Jensen, Jensine, Jensdatter etc.

It is not possible to search with an asterisk (*) in front of a word.

Fuzzy Search

You can also search for variations in spelling by using a tilde (~) and a number after a word. The number represents the number of letters that could be different. If, for example you search Ejlersen~1 you will also get hits for Eilersen and Eilerzen. The higher the number that is placed after the ~, the more search results that would appear. For instance, with Ejlersen~2, you not only get Ejlersen, Eilersen and Eilerzen, but also Espersen, Sejersen, Hejlesen etc.

Use of search filters

On arkiv.dk, you search in over 580 Danish archives at the same time. Therefore, a search can yield a great number of results, and it is often necessary to limit the results.

From the home page, you can click on “Advanced search” to move on directly to filtering possibilities. It is also possible to add filters after the search is done so as to limit the number of search results.

One can use such filters as time periods, types of material, archives and places. In addition, you can choose to be shown only the search results with images, film clips or sound clips attached.

When filtering by time period, you can choose to either write in both fields or only in one. If you write in both fields, then the search results only show what lies within the given period. If you write in the field “from”, you can only see search results from after that year, and if you only write in the field “to”, then you only see the search results from before that year.

In the fields type of material, archive and place, it is possible to choose one or several possibilities from the lists.

When you have chosen the filters that you want, you can see them under “Your selection”. The filters can be easily removed by clicking on the cross outside each filter.

Did you not find what you were looking for?

The archives could have used different terms for the same theme, so try alternative search terms. If you are, e.g. looking for material on the German Occupation of Denmark (1940-45), then try the Occupation, Denmark’s occupation, Second World War, World War II etc.

Perhaps the material that you are looking for has not yet been catalogued and made available on arkiv.dk, or perhaps no material on the topic exists. Try, therefore, to contact the individual archives to hear if they hold any material on the topic. You can find the contact details for the archives on: www.arkivvejviser.dk.

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