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
- Character Escape Codes
- Sample ARC Search Link URLs
- Getting the ARC Search Link to Open in a New Window
Standard Formats
There are three types of ARC Search Links (ARC Identifier, Keyword, and Digital Copies). Each follows a standard format.
Standard Format (ARC Identifier Search Link)
URL format:
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Standard Format (Keyword Search Link)
URL format: URL format with hit limit: URL format with location filter: Note: Variables are in brackets [ ] in bold.
|
Standard Format (Digital Copies Search Link)
URL format: URL format with hit limit: URL format with location filter: |
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 must appear between escaped quotes to be searchable in ARC.
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.
Location Codes in ARC
Location | Code |
Clinton Library - Little Rock, AR | 1 |
Eisenhower Library - Abilene, KS | 2 |
Roosevelt Library - Hyde Park, NY | 3 |
Bush Library - College Station, TX | 4 |
Ford Library - Ann Arbor, MI | 5 |
Ford Museum - Grand Rapids, MI | 6 |
Hoover Library - West Branch, IA | 7 |
Truman Library - Independence, MO | 8 |
Carter Library - Atlanta, GA | 9 |
Kennedy Library - Boston, MA | 10 |
Johnson Library - Austin, TX | 11 |
Nixon Materials - College Park, MD | 12 |
Reagan Library - Simi Valley, CA | 13 |
Presidential Materials - Washington, DC | 48 |
Nixon Library - Yorba Linda, CA | 51 |
Northeast Region - Boston, MA | 14 |
Northeast Region - New York, NY | 15 |
Northeast Region - Pittsfield, MA | 16 |
Mid Atlantic Region - Philadelphia, PA | 17 |
Southeast Region - Atlanta, GA | 18 |
Great Lakes Region - Chicago, IL | 19 |
Central Plains Region - Kansas City, MO | 20 |
Southwest Region - Fort Worth, TX | 21 |
Rocky Mountains Region - Denver, CO | 22 |
Pacific Region - Laguna Niguel, CA | 23 |
Pacific Region - San Bruno, CA | 24 |
Pacific Alaska Region - Anchorage, AK | 25 |
Pacific Alaska Region - Seattle, WA | 26 |
National Personnel Records Center (Archives) - St. Louis, MO | 50 |
National Personnel Records Center (Civilian) - St. Louis, MO | 27 |
National Personnel Records Center(Military) - St. Louis, MO | 28 |
Cartographic - College Park, MD | 29 |
Motion Pictures - College Park, MD | 30 |
Still Pictures - College Park, MD | 31 |
Archives I (Reference) - Washington, DC | 32 |
Archives II (Reference - Civilian) - College Park, MD | 33 |
Archives II (Reference - Military) - College Park, MD | 35 |
Special Access - College Park, MD | 34 |
Center for Legislative Records - Washington, DC | 36 |
Electronic Records - College Park, MD | 37 |
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.