A selection of the database to search.  Due to differences in format and information content, only one database may be searched at a time, and only those items appearing in the query form may be used.  In addition to the normal vital records databases is the "Query Log" database which may be searched to see what other queries have been recently made.  This is useful in the case that your search encounters a record that has been previously accessed (per its non-zero access count) and you wish to see how similar a query was used - an indication that another researcher may be "barking up the same tree."

The following 6 Databases are available:

#	Database	Records	Description	Last Access
1	CA_Birth	24596440	California Birth Index 1905-1995	2008-11-01 02:24:38
2	ME_Death	401959	Maine Death Index 1960-1996	2008-01-18 00:20:50
3	NS_Birth	10839	Nova Scotia Birth Index 1860-1877	2008-01-18 00:20:55
4	TX_Divorce	3041653	Texas Divorce Index 1968-2003	2008-09-07 18:40:22
5	TX_Marriage	6369731	Texas Marriage Index 1966-2003	2008-09-07 18:48:50
6	queries	51	Vital Records Query History Log	2008-11-03 04:02:57

Dates are divided up into their three independent subfields of month, day, and year.  If all three fields are specified, the resulting date will be treated as an exact date.  If any but not all fields are specified, the date will be treated as an imprecise date, with wildcard pattern matching assumed for the unspecified components.  How this is done is unaffected by the search type option described below.

The search may be limited to male or female only, or left blank if unknown or to search for both sexes in birth and death indices.  A selection is required for marriage and divorce indices.

Obviously, these fields are meant for names.  The entry labelled "Maiden/Spouse" is for the maiden surname of the mother in birth indices and for the spouse in marriage indices.  Note that not all databases have entries that list the true maiden surname - some entries may use the married name.

Use this field to limit the search to a particular locality.  Since many databases are organized by state/province and county, searching by city is not available.  Sorry.

This is the trickest option.  It has several choices which apply to all free input fields except for dates:

• EXACT - Treats all data items as precise and finds exact matches only.  No search wildcards are permitted in this mode.
• FUZZY - Allows minimal wildcards.  In this mode, either standard filename matching wildcards ("?", for a single letter, and "*" for zero or more consecutive letters) or SQL-type wildcards ("_" and "%") may be used.  Internally, the filename type wildcards are translated into the SQL wildcards and then the query proceeds normally.
• REGEX - A standard UNIX-type "regular expression" may be specified in the input fields for pattern matching search purposes.  This allows for complex patterns and non-trivial spelling variations to be searched for.  Explantion of regular expressions is beyond the scope of this document.  This method is not allowed from the primary search form - only for subsequent searches.

It's quite possible that other types of searches may be added in the future and not documented here.  If that happens, self-describing names will be used.

We are not responsible for any errors in these databases.  If you have a problem with a particular entry, you need to take that up with the government agency which originated the database.

It is noted that some of the searchable databases listed here have been "withdrawn from the public domain" by their issuing government subdivisions (e.g. California Indices vs. CA-SB1614, enacted 19 September 2002).  Since this information was obtained from public sources that pre-date the change in law that now restricts these records, their continued disclosure is legally unaffected by any such restriction.  Only data released after enactment would be affected; to interpret otherwise would violate the "ex-post facto" clause of the United States Constitution.  [For California purposes, Health & Safety Code section 102232 does not apply to the copy of California sourced indices provided here - similarly for other states' databases such as those sourcing from Texas where a corresponding change in statute has occurred.