Example #2: You are interested in early maps of Virginia. What maps are in the database that pertain to Virginia prior to 1600?
To prepare for a new search, first click on the Clear Fields button at the lower left. This will blank out any filled-in fields from the previous search.
In the Text Field Criteria section (the upper half of the Search Screen), the third text-entry box has Region to its right. This field is all set to accept search terms relative to the region displayed on a map. Just type the word Virginia into this text-entry box.
In the Numeric Field Criteria section (the lower half of the Search Screen), use the Date field to restrict the search to maps prior to 1600. To do this, just type 1600 into the text box on the right of this line. (The word "before" is already selected in the drop-down list, which is what you want. You can click on the drop-down list to see what other choices you have available.)
That’s all you need to do. Now click Perform Search.
This time the search found 52 matching entries:
The window shows the list of the returned entries. More entries have been returned than can be viewed at once, so use the scroll bar on the right to scroll to the other rows.
In the status area, at the bottom of this window, is shown how the return records are sorted. It shows that the records are sorted by Map-Maker and then by Title. Since you selected just early maps, perhaps you would like to order them by Date. To do this, chose Sort from the View menu. In the dialog that comes up, click on Date in the left-hand list and then click on the >(ASC) button:
This will move Date to the right-hand list. Initially it will be at the bottom of the list. Since you want to sort primarily by Date, click twice on the up-arrow button (on the right, above the ASC/DESC button) to move Date to the top of the list. Then click OK. The list will re-sort, so that the top entries now look like this:
This display shows the earliest map dated 1584-88. Subsequent entries, also by De Bry, appear to have dates no earlier than 1590, but the first entry has a title that looks like it might be different from most of the other entries. Are there other entries for "Anglorum in Virginiam Adventus" that would help to confirm the early date? To explore this further, you can refine the list to just include entries with the same Map-Maker and Title as the selected entry. First ensure that the first entry is selected, by clicking anywhere in row #1. Then select Matches Title + Map-Maker from the Refine menu. The list has now shrunk to show just 4 entries:
Glancing across them, they appear likely to be the same map, or editions of the same map (since their sizes, as well as the map-maker and titles, are essentially the same). Yet only the first entry has the earlier date. At this point, it is time to look at the details. Click on the Item Details tab and examine the information. Note the reference to Map #77 in Burden (The Mapping of North America; click on the blue-underlined name if you are unsure). A look in Burden will show that this map was published in 1590 (as is shown for the other 3 entries for this title), but that it relates to initial British explorations in Virginia, sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh, which began in 1584 and were first described in a publication by Herriott in 1588. Perhaps this is the source of the earlier dates given in this entry.
Go on to Example #3 è