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

[Donald Butterworth]

Both these proposals sound like a great improvement to me. One question,
will the hot links for the dashed subject entries on the bibliographic
screen point to the subject browse result screen or the subject keyword
result screen?

Personally I would like to see all hot links on the bib screen point to
browse result screens. e.g. author/editor/contributor, series, subject,
title, and call number.

How does that sound everyone?

Don


On Thu, Aug 28, 2014 at 4:32 PM, Kathy Lussier <klussier at masslnc.org> wrote:

> 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
>
>


-- 
Don Butterworth
Faculty Associate / Librarian III
B.L. Fisher Library
Asbury Theological Seminary
don.butterworth at asburyseminary.edu
(859) 858-2227
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