Image Bank: Tips for Searching

Tips for Searching the Image Collection

Basic Search:

Start by entering your city of residence or a familiar street. If the results list is too large start to narrow your search down, either by entering information into several fields or going to the advanced search page.
If you cannot find a particular street, try to search by larger roads surrounding the one you are searching for. Not every road visible on a slide is entered into the database, so try to think of larger roads and/or landmarks, which will hopefully get you to the image you wish to see.
Use quotation marks to limit the search. For example, a search for Lake Street will yield matches that include Mississippi Street and Silver Lake Road. The use of quotation marks (“Lake Street”) will eliminate this problem.

Advanced Search:

A keywords list is available on the advanced search page if you wish to see the terms entered. What are keywords? Keywords are terms / words that add extra meaning to the image on top of location information, roads, parks, etc. You can search simply by those terms if you are not looking for a specific city or road.
When searching for roads spell out the name completely as seen in the the following examples: Lexington Avenue, West 7th Street, West River Parkway, New Brighton Boulevard,15th Avenue SE. Interstate highways are catalogued as follows: I-35W, I-94, I-694, etc.
The Landmarks / Structures / Developments field (search box) may contain bridge names, recognizable buildings, or other elements as seen in the following examples: IDS Center, Crystal Court, Stone Arch Bridge, Mill Ruins Park. Development names, when known, are also included in this field.
Narrow your search by choosing either ground or aerial shots. In the basic search this is not a choice and your search result will consist of both ground and aerial images. You can also narrow your search by choosing multiple land uses. Keep in mind this is a subjective interpretation of the image and you may not get all the images that you desire by only entering land use search terms.

	1 Ralph Rapson Hall, 89 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455, Email mdc@umn.edu, Tel. (612) 625-9000, Fax. (612) 626-0600 The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer Copyright Metropolitan Design Center, 2007. All rights reserved.