There are three ways of conducting research:

1. Browsing the file cards
2. Full-text and extended searches for specific content
3. Browsing the catalogue

If you click Search in the menu bar you will see pairs of file cards in the lower half of the screen, arranged in ascending alphanumerical order. You can view 12, 24, 36 or 48 pairs of file cards per page so as to obtain an overview of all the file cards in the KHM and BDA archives. A specific collection can be selected from a drop-down list. After entering Full-Text Search – or more specific data in the Extended Search – and pressing the Start Search button, you will obtain a selection from within a specific collection. The hits appear in pairs in a list view. If one or other of the archives has no record, this is indicated by a blank card and the word “Existiert nicht”. Click on the card to obtain a detailed view with zoom function and use the arrow keys to go forward or back to the next or previous scan. If there are more than two pictures per file card, this is shown with an arrow and the inscription More. All transcribed texts are provided underneath the file cards. If there is an annotation in the seizure catalogue and you wish to see the original, you can click on Catalogue tab to go to the corresponding catalogue page and zoom in. Click on the File Card tab to return to the detailed view. To start a new search, click on Search again and on All to remove any filters from the previous search.

Many of the annotations on the file cards and in the seizure catalogue contain abbreviations, which are explained, where possible, in the list of abbreviations in the bar at the bottom of the screen. Further information on the objects is collected with the aid of the provenance research community, edited and published successively as additional information underneath the source texts.