Using the Advanced Search to Locate Notebook Data

  • Updated

One of the core benefits of using LabArchives is the ability to quickly locate important data stored in your notebooks. The powerful search functionality allows users to search not only text entries but also the content of many file types, including Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, and other text-based files. All of these are indexed to ensure rapid retrieval. 

The Advanced Search feature in LabArchives allows you to run highly targeted notebooks searches using a variety of filters while selecting which notebooks to search in. You can narrow down results by user, entry type, creation date, tags, keywords, and more. Advanced Search also lets you search specific notebook elements such as folders, page titles, or even individual pages. To learn about additional tips on formatting your search using Boolean Operators and Stemming, visit the Basic Search article. 

Here are some tips to help you make the most of your search experience:

  • Advanced Search only searches the current version of each entry. It does not include deleted entries or version history.
  • Users can only view results for entries they have permission to access.
  • Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and quotation marks to make your searches more precise.
  • Avoid using stop words (e.g., a, and, do) in quoted searches—they may affect accuracy.
  • Searches on the user or tag fields with no current content may return no results.
  • To narrow the search to a specific folder or page, see Search Within a Page or Folder.
Formatting an Advanced Search and Viewing Results

From the main LabArchives navigation pane, click the downward arrow from the Search notebook field to open the Advanced Search panel. 

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Select the notebook(s) you want to search from the drop-down menu. You can choose to search the current notebook, all notebooks, or selected notebooks. By default, the system searches the full contents of the notebook currently in view.

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Once search terms are entered and filters are selected, click the Search button at the bottom of the panel. A count of matching results appear in the Search Results folder on the left. Each listed notebook shows the number of hits found. Click a notebook to view its results—matching terms will be highlighted whenever possible.

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Results are displayed 25 per page. By default, entries are sorted by Relevancy, based on how often and where the search terms appear. To change how results are sorted, use the Sort By menu at the top of the results. You can sort by Newest to Oldest, Oldest to Newest, User A–Z, or User Z–A. Use the page navigation links to move between results or jump to the beginning or end.

Each entry includes a link that opens the notebook page in a new browser tab. Matching terms will be highlighted when possible.

You can reopen the Advanced Search panel anytime to update your filters and run a new search.  

Advanced Search Filters

Use the filter options to refine your search and quickly find the most relevant results. To view and filter only your own entries, click My entries only.

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Users

Click the Users field to select contributors. This shows users who have created content in the notebook—even if they no longer have access.

Tags

If you’ve used the Edit Tags feature, select tags to limit results. You can apply multiple tags and remove them by clicking the "X" next to each.

Entry Types

Entry types are listed in order of frequency. Select or remove one or more to filter by specific content types (e.g., Rich Text Entry, Attachment, Image, etc.).

Page Title

Restrict results to content found in page titles. Supports Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and quotation marks for exact matches.

Contains Words

Enter keywords to search within entry content. Boolean logic is supported to combine multiple terms.

Doesn’t Contain Words

Exclude keywords from results. Especially useful when combined with Contains Words or Page Title fields. Boolean operators apply here too.

Entries After/Before Date Field

Filter by creation date using From and/or To fields. Use the calendar picker or type in mm/dd/yyyy format.

Chemical Structure and Substructure

LabArchives also supports chemical structure searching in a notebook through the following methods:

  • Draw the molecule using the built-in Chemical Sketcher
  • Enter a SMILES string for precise search

For full details on performing a chemical search, see Chemical Structure Searching. 

Find Partial Matches

The Find partial matches checkbox controls whether the search returns only exact matches or also includes results where your search term appears within a larger word.

For example, if you search for "test":

  • with "Find partial matches” unchecked, only exact matches like "test" are returned.
  • with "Find partial matches” checked, results may also include "testing" and "contest"
Note: Enabling partial search may increase search time. 
Search Logic

LabArchives uses the following search logic to interpret and run searches: 

(All Entries AND (Contains Words OR Tags OR Page Title))
AND (Users)
AND (Modified On or After)
AND (Modified On or Before)
AND (Entry Types)
AND (NOT Doesn’t Contain Words)
AND (In Specified Folder or Page)