In advanced search, we have a list of fields to search within. Could we group similar items together, such as, put ISBN and ISSN near each other in the list? Put Title Keyword above Title Proper? Place Publisher Date and Publisher Name together in the list? I think we need to leave Keyword Anywhere, Title Keyword, Author Keyword, and Subject Keyword as the first four options. Is there a reason to keep the order we have now?
5 comments:
I think this is a great idea. I agree that the keyword search options should be at the top of the list, but placing less frequently used search options lower on the list. I'm wondering about renaming some of the search options. Will a patron know what a series is searching for, or what Title Proper is in comparison to Title keyword? Author keyword compared to Personal Name? Can we pare the list down or come up with some other terms or phrases to aid in using these searches?
This is a great idea, but ... The order of the search indexes for Advanced Search is controlled by the Voyager database. The search indexes that are used the most appear at the top. This is a much discussed topic on Voyager-L.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "controlled by the Voyager database." Does it mean that ISBN shows up first in the dropdown menu because the majority of advanced searches done in our catalog are limited to "within ISBN?"
I also agree with renaming the search options. For examples of how others have renamed see SMU, U Mass Boston, Texas Lutheran, Univ of Cambridge (their top 3 are Title, Author Name and Subject). Also notice that some offer fewer options in their drop down list.
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