Instructions for Using Local History Archives

These instructions will answer many questions and assist you in using our Local History Archives.  Reading them before searching will save you time.  You may want to print out a copy to consult while searching the Archives.  Depending on your installed version of Adobe Acrobat, these instructions may vary and command buttons may be in alternate locations.

• SPEED:  If your computer does not have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader, you should first download it before using the Archives.  Having the latest version of Adobe will increase the speed your computer accesses each digitized image.  Also, when searching for specific words in texts, your computer will highlight the search terms it finds in blue on each page.  Once the latest version is installed, it will automatically activate whenever you search.  To download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader click here, then click the "download" button.

• SEARCHING TEXT:  To search in any document, click on the search icon (the binoculars) at the top of the screen.  If there is not a binocular icon, it is under the Select and Zoom toolbar.  A search box will appear on the right side of the screen.  Depending on your version of Adobe Acrobat, the search box may now be a blank search box.  If your computer has an older version of Adobe use the drop down box next to the search box.  Type in your search terms and click Search.  A list of the hits from your search will appear, and clicking on each hit will jump you to that page of the document.  Your search terms will be highlighted in blue.  (If you have not downloaded the latest version of Adobe, the search terms may be indicated by a black box.)

• SEARCH TIPS:  If your search term is too broad, you will receive a large number of hits and the search will take longer to complete.  To narrow your search, try using more specific terms.  For example, searching the word "south" may result in 200 hits, but using "South High School" will be faster and result in fewer unwanted hits.  You may modify your search by clicking on the Case-sensitive box, so that it will search exactly as the word was typed (for example, the name House rather than house).  Clicking on the Whole Word Only box will result in the search term appearing by itself and not within larger words (for example, the word "car" but not as it appears in "career").  If it is a big file being downloaded and is slow, let it finish downloading without clicking once again.  If you click again, it could freeze the downloading of that file.

• TO ENLARGE: Click on the Magnifying Glass icon at the top of the screen, then click on any portion of the page you wish to enlarge.  If there is no magnifying glass, it is under the Select and Zoom toolbar.  To minimize, click on the dropdown box to the right of the Magnifying Glass, select "Zoom out," and click on the document.  Choosing "Dynamic zoom" allows you to select a preset percentage of enlargement.

• TO ENLARGE OR SELECT ONE ARTICLE FOR PRINTING:  Click on the Camera icon at the top of the screen.  If there is no camera, it is under the Select and Zoom toolbar.  Click HERE for a how-to guide to enable the Snapshot Tool.  Then move your mouse to the article you want to select.  Hold down the left mouse button, and drag the mouse to surround the article with a box made up of dotted lines.  You will receive a message that the article you boxed has been copied to the computer's clipboard.   Click on OK.  If you then click on the Plus (+) button at the top right of the screen, you will enlarge that article.   To print that article, click on the printer icon at the top left of the screen.

• PRINTING:  Click on the Printer icon at the top left of the screen.  You can also go to File and Print on your computer.

• TO PAGE FORWARD OR BACKWARD:  Use the arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen.   To change how the page is displayed on the screen, use the Page icons at the bottom right of the screen. Depending on the version of Adobe Acrobat, the arrows may be at the top of the screen.

• IF YOU DON'T FIND WHAT YOU WANT:  This digitized archive is comprised of historical materials that have been scanned and processed by Optical Character Recognition (OCR).   Occasionally the OCR will not recognize a word in the database.  For example, if the microfilm that was scanned had a scratch that obscured a word, or words were in a crease of the newspaper when it was originally filmed, they may not be picked up as the computer searches for them.  By the same token, if a word is in a fancy font or is white print in a black background (such as in an advertisement), it may not be recognized.   If you did not find what you were looking for, or your search resulted in zero hits, you may wish to look at the actual pages of the document manually rather than using the Search mode to increase your chances of finding what you need.

• OBITUARIES:  If you are looking for an obituary, you may also wish to look at the Library's Obituary Index.  This will give you the names, dates, and page numbers of any obituary that appeared in the Grosse Pointe News and Grosse Pointe Review.  You may then go to the actual date of the paper to access the text of the obituary.  To access the Obituary Index, click here.