Searching Our Patron Catalog: Fun with Special Characters!

Sometimes our patron catalog makes me question my sanity. Today, I was reading an interview on Public Libraries Online with Joshilyn Jackson about her newest book, Someone Else’s Love Story. It looked interesting so I copied the title, from the website, and then pasted it into our catalog. Our catalog claimed we didn't have it which I thought was odd. I went to Amazon, found the ISBN, came back to our search, and pasted the ISBN into the ISBN index. This time our catalog did find the book. Why?

I examined the title again. It looked the same as what I had typed in. I came up with a hypothesis: perhaps our catalog had trouble searching single quotes. I pasted the title in again and substituted an asterisk instead of a single quote like this: Someone Else*s Love Story . This time it worked! I erased the asterisk and typed a single quote in just to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Wait, it worked with the single quote also. I copied the title again, and once again it didn't work. I stared at the screen in frustration.

Finally, I found the problem. It turns out that our catalog has absolutely no problem searching for titles where you use the single quote that appears on your keyboard ('). What it can't do is use right single quotes (’). Look closely, can you see the difference?

Single Quote	Right Single Quote
'	’

So the moral of the story is, if you copy and paste something into our catalog and retrieve no results, makes sure your copy source didn't use special single/double quotes. If it did, erase that part and retype it using your keyboard.

As an aside, we're hoping to move to a new ILS system next year. I double checked and this particular problem should not be an issue in our new system.

Finding eBooks in our Catalog

Over a year without a single post . . . As you can tell, I've been spending less time working on catalog search tips. We're currently in the process of looking for a new integrated library system (ILS). Perhaps once we've selected our new ILS I'll start posting more again.

However, today's topic is finding eBooks within our catalog. At the moment, our library district subscribes to two ebook vendors: Overdrive and Axis360. We've been using Overdrive for years now and the product works pretty well. However, I personally find epub picture books are often formatted poorly. For instance, the picture may appear on one page but you have to swipe to the next page to see the text. Axis360, on the other hand, is a fairly new product. I find its interface still has quite a few quirks. However, the picture books look gorgeous on my iPad when I use the Blio format.

Searching for eBooks by Subject
Most people probably search for eBooks by going to Overdrive's or Axis360's site directly. The upside to doing it this way is you can immediately tell whether or not the book is available. However, I haven't had very good luck when I'm searching for a specific genre of book. For instance, the other weekend, I was looking for Christian Fiction books on Overdrive's site. I went to the Advanced Search, clicked the Subject drop-down menu and chose Christian Fiction. I got 24 results. That didn't sound right to me.

This same search can be done via HIP, our catalog. Go to http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ and choose the Advanced Search. Click the first drop down box and choose Subject Keyword then type "Christian Fiction". Then, under the Format limit, chose "Books - eBooks, Downloadable" and click the red arrow to search. This time I get 187 results which sounds more realistic. Choosing the "Books - eBooks, Downloadable" format option will retrieve both our Overdrive and Axis360 ebook collections. However, if you have a preference, you can change the search to get just one or the other.

To retrieve eBooks from a specific vendor, go back to the Advanced search page and enter your search terms like we did before. However, this time change the second drop down box to be General Keyword and then next to it type "Overdrive" or "Axis360" (without spaces), depending on which vendor results you want. I'm going to specify Overdrive books. This time you can see that I've retrieved about 167 results.

Searching for Picture eBooks
Picture books usually get lumped into the "juvenile" subject headings, even within our catalog. However, the audience for Boy + Bot is significantly different than the audience for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I find it very tiresome to wade through all the "juvenile fiction" results looking for ebooks that might be picture books. However, the advanced search in our catalog has the ability to limit to "easy" ebooks*.

As I mentioned above, while the Axis360 interface is still quirky, I do like the Blio format it provides better for picture books. I'm going on a plane trip next week and need a way to keep my 4-year-old son occupied. As a result, I want a list of all picture books available from Axis360. First, I go to the catalog's Advanced Search page. I click the drop down box and choose General Keyword and then type Axis360. Next, I go to the format limit and select "Books - eBooks, Downloadable." Finally, under Audience I choose "Children - Easy" and click the red search arrow. My search returns 143 results.

As I mentioned before, the downside to searching for eBooks via our catalog is you have to click on the vendor link before you know whether or not it's available for immediate checkout. I'm hoping our next catalog will have better integration so it's no longer necessary to choose between specific subject/audience searches and limiting to "available now" items. Until then, I go directly to the vendor sites when I need books that are immediately available and usually search through our catalog when I'm looking for specific subjects or picture books.

*UPDATE: I should mention that I have tried the grade level facets on Overdrive's site and find it works reasonably well for picture books. My main complaint is, as far as I can tell, there isn't a way to start out doing a grade level browse. I have to first enter some sort of search query and at that point can narrow it by grade level. I've also tried Axis360 grade level search and personally find it a bit tricky to use. However, that could just be me.

UPDATED: Browse Tags

UPDATED: I was informed of a problem with the tags that should now be fixed. Now, once you click on a tag, you should also be able to click on the book title and go straight to our catalog record for that item.

I'm testing out a new feature from LibraryThing on the public catalog. It's called "Browse by Tags". In prior posts I've talked about tags from LibraryThing. However, up till now, you had to go to a full bib record in order to see them.

This new feature is available from the Basic Search page. Underneath the search box there is now a link to "Browse by Tags." If you click it, you see a quick summary of some of the most prevelant tags that have been applied to our collection. To see more tags, click the 250, 500, or 1000 links.

In addition to browsing tags, you can search for new tags. This search box works the same way the tag search box works in the full bib. To search for the intersection between multiple tags, seperate them by commas. For example, I might search for historical mystery, regency. Or, to exclude items with specific tags, put two dashes in front of the tag. So, if I wanted a historical regency mystery but didn't want it to include any Jane Austen charaters, I might search for historical mystery, regency, --Jane Austen.

As I mentioned in the beginning, I'm just testing this feature out. Whether or not it stays depends on whether you think it's worthwhile. So, let me know what you think.

Subject Headings are (Usually) Plural

When you search for subject headings in our catalog, always assume that the subject heading is plural.

I just ran across a case where someone, I have no idea who, did a general keyword search for "bildungsroman." If this was a library borrower rather than a staff person, I'm very impressed. When I first started working at the library, I had to look up the term.

Unfortunately, a general keyword search for bildungsroman only returns 5 results. A subject keyword search is even worse, returning no results. Why? It's because our subject headings use the plural form, bildungsromans. All it would have taken for this searcher to retrieve 1,974 results was to add a little s at the end of the word.

Unfortunately, this is a pretty common problem. I've seen quite a few searches fail, including some of my own, because the search query was in the singular form. At some point, we might get a discovery layer* which hopefully will be smart enough to return results for many of these cases. Until then, if you're not using the Advanced Search page, you can try the Subject Alphabetical index which, depending on the term, may provide a hint on whether you should search for the singular or plural form of a word. If you are still intent on using the keyword searches, please, unless you know otherwise, try the plural form first.

* A discovery layer is an interface that sits on top of our catalog and searches the way our catalog should in the first place. This usually includes things such as spell check, relevancy ranking, basic stemming and more. It also often has the ability to integrate, at least to a limited extent, with our databases and other online resources.

Catalog URL Structure

Last month we added a permanent link feature for our catalog. I've used this quite a bit since adding it. Hopefully, it's useful to more people than just me :) In any case, while I find the permanent link helpful, it doesn't always do everything I want. Below is a rundown of the URL structure in the catalog as well as some tips about how to get different results.

There are a couple of different types of links you can create in our catalog.

• Search Links
• Title Links

Search Links

Here's an example of what a typical search link looks like:
http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1WH618765K260.78924&menu=search&aspect=subtab240&npp=10&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=weld&ri=&index=.TS&term=home+staging&x=0&y=0&aspect=subtab240

Much of this information can be deleted. However, there are six elements that a basic search link should contain:

Description	Code	Example
Base URL	http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?	http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?
The library code that should be used	&profile=	&profile=weld
Which search menu is used	&menu=	&menu=search
Which search subtab you're using	&aspect=	&aspect=subtab240
The search index	&index=	&index=.ts
The search term (no spaces, use + instead)	&term=	&term=home+staging

If you do an advanced search, such as this one there are some additional elements that are required:

Description	Code	Example
Which search subtab you're using (different than basic search)	&aspect=	&aspect=subtab242
Boolean operators if multiple indexes are used	&oper=	&oper=AND
Which limit box and limits are used	&limitbox_2	&limitbox_3=CO01+%3D+wld_en+or+CO01+%3D+wld_jn
How to sort the results	&sort=	&sort=310014

In addition, there are a couple of ways you can change the URL and make it act differently:

Description	Code	Example
Determine how many results show*	&npp=	&npp=100
Show an XML-like display (need to manually add at the end of the URL)	&GetXML=	&GetXML=true

* I've gotten reports that this option may not work for everyone so let me know if it doesn't work for you.

Title Links
In most cases, the Permanent Link option in the catalog will meet your needs. However, it is also possible to manually create direct title links. Direct title links are most often created using ISBN/ISSN, UPC Exact Match, Bib Number, or Bib Control Number - Exact Match. To create these types of links, many of the same elements appear as in the search URL.

Description	Code	Example
Base URL	http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?	http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?
The library code that should be used (optional)	&profile=	&profile=weld
The search index	&index=	&index=ISBNEX
The number	&term=	&term=0783274068

If you choose to include a library code, it will show the items for that library first if the item is currently checked in.

When creating a direct link, first decide which index you want to use. Then, find the identifying number to use. The index is put in the &index= element and the number is put after the &term element.

Description	Code	Example
ISBN/ISSN	&index=ISBNEX	http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?index=ISBNEX&term=0783274068
UPC	&index=UPCEX	http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?index=UPCEX&term=678149013122
Bib Number	&index=BIB	http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?index=BIB&term=965252
Bib Control Number	&index=CNTRLEX	http://catalog.mylibrary.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?index=CNTRLEX&term=ocm50841487

Adding to "New at the Library"

I've made a couple of changes to our New at the Library catalog page.

• Added a "New Spanish" section
• Renamed "New DVD" to "New Movie & TV" and added links to new Blu-ray and TV Series
• Added YA Non-fiction and Audiobook links to the "New YA" section
• Reordered everything to make the expanded options fit better in two columns

I've also made a minor change to the Advanced search page. There is no longer an "All" category for locations, formats, audience, and new items. It was getting too hard to keep the collection codes straight. Instead, if you wish to deselect a limit after you've already clicked on it, hold down the ctrl key on your keyboard and click on the limit you wish to remove.

Sorry, could not find anything matching

I was reading posts on my romance listserv this morning and someone mentioned that Carola Dunn wrote a mystery series set in the 1960s. The poster had read the second book in the series, A Colourful Death, and thought it was interesting. I've enjoyed Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series so thought I'd look this one up and give it a try.

I started with an Author - Alphabetical search but quickly wimped out when I saw there were 43 titles by Dunn. Then, I decided it would be faster to do a title search for "A Colorful Death" and then use the series info on the left side of the page to figure out the first book.

When I did a Title Keyword search for a colorful death, I got no results. At first, I was worried we might not have it. Then, I decided adding the article a to the phrase was a mistake since catalogs often ignore articles if it's the first word of a title. I changed my search to just "colorful death" and was taken to the correct record!

I was excited and decided I needed to write a post warning everyone about including initial articles when doing a phrase search. Except . . . that wasn't the reason my search worked. The real reason my first title keyword search hadn't returned anything was because I had used the US spelling for "colorful" instead of the UK spelling of "colourful." If I had searched for "A Colourful Death", I would have seen that we actually had two editions of that book. The only reason my second title keyword search returned anything was because "colorful death" was listed as an Additional Title in the MARC record for that specific edition.

The moral of the story is to always double check your spelling when the catalog doesn't return the results you want. Even though we now have a Did You Mean feature, it's not going to catch every error that I make.

Several years ago I ran across a fantastic article about The Seven Deadly Nyms. It lists several other ways to accidentally mess up your search results. While search engines and catalogs continue to evolve, they still tend to return the results we asked for, not the results we want.