[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Proposed changes to browse indexes

[Kathy Lussier]

Hi all,

Recently, NOBLE made some local customizations to config.metabib_field 
to improve browse search on their local system. They would like to 
contribute a branch to make these changes in Evergreen for 2.next, but I 
wanted to share their changes with the community first to see if can 
generate some community consensus around the changes.

1. We would like to submit a branch that enables browse search for the 
complete (All Subjects) field, and disables it for the all of the other 
fields that are included in the subject class. This branch would also 
add a -- joiner so that the fields properly display separators. 
Currently, Evergreen is indexing the individual subdivisions. By 
enabling browse for the complete field, we see the full heading in the 
subject browse. By disabling browse for all of the other subject 
indexes, we remove subdivisions like handbooks, manuals, etc. as 
something that is currently being displayed as a standalone heading (not 
very useful to the user.) This branch would address the bugs reported in 
https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1331506 and in 
https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1331524.

Based on previous discussions on this topic, I'm fairly sure most end 
users will prefer these defaults. However, I just want to make sure this 
is desired before we submit any changes.

The changes would be supplied in the seed data for new Evergreen 
installs, but, because we don't want to break any customizations that 
may have been made to existing index definitions, most likely won't be 
applied for upgrades. However, we could probably supply a SQL statement 
in the release notes that lets existing sites know how to make these 
changes if they want them.

2. The second change we would like to make affects the ease with which 
users can find titles starting with initial articles. Currently, most of 
the title indexes honor non-filing indicators, so that a title like "The 
Help" will ignore "the" and file "The Help" with the H's. If a patron 
inadvertently enters "the help," there is a warning that can be enabled 
telling the patron they may want to try the search without "the." 
However, in investigating the bug at 
https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1321780, we discovered that 
the 740 field is being handled a little differently because it is being 
indexed twice, once with the non-filing characters and once without . 
For example, in one catalog, "the heart sutra" is being indexed with the 
h's, but is also being indexed with the t's (for the).

We would like to propose that this approach be used for all title 
indexes. With this approach, the user will find a title whether or not 
they include the initial articles in their search. It reduces the amount 
of training that needs to be done to teach users how to use the catalog.

Of course, these additional indexes could remain a customization that is 
just handled locally, but, since it makes it easier for a patron or 
student to use browse, we think it's worthy of consideration for the 
default indexes.

Both of these changes have already been made to the NOBLE catalog. You 
can see these changes in action at 
http://evergreen.noblenet.org/eg/opac/browse.

Kathy

-- 
Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 343-0128
klussier at masslnc.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
#evergreen IRC: kmlussier