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

[Kathy Lussier]

Hi Donald,

This proposal wouldn't make any changes to the subject links on the bib 
record. It would only affect the display of subjects in the browse list.

Thanks for the feedback!

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

On 8/29/2014 10:42 AM, Donald Butterworth wrote:
> 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 
> <mailto: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 <tel:%28508%29%20343-0128>
>     klussier at masslnc.org <mailto: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 
> <mailto:don.butterworth at asburyseminary.edu>
> (859) 858-2227

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