Instructions for Creating ARC Search Links

Create your own ARC Search Links with embedded keywords for Archival Research Catalog (ARC) results. Include ARC Search Links in a slide presentation or on webpages. Encode an ARC Search Link in order to bookmark an ARC description in your browser. Tips for ARC Search Links explain how to use the links and refine your search results.

Standard Formats
- ARC Identifier Search Link
- Keyword Search Link
Character Escape Codes
Sample ARC Search Link URLs
Getting the ARC Search Link to Open in a New Window

Standard Formats

There are two types of ARC Search Links (ARC Identifier and Keyword). Each follows a standard format.

Standard Format (ARC Identifier Search Link)

One ARC Identifier (ID) number is embedded in the URL of an ARC Search Link. The URLs all follow the same format. The queries are limited to a single ARC ID number.
The search link goes to the full details view for the individual ARC description.

URL format:
http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=[ARC ID number]

Note: Variables are in brackets [ ] in bold.

Standard Format (Keyword Search Link)

The ARC search query or expression is embedded in the URL of an ARC Search Link. The URLs all follow the same format.
The default hit limit is 100 hits, but you can limit the search to 1,000 or 2,000 hits.
The search link goes to the ARC Search Results view.
The queries are limited to keyword searches. A search expression could be a single keyword, a number, such as an ARC ID number, or multiple keywords or numbers. A Search Expression with multiple keywords or numbers must include character escape codes.

URL format:
http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalSearch?searchExpression=
[Search Expression]

URL format with hit limit:
http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalSearch?searchExpression=
[Search Expression]&hitLimit=[100 or 1000 or 2000]

Note: Variables are in brackets [ ] in bold.

Character Escape Codes for ARC Search Links

ARC Search Links allow for Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), nesting with parentheses, wildcard searching (with an asterisk *) and exact phrase searching (with quotes “ ”). To use these advanced keyword search functions, “escape” the search expression before inserting it in the ARC Search Link URL. A character that needs to be “escaped” (such as a space or a question mark) must be replaced with its character escape code in the URL. Parentheses, periods, apostrophes, and asterisks are safe and do not need to be escaped. Dashes do not need to be escaped, but they should appear between escaped curly braces to be searchable in ARC as an exact phrase.

Definition	Character	Character Escape Code
Space		%20
Comma	,	%2C
Question mark	?	%3F
Quotation mark	"	%22
Ampersand	&	%26

Sample ARC Search Link URLs

The examples below include basic and more advanced keywords for ARC. To see a sample of the ARC Search Results, click on the ARC Search Link URL. Advanced Search Tips for ARC provide additional information about formulating keyword searches.

Keywords	Escaped Search Expression	ARC Search Link URL
650323	650323	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalIdSearch?id=650323
583674 OR 587427	583674%20 OR%20587427	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalSearch?searchExpression=583674 %20OR%20587427
China	China	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalSearch?searchExpression=China &hitLimit=100
battle ships	battle%20ships	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalSearch?searchExpression=battle %20ships&hitLimit=1000
Sandra Day O’Connor	Sandra%20Day %20O’Connor	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalSearch?searchExpression=Sandra %20Day%20O’Connor&hitLimit=2000
Nixon AND China	Nixon%20AND %20China	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalSearch?searchExpression=Nixon %20AND%20China&hitLimit=2000
(boat OR ship) AND Philadelphia	(boat%20OR %20ship) %20AND%20 Philadelphia	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalSearch?searchExpression=(boat %20OR%20ship)%20AND%20Philadelphia &hitLimit=2000
teach*	teach*	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalSearch?searchExpression=teach* &hitLimit=2000
"Harry S. Truman"	%22Harry %20S.%20 Truman%22	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalSearch?searchExpression=%22 Harry%20S.%20Truman%22&hitLimit=2000
"Boutros Boutros-Ghali"	%22Boutros %20Boutros- Ghali%22	http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ ExternalSearch?searchExpression=%22 Boutros%20Boutros-Ghali%22&hitLimit=2000

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Getting the ARC Search Link to Open in a New Window

Encode a command for opening a new window and instructions for the window's characteristics in the A HREF tag. There are different ways to do this. As an example of the HTML code we use, here is the code for a search on Virginia:

<a href="http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalSearch?searchExpression=Virginia" onclick="popup = window.open('http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalSearch?searchExpression=Virginia', 'PopupPage', 'height=400,width=600,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,
toolbar=yes,menubar=yes'); return false" target="_blank">Virginia</a>

Note: To have the Address Bar display on the new browser window, add ',location=yes' after ',menubar=yes' in the coding.