Quicksearch Beta Feedback

Many thanks to everyone who has provided feedback about the Quicksearch Beta interface!

Our favorite feedback message so far:

YAY QUICKSEARCH BETA! I just ran my old faithful search, “water nepal” and got some slammin results.

We’ve also received a lot of great suggestions for changes that would make the interface work better.  For example, two staff members suggested linking to the Orbis record, instead of directly into the Orbis Request feature, so that our patrons can access all of our Scan and Deliver, Aeon, and other request options.

That’s just the sort of feedback we’re looking for!

We have already started work reviewing and making changes like this where we can.  You can see the full list of issues reported and new features requested online on our two sharepoint lists:

Reported Issues: http://tinyurl.com/lit-qs-issues-xslx

Requested Features: http://tinyurl.com/lit-qs-requests-xslx

We hope you will continue exploring Quicksearch Beta (http://search.library.yale.edu) , particularly by using it as part of your daily work.  Please report any comments or suggestions you may have via the ‘Feedback’ links in the header and footer of each Quicksearch page.

Things to try: custom new items lists and RSS feeds

Did you know that you can get a custom list of new items from Quicksearch? You can have it display on the screen by bookmarking your search after applying some limits and sorting, or you can have the information sent directly to the RSS feed reader of your choice. (Note RSS here is really simple syndication – a way to get updated information to your computer automatically, not Yale’s research storage service.)

 

You can get a list of newly acquired (not necessarily newly published) items that are relevant to you by running a catalog search in Quicksearch. Then apply a limit by Acquisition Date – perhaps “within 1 month.” You can add further limits too – perhaps only by location “Haas Arts Library.” Then choose sort by “Acquired Latest” to see the newest items added to the Quicksearch catalog. You can also adjust how many results display per page (this will also be the number of items sent to the RSS feed).

 

Once you have the search and limits just as you want it, you can bookmark the page or click the orange RSS icon RSS icon (right under “Previous” in the results header) to open the RSS feed in the program of your choice – for many that will be Outlook, though there are other options.

 

One last tip, not Quicksearch specific, is to replace your keyword search with a subject search – or limit by subject or call number – in order to produce more focused results. If subjects align well with your interest, consider removing the keyword search term altogether. For example, my test search of the past month’s acquisitions found 4 items with the keyword “copyright” and the subjects “copyright” or “intellectual property.” When I removed the keyword from the search, leaving only the “Acquisition Date” and “Subject” limits, I found four more on-point results – eight total, four that didn’t have the keyword “copyright” at all (items in non-English languages, for example).

 

Setup for a new items search

[click image to enlarge]

1. To search only by Library of Congress Subject Heading, leave the keyword search blank, or clear it.

2. This will set the maximum number of items in your RSS feed.

3. This sort will show the newest items acquired at the top of the list.

4. “Any of” these subjects will “or” the terms together, making a larger result set.

5. Here is the RSS icon that give you the feed address for this exact search.

6. Acquisition date limits will keep the list smaller.

A Quick Guide to Features in Quicksearch beta

There are several new features in Quicksearch that you might want to take a closer look at. These include:

– A search for “resnik justice‘ Quicksearch main page brings up the book by Judith Resnik in the Catalogs search and related articles in the Articles+ search:
Quicksearch beta screenshot

 

Search criteria “breadcrumbs” appear at the top of your results, making it easier to remember the criteria and facets you’ve used:

Quicksearch beta screenshot

 

Facets are easily applied and easily removed:

Quicksearch screenshot

 

Facets can be toggled as inclusive or exclusive (e.g. “Is” this or “Is Not” this):

Quicksearch screenshot

 

– Searches can be converted into RSS:

Quicksearch screenshot

 

This is just a short list… What Quicksearch beta features have you found to be useful or interesting? Let us know via the feedback form!

 

More information and tips on Quicksearch beta features and functionality to come!

Thanks,

The Quicksearch Implementation team

Project Schedule Update

Now that Quicksearch is available for review by Library staff, the Quicksearch Implementation team will focus its efforts on three categories of work.

First, we will
fix any bugs or other errors reported by staff as part of the review process.  

Second, we will write documentation, both to highlight the new and exciting search features of Quicksearch, and to document the metadata mappings that are currently in use.

Finally, we are planning to develop a long list of new features.  

Most of the new features focus on replicating our existing patron services, but some, like the dynamic display of Item Statuses from Morris, will be brand new, and something we haven’t been able to do in other systems in the past.

Here is our upcoming schedule for the development of these new features:

Fall 2014

  • Add links to online materials directly from the search results list
  • Create a new ‘Resources about Yale” archival resource
  • Login to your account
  • Create bookmarks
  • Export to Endnote and Refworks
  • Expand the list of Summon Facets

Winter 2015

  • Place Orbis Requests in Quicksearch
  • Display Morris Item Statuses in Quicksearch holdings
  • Use the Morris API to do daily record updates

Spring / Early Summer 2015

  • Scan and Deliver Requests
  • Aeon Requests
  • Integrate Findit as a new resource in Quicksearch
  • Borrow Direct / Hathi Trust direct linking