1 · Directories
Query notes: filtering and other collections
- A collection's ID is the last part of its address:
archive.org/details/allen_countyiscollection:allen_county. - Many library collections mix directories with yearbooks, family histories and other genealogy material. Narrow them by title:
collection:allen_county AND title:("city directory"). - Add the city to keep one place only:
title:("fort wayne" AND "city directory"). Combine conditions withAND,OR,NOTand parentheses. - Limit by year with
AND year:[1900 TO 1920]. Volumes with no year in their catalog record are left out by this filter. - Filter by title, not subject. Subjects are inconsistent, and many directories are tagged only
genealogy. - A query loads at most 1,000 volumes, so filter large collections first. Loading adds to the list below; it does not replace it. Remove volumes with × to keep cities apart.
Common collections (click to fill the query box, then Load):
to
No directories loaded yet
2 · Search terms
Search tips
- Put words in quotes to require them to appear together, e.g.
"N Meridian" 1234. Case, punctuation and line breaks are ignored, so"N Meridian"also matchesN. Meridian. - The street directory section (usually in the back) is arranged by street and house number. To look up an address, search
house number + street, e.g.1234 N Meridian. - Common Polk abbreviations:
avavenue,hhouseholder,rresides,widwidow,(c)"colored," used in older directories to designate Black residents. - OCR often confuses 0/O and 1/l, and multi-column layouts can run lines together. If nothing comes up, try a shorter term or an alternate spelling.
- Page links include
?q=, so the viewer highlights your term. The two-page view shows the matching page next to its neighbor.
3 · Results
| Year | Term | OCR excerpt | Scan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Results will appear here | |||