[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Inconsistent search results

Thu May 26 11:49:21 EDT 2011

Thanks Elaine!

(I really think 
> your branch needs to beef up its animals living in space collection)

I really thought I might get something on Laika, the Russian dog that was
sent into space, but he's filed under Astronautics, not Solar System.

> For #4 - It is my understanding that the number of results is 
> an estimate of the returns and may or may not reflect the 
> actual number of titles in the results. As it was explained 
> to me, estimation of results is tied to the use of superpages 
> to aggregate and retrieve results in Evergreen searching (at 
> least in the PINES database).

After I sent the e-mail yesterday, I hand counted the results that I used as
my example, and I did find that, in most cases, the system was retrieving 70
results. For results sorted by relevancy, there were 69 and for results
sorted by Title Z to A, there were 67. I know the number of results can vary
in many search systems - I see it happen in Google all the time. I'm
interested in getting a better understanding of what would cause this
difference so that I can then explain it to our libraries.

Thanks again!
Kathy

-------------------------------------------------------------
Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 756-0172
(508) 755-3721 (fax)
klussier at masslnc.org
IM: kmlussier (AOL & Yahoo)
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier

> -----Original Message-----
> From: open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org 
> [mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] 
> On Behalf Of Hardy, Elaine
> Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2011 11:29 AM
> To: 'Evergreen Discussion Group'
> Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Inconsistent search results
> 
> For #1 - I see this in the staff client in 1.4 and 1.6. I 
> have not had an opportunity to report it as an problem. I'm 
> seeing some other inconsistent results in the OPAC. Searching 
> for keyword cataloging (no filtering) in the local branch I 
> retrieve 1691 results. When I sort  by title, the returns 
> drop to 134. When I return to advanced search and filter by 
> books and nonfiction, sort on relevance, I get 1240. When I 
> sort by title from the result screen, I get 134. 
> 
>  
> 
> For the subject searches, I also get inconsistent results, 
> but since subject searching differs in 1.6, I don't know that 
> what I am seeing is relevant to what you see. (I really think 
> your branch needs to beef up its animals living in space collection)
> 
>  
> 
> For #4 - It is my understanding that the number of results is 
> an estimate of the returns and may or may not reflect the 
> actual number of titles in the results. As it was explained 
> to me, estimation of results is tied to the use of superpages 
> to aggregate and retrieve results in Evergreen searching (at 
> least in the PINES database).
> 
>  
> 
> Elaine 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> J. Elaine Hardy
> 
> PINES Bibliographic Projects and Metadata Manager
> 
> Georgia Public Library Service,
> 
> A Unit of the University System of Georgia
> 
> 1800 Century Place, Suite 150
> 
> Atlanta, Ga. 30345-4304
> 
> 404.235-7128
> 
> 404.235-7201, fax
> 
>  
> 
> ehardy at georgialibraries.org <mailto:ehardy at georgialibraries.org> 
> 
> www.georgialibraries.org <http://www.georgialibraries.org> 
> 
> http://www.georgialibraries.org/pines/ 
> <http://www.georgialibraries.org/pines/> 
> 
>  
> 
> From: open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org 
> [mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] 
> On Behalf Of Kathy Lussier
> Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 2:02 PM
> To: 'Evergreen Discussion Group'
> Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Inconsistent search results
> 
>  
> 
>  Hi all,
> 
>  
> 
> We have noticed some interesting behavior with search 
> results. This may be a little difficult to explain, but I'm 
> wondering if any of these issues are bugs that can be fixed 
> or if the behavior is there by design. If it's by design, I 
> would be interested in getting further explanation on what is 
> happening behind the scenes.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm looking at a 2.1 system, but I've noticed this behavior 
> in other 2.0 catalogs as well.
> 
>  
> 
> 1. If I conduct a search for solar system from the advanced 
> search screen, limit the search to my branch, and then apply 
> a search filter for books and non-fiction, I get 53 search 
> results. In the search bar along the top of the screen, the 
> branch limiter has been carried over, but the format is set 
> to all formats. If the patron then clicks to limit the search 
> to available items or chooses to sort the results by 
> publication date, it looks like the system is executing the 
> search using the parameters contained in that search bar. 
> Since the non-fiction and book limiters were not carried over 
> to the search bar, these limiters are no longer part of the 
> search. Therefore, if a user chooses to simply change the 
> sort on those results, they are suddenly dealing with 73 
> results that include non-print and fiction material.
> 
>  
> 
> 2. Doing the same search that I conducted in the above 
> example, I see from my facet list that there are 14 titles 
> with the geographic subject of "solar system." If I click on 
> that facet, once again, the system appears to be executing 
> the search using parameters contained in the search bar. The 
> resulting list has 18 titles instead of the 14 titles that I 
> was expecting. These new results contain non-print and 
> fiction material.
> 
>  
> 
> 3. After limiting my search with a facet, I then click on the 
> advanced search button to conduct a new search. I notice that 
> ft= subject|geographic[Solar system] has carried over to the 
> URL for this page. I click the Reset Form button and then do 
> a search for dogs. In this case, I get no search results 
> because the solar system geographic subject facet has carried 
> over to this search. (This library must not have any books on 
> dogs living in outer space.) There is no indication letting 
> the user know the solar system facet has been applied to this 
> search. So, in the first two examples, I'm in a situation 
> where I want search limiters to stick, but they are not 
> sticking. In this case, I have a limiter that just won't go 
> away. There are only two ways I've found to get the facet to 
> unstick: either by conducting a new search from the basic 
> search page or by removing the parameters from the URL.
> 
>  
> 
> 4. Even when I'm not applying a limiter to my search, I 
> sometimes get an inconsistent number of search results 
> depending on the way the list is sorted. This inconsistency 
> is most likely to happen with a larger result set. If I do a 
> search for solar system from the basic search of our demo 
> system, I get 69  results - 
> http://egdemo.mvlcstaff.org/opac/en-US/skin/klussier/xml/rresu
> lt.xml?rt=keyword&tp=keyword&t=solar%20system&ft=&l=4&d=2&f=. 
> The result set then ranges anywhere from 67 to 72 depending 
> on which sort option I select. Sorting by title A to Z gives 
> me 70 results and sorting by title Z to A gives me 67 results.
> 
>  
> 
> Any thoughts on on this?
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Kathy Lussier
> 
>  
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Kathy Lussier
> 
> Project Coordinator
> 
> Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
> 
> (508) 756-0172
> 
> (508) 755-3721 (fax)
> 
> klussier at masslnc.org
> 
> IM: kmlussier (AOL & Yahoo)
> 
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> 