While search speed and retrieval order does need to be improved, we do get complaints from users about how searches are displayed. The long list of titles can be frustrating. While improving retrieval order will improve this, there may still be instances where the search target may be buried down the list for valid reasons -- in a subject search, for example. Having a more condensed way to display titles to minimize scrolling might be good (facets do make this better).
I would also like to see the search cap handled differently. It currently stops at 10,000 and doesn't give the user any indication that it did so. Informing the user that their results are capped and either giving them a way to retrieve additional titles or suggesting they search again, with filters and more information. I wouldn't stop that initial search (like OCLC does); but, I would let the user know that they may need to search again to find what they need. With a database the size of PINES, users do hit that 10,000 threshold. When we were originally testing Evergreen there was a "did you mean" functionality. It was a free add on and we got what we paid for since the suggestions were profane and not safe for work. It was a source of much amusement at the time. Elaine J. Elaine Hardy PINES & Collaborative Projects Manager Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Ste 150 Atlanta, Ga. 30345-4304 404.235.7128 404.235.7201, fax [email protected] www.georgialibraries.org www.georgialibraries.org/pines -----Original Message----- From: Open-ils-dev [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of McCanna, Terran Sent: Friday, October 23, 2015 5:15 PM To: Evergreen Development Discussion List <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-DEV] Evergreen search discussion We are definitely interested in all aspects of Evergreen search. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the hack-a-way in Boston, but Chris Sharp will be there. Any ideas to improve search speed would be extremely welcome for us, and the 'did you mean?' functionality is something that is frequently requested. Terran McCanna PINES Program Manager Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Suite 150 Atlanta, GA 30345 404-235-7138 [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Lussier" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 3:37:19 PM Subject: [OPEN-ILS-DEV] Evergreen search discussion Hi all, I've added a topic to the hack-a-way agenda to discuss Evergreen search. However, I wanted to raise the topic here on the list first since the discussion may require some forethought and because I imagine there are people interested in this discussion who won't be attending the hack-a-way. In discussing our development priorities for the year, MassLNC decided to focus on making improvements to search in Evergreen. We view search as one of the most important pieces of the ILS, if not the most important. It's what allows our users to find those resources we spend so much time cataloging so that they can then place holds on them, check them out from the library, or access them in some other way. There are some specific development projects we identified as possibilities: Did you Mean? functionality, working auto-suggest, improved speed, etc. However, rather than tacking these improvements on to the existing search, we thought it might be a good time for the community to step back, take a big-picture look at how we're doing search, and determine if we should continue down this path, if we need to make major underlying changes for our current path to be more performant/effective, or if we should consider moving to something else to handle Evergreen search. Would it be worthwhile to move to something like Solr or Elasticsearch or something other thing to handle Evergreen searches? If not, are there changes we should do to better utilize improvements full-text search that have been made to recent versions of PostgreSQL? I don't have the answers to these questions, but I think it's worthwhile for the community to identify what we expect of Evergreen search and to do a thorough analysis of available options to determine what will best help us attain those goals. Over the past few months, the folks at MassLNC have started a discussion of what our overall goals for search are. From these discussions, we have created a vision for what we would like to see in Evergreen search - http://masslnc.org/search_vision . From this search vision, we then identified specific areas of improvements / new features that would help Evergreen reach this vision. We also identified areas where we already are doing well and will want to maintain - http://masslnc.org/node/3164. I'm sure there are some areas where others may disagree with our ideas, but I'm guessing there are other areas where we'll get broad community consensus around some of these search priorities. I don't think we're in a position where we can choose a direction at the hack-a-way, but maybe we can do the following: * At the hack-a-way, can we have a discussion to see if there is interest in this project? We might also be able to identify some viable options that could be explored at the hack-a-way. * After the hack-a-way, the community could work on setting and prioritizing high-level goals for search in the Evergreen catalog. Ideally, we would have these search goals ready by the end of the calendar year. I would be willing to help facilitate this process. * After the goals are identified, we explore available options to see which will the best to help us attain those goals. It would be great if we had the ability to do some prototypes during this phase, but this would depend on people having the time / resources to do those prototypes. * Ideally, by the time we meet again at the conference hackfest in April, we'll be in a position where we can set a direction for search and then move forward with development. I'm sure the process won't be as simple as what I outlined above, and all of you may have better ideas on the best ways to evaluate our options. But I'm hoping this email helps us kick off a conversation that ultimately leads to fast and relevant search in Evergreen. Thanks! Kathy -- Kathy Lussier Project Coordinator Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative (508) 343-0128 [email protected] Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
