U.S. Department of Energy

Search Help

The Search Help section provides assistance in the following areas:

Adjacency
This database allows you to search for exact character strings or phrases. This is known as a literal search and provides the same functionality as an adjacency operator. To search, use double quotes around the phrase entered in the query box. For example, using the Basic Search on the Home Page, or the Full-Text and field on the Advanced Search page, enter:

Case Sensitivity
Queries conducted in this system are case insensitive. A word entered in lower case will match words entered in upper case, lower case, or mixed case.

Pick Lists
To assist you in formulating queries using the Search screen, PICK LISTS have been created for select fields. PICK LISTS are menus of standardized values that are valid for a particular field. You can select one or more pick list values from the drop down menu. To select one, simply click on the value(s) you want included in your query.

Sorting Search Results
This database allows you to sort your search results. To use the sort feature, simply click on the drop down arrow to highlight the field you wish to sort by. Then select either ascending or descending and initiate your search.

Wild Cards
The asterisk (*) is used as a wild card character for none or more characters, while the question mark (?) is used as a wild card for a single character only (has to be a character there--dog? will find dogs, but not dog). Using a wild card character allows you to search for words with the same prefix or stem. For example:

Field Definitions and Query Examples

1. Full Text - The entire document if it exists electronically in the OpenNet system. Enter search term(s) in the query box. Examples:

2. Document Categories - Pick list contains high level categories describing the topic of the document. Click here to see list of categories used in the data base. Select a value from the pick list. Multiple values may be selected. Examples:

3. Declassification Status - Indicates if the document was originally classified and has been declassified, if the document was originally classified and a sanitized version is available where the classified information has been removed, or if the document was never classified. If this information is not provided, unknown is assigned to this field. Click here to see the list used in the data base. Select a value from the pick list.

4. Accession Number - Unique number assigned by the site that submitted the record to the database. Examples:

5. Document Number - Document Number of the publication. Field may or may not be present. If the publication is a report, this is where the report number would be. Examples:

6. Title - Title of the publication. If applicable, includes subtitles. Search by full title or words in title. Examples:

7. Author(s) - Name(s) of the person(s) responsible for creating the publication. Examples:

8. Addressee(s) - Persons or organizations to whom letters and/or memoranda may be addressed. Example: Jones.

9. Document Location - Where you can obtain copies of the document. Click here to see list of locations used in the database.

10. Description - Contains whatever descriptive text, such as an abstract, that was available for the document.

11. Document Type - Describes the general type of document referenced by an OpenNet record. Click here to see list of product types used in the data base. Select a value from the pick list. Example: report.

12. Originating Organization - The organization where the research being reported was performed. Enter the name of the organization for the DOE Laboratory if applicable. Search for research organization names with one word, e.g., oak, and retrieve every record with "oak" in the research organization field, or search with the full name "oak ridge national laboratory".

13. Publication Date - The date the document was created or published. (See formats below.)

14. Declassification Date - The date the document was declassified or sanitized. (See format below.)

To search Publication Date or Declassification Date, enter the earliest date and the latest date to search within a date range. Example:

Publication Date Between 01/01/1998 and 12/31/2000 -- to search for documents published between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2000.

To search a specific date, enter the specific date in both data range entries. Example:

Declassification Date between 01/17/2002 and 01/17/2002 -- to search for documents declassified on January 17, 2002.

Use one of the formats shown below for the date. Examples for January 2, 1998:

Lists of Valid Search Terms in OpenNet

Document Categories

Science and Technology

(theoretical and experimental: includes radiation effects, radiochemistry, radiobiology,etc.; see category 2 for specific materials not included here.) Science and Technology

Specific Materials

(chemistry, physics, metallurgy, radiation and nuclear properties, production, geology, ore extraction, feed materials processing, criticality, etc. of the materials and their compounds.)

Isotope Separation

Reactors

Radioisotope Power Supplies Including Isotopic Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP)

Nuclear Weapons and Related Technology

Health, Safety and Environment

Controlled Fusion

National Security, Policy, and Warfare

General, Miscellaneous, Administrative, Historical, and Multi-Disciplined Progress Reports

Location of Document

See "How to Order Openness Documents” at the top of the screen for details. The locations that occur most frequently in the database are in the pick list in the search screen. They are:

DOE Public Reading Room, Hanford Battelle, Richland, WA
Bechtel Jacobs Company, Piketon, OH
DOE Information Center, Oak Ridge, TN
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information, Oak Ridge, TN
Bechtel Jacobs Company, Las Vegas, NV
Nevada Coordination and Information Center (CIC), Las Vegas, NV
Nevada Nuclear Testing Archive, Las Vegas, NV
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Archives and Records Office, Berkeley, CA
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Archives, Livermore, CA
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Paducah, KY
National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, VA

Document Type

Audiovisual Material
Book
Conference
Correspondence
Data
Dissertation/Thesis
Employee Record
Engineering Drawing
Journal Article
Laboratory Record
Legal Document
Miscellaneous
News Story
Patent/Patent Application
Report
Serial Publication/Newsletter

Declassification Status

There are four types of status assigned to the records in this database:

  1. Declassified: Indicates that the original document, which was classified, is now declassified and available for ordering. You will receive complete copy of the document.
  2. Sanitized: Some documents that are themselves still classified, have had the classified information removed so that a "sanitized" version of the document is unclassified and publicly available.
  3. Never classified: Some documents were never classified but were kept with classified collections because their subject matter related to the same event or topic. News reports and letters are document types which may never have been classified but were included in this database as part of an overall classified collection.
  4. Unknown: The correct information was not provided for this document. It may have been declassified, sanitized, or never classified.