​Searching is the main way to find content in SPARK. The basic search window appears at the top of every page, as does a link to access the Advanced Search tools. Use the following hints to help you quickly find content –

To make your search more precise:

  • Use Exact Phrases. To search for an exact phrase, enclose the term in quotation marks ("). For example, enter "track maintenance work" to return records containing this phrase, but not each word individually
  • Exclude certain terms. To exclude a term from the search, enter a minus sign (-) before that term. For example, enter interface –road to search for records containing the term ‘interface’, but not where the term ‘road’ also appears
  • Use the Advanced search. Click the Advanced Search link from the top of any page. From the Advanced search page, you can specify a number of criteria to make your search much more precise. For further help on this, see the user guide.

To broaden your search:

  • Also search attachments. To search records AND their attachments, click the Advanced search link at the top of any page, enter your search term in the field Any of these words then select (tick) Include attachments and click Search
  • Use OR to include more terms. Use the OR operator to search for two terms together. For example, enter aggregates OR ballast to search for records containing either term. Note that ‘OR’ must be in capitals
  • Use the wildcard character (*) to return variations. To search for variations of a term, enter the asterisk wildcard character (*) after part of a term. For example, enter auto* to search for records containing automatic, automated, automation, etc