Hi Kathy, I'm curious, are you thinking this will be ready for 2.4?
On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 4:32 PM, Kathy Lussier <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > We've contracted with Catalyst IT Services to create an interface to > support traditional Boolean operators in tpac. I wanted to share some of > our plans on the list so that we can get feedback from the community before > proceeding. > > This functionality was important to many of our libraries because, even > though the advanced search interface provides a graphical way to do Boolean > searches, there is no way to control the nesting of searches, making it > difficult to perform more complex searches. > > For example, if a user were to enter the search terms in Advanced Search > as drugs AND teenagers OR adolescents, the resulting query would be ((drugs > && keyword:teenagers) || keyword:adolescents), when the intended query is > drugs && (teenagers || adolescents). Performing a search with more complex > nesting, something like "((mouse or rat) and trap) or mousetrap", requires > free-form entry to get the nesting right. However, users are expected to > know that && means "and" and that || means "or." Our academics, in > particular, were concerned, because they often start their instruction in > Boolean searching with the library catalog before moving on to full-text > databases. > > Attached is a mock-up of the interface we would like to include. It would > add a new Boolean search tab to the advanced search interface. When > searching from this interface, if any Boolean operators are present based > on the locale settings, the system will replace them accordingly with the > correct syntax (&& || -) to perform the search. As part of the work, > Catalyst will also leverage the Evergreen locale settings so that operators > can be entered in other languages. After performing the search, clicking > the "Refine Search" link will return the user to the Boolean search tab > with their originally-entered search terms auto-populating the boxes. There > will be a configuration setting to disable/enable this feature. > > Let me know if you have any thoughts on this project! > > Kathy > > -- > Kathy Lussier > Project Coordinator > Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative > (508) 343-0128 > [email protected] > Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/**kmlussier<http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier> > > -- Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services, York County Library System "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -- C.S. Lewis <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis>
