What is Search?

Search is a specialized Internet search engine, like Google and Yahoo, only focused on Columbus and Ohio. Dispatch.com and DispatchExtra search results cut through the clutter to return results relevant to you and where you live.

Is  Search free?

All results, except those obtained from a search of The Dispatch's20-year archive are free.  

How do I use Search

Just type the words you want to search for in the text box and click the "Search" button.

You may also narrow your search by clicking one of our topic-specific tabs before clicking the "Search" button.

What does  Search search?

Search indexes the entire contents of nearly  400 Ohio news sites as well as hundreds of other Web sites relevant to such subjects as Ohio gardening and OSU sports.

Tabs across the top of the Search box direct users to these areas:

» All: Searches all content on Dispatch.com and the Dispatch family of Web sites -- plus classified advertising, a central Ohio business directory and events from Weekender+.  Most results from The Columbus Dispatch were posted within the last week. Earlier stories are available through the Archive $. 

» News: Searches the Dispatch family of Web sites and  nearly 400 other Ohio news sources, including over 160 newspapers, 88 radio stations, 41 television stations and 88 magazines and periodicals.

» Classifieds: Searches DispatchClassifieds.com, ColumbusJobs.com and ColumbusCars.com -- to help you find a new job, home or automobile.

» Businesses: Searches our central Ohio business directory.

» OSU Sports: Searches Dispatch.com, DispatchExtra and BuckeyeXtra.com, along with other Buckeye-related sites. (BuckeyeXtra results are available only to BuckeyeXtra subscribers.)

           » Movies & More: Searches our database of Columbus-area music, dining and movie times, along with hundreds of other events.

» Health:  Searches health information  from  The Columbus Dispatch and hundreds of  other respected health resources.

» Archive $:  Searches a 20-year archive of  The Columbus Dispatch. Use this to find Dispatch articles over 7 days old. Your first search is of The Dispatch online archive from 2004-2005. You may then refine your search to include more years, back to 1985.   The archive is a premium area.  Anyone may search the archive free, but there may be a fee to retrieve the full text of articles. Subscribers to the printed version of The Columbus Dispatch and DispatchExtra have free access to articles published within the past 30 days.

» Travel: Searches for  travel information from across Ohio and around the world.

» Pets: Searches for information about  pets, pet businesses and pets for sale in central Ohio.

» Gardens: Searches more than 100 private and university gardening sites with information specifically relevant to central Ohio growing conditions.

Can I search for recipes?

Dispatch.com has created a special search for recipes in our popular Cook's Corner feature.

Click here to use the free Cook's Corner search.

Note: Registration is required to seach the Cook's Corner archive, but there is no fee to use it.

Archive search tip: Other recipes are available in our paid archive. Use the keyword Food and add the type of recipe, as in: Food and waffles.

If I search in Archive $, what are the charges?

You must register to seach the archive, but the search is free. You will see the date, headline, author and abstract of a story you are seeking - but there is a fee to view the full text of the article. The fee is waived if you are a Dispatch print or DispatchExtra subscriber and are searching for an article published within the past 30 days.

You can read articles one at a time or purchase a package of articles. Packages expire when you reach the article limit or time limit, whichever comes first.

» 1 Article: $2.95

» 3 Articles: $6.95; 1 Day

» 21 Articles: $19.95; 7 Days

You will be offered payment options only after you select an item to view. Purchase is by credit card. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.

  When either the time limit or the article limit expires, whichever comes first, you'll be directed to the purchase page to add more articles.

When you select a story to view, please print it or copy the file to your computer. Your article will not be e-mailed or otherwise sent to you.

Remember, if you are a subscriber to The Columbus Dispatch or DispatchExtra, there is no charge for articles up to 30 days old.

Special pricing is available for schools, institutions and large businesses. Please call 614-621- 1212 to request a quote.

Will the items I select be e-mailed to me?

No.

When you select a story to view, please print it or copy the file to your computer. Your article will not be e-mailed or otherwise sent to you.

  How do I search for obituaries?

The text of obituaries for the past 30 days is available free by Searching on our Obituaries page.

For obituaries beyond 30 days old, back to approximately 1999, use our Archive search as described above. (Some obituaries were added to the archive beginning in 1996, but availability is spotty until March 1999.)

Death notices - a single line of text containing a person's name, date and place of death - are available back to 1985.

Our Obituary Ssearch Information page contains more information specific to obituaries, including how and when they are published in The Dispatch, and how to obtain obituaries published before 1985.

What is available/not available in the archive?

WHAT'S AVAILABLE: The Columbus Dispatch's newspaper archive contains the text of articles written by the Dispatch staff and vital statistics from 1985 forward. Text of Associated Press articles that appeared in The Dispatch is available from January 2001 forward. Some articles by free-lance writers are also available depending on whether The Dispatch owns archive re-publication rights to the material.

WHAT'S NOT AVAILABLE: Articles from wire services other than the Associated Press (these include Knight-Ridder, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and others); and syndicated articles such as Ann Landers, horoscopes and similar features-oriented material. Advertisements are not available.   

The Dispatch archive was created as a resource for Dispatch reporters in the early 1980s, before it was economically feasible to electronically store photographs and graphics.

However, a selection of photos is available from our online Photo Gallery. A selection of historical front pages is available from our Page Store.  

  Where can I find  Dispatch stories printed before 1985?

The print editions ofThe Dispatch are available on microfilm back to 1871. The microfilm is available at the Main Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, 96 S. Grant Ave., and some branch libraries (please call ahead to your neighborhood library to see if it is available). To find microfilm records, please visit the library in person or phone the library for assistance at 614-645-2750. We're sorry, but Dispatch.com is not able to assist in microfilm Searches.

Does the archive contain advertisements?

Advertisements are not available in this archive. On the main Dispatch.com site, classified advertisements -- the single-column "liner" ads -- are available for 60 days from date of publication. You may access them at: the Dispatch.com Market place . To Search for employment advertising, please visit ColumbusJobs.com.

May I search the archive at public libraries?

This archive is available free of charge at many public libraries in the Columbus area -- all of the Columbus Metropolitan Library branches; the Westerville, Worthington, Upper Arlington, Bexley, Grove City, Grandview Heights, Plain City, Grove City, Marysville, Newark, Mount Vernon, Delaware and Pickerington public libraries; the Fairfield and Pickaway county district libraries; Wagnalls Memorial library in Lithopolis; and Franklin University. Please note you must physically visit one of libraries for this Search; it is not available from the library Web sites.

What are the advanced Search features?

Proximity Searching:

Enter a word (Tressel) or phrase (OSU football) that you want to Search for. To Search for multiple words or phrases, separate the words with AND or OR or BUTNOT. For example, Tressel AND Cooper will return articles in which both names appear. Cooper BUTNOT Tressel will return articles in which only the name Cooper appears.

To further narrow the Search, use: Tressel AND Joe Cooper. That will return articles containing the names Tressel and Joe Cooper, but not articles containing the words John Cooper.

Date Searching: To Search by date, such as to see all articles published on a specific day in The Dispatch, use: date(9-11-2001), or select a range of dates with: date(4-15-1997 to 5-14-1997)

Or, combine the previous two types of Searches with a Search string such as: Tressel AND Cooper AND date(9-11-2001)

You can use upper or lower case. Do not use characters such as + or - in this Search engine

Wild card Searching:

Wild cards may be used in your Search to improve your Search. A Search term such as funding is very specific and will not retrieve stories which use the words funds, funded or other variants. By putting an exclamation point after fund!, your Search will retrieve any variant of fund. Wildcard Searching within a word is also available by using the asterisk *. Wom*n will retrieve stories containing the term woman or women.

Section Names:

These may help you narrow a Search if you know which section of The Columbus Dispatch carried an article you are seeking.

News

News - Insight

News - Faith & Values

Editorial & Comment

Business

Business - Connect

Business - Wheels

Sports

Features - Accent & Arts

Features - Food

Features - Home & Garden

Features - NOW

Features - Outside/Inside

Features - Travel

Features - Weekender

Search tips for locating information about people and property:

Deaths, Births, Marriages, Divorces - Search under the section News and use keywords such as Births and a proper name and/or the name of a hospital. An example would be: Births and Doe and Riverside Methodist.

Deaths & Funerals (paid obituaries) - use the keyword obituary and narrow the Search with a proper name, the name of a funeral home, the month of the death, or names of survivors. For example: Obituary and John Public and December and Jane Public. House Market: - Search for the keyword House Market and a person or address or street and house market to find real estate listings only.

Search tips for searching for persons:

The most effective method of Searching personal names uses the proximity connector. By Searching the name john smith, you may not retrieve john william (bill) smith. Use the forward slash (/) and the number 2 to expand your Search. The following Search: john /2 smith is a much better Search. Searching by byline:

It may help narrow a Search if you know a story you are seeking was written by a specific Dispatch staffer. Type the byline in the "Enter your query" field. It is helpful to use a full name, as "Hunter" will return articles by Bob Hunter as well as any other articles containing the name Hunter.

Who can I contact for more help?

For other questions and problems, please e-mail us at: archives@dispatch.com