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

2014-08-28 Thread Kathy Lussier 

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
kluss...@masslnc.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
#evergreen IRC: kmlussier

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

2014-08-29 Thread Donald Butterworth 
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  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
> kluss...@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.butterwo...@asburyseminary.edu
(859) 858-2227

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

2014-08-29 Thread 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
kluss...@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 > 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 
kluss...@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.butterwo...@asburyseminary.edu 


(859) 858-2227

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

2014-08-29 Thread Elizabeth B. Thomsen 

Hi, Don,

Although this is a separate issue from the current proposed changes, 
it's an interesting question and one I know you have raised before. 
It's a question we've just begun to discuss here, and I feel like we 
need more experience with browse to decide exactly how it should work.


The fact that headings in records work so differently than the headings 
in the browse display is why we chose to use a different separator in 
browse.  We had some trouble when we first moved to Evergreen 
understanding how subject headings in records worked until we changed 
the separator to the greater than sign, which helped people see these as 
breadcrumbs.  The headings in the browse display are treated as one long 
string, and we thought the dash conveyed that better.


When a user is looking at a record like this one:
http://evergreen.noblenet.org/eg/opac/record/1458151?locg=1

They will see some very specific headings like this:
Children > United States > History > 18th century > Activity programs

The user can currently decide to click on only part of the heading to do 
a less specific search -- for example, if they click on "18th century" 
they will find a lot of books on children in that era that aren't 
activity programs, which can be useful.


I can think of a few ways the heading links from records could work:

1.  The same way they do now
2.  Take you to the browse index page in the neighborhood of that 
heading: http://bit.ly/browseoption1
3. Take you to the directly to the records using the heading (the 
equivalent of clicking on the heading in the browse list in #2.)  In 
this case, there is only one record with this heading so you'd be 
jumping back to the record.  Perhaps with this option, the headings in 
the record would need to show the number of records, like the browse 
page does.
4. A hybrid model that lets the user choose just a partial heading (for 
example, Children > United States > History) and it's treated one of the 
options in #3.


We've only had browse up for a couple of weeks and have not really given 
this issue enough thought to know how we'd like the headings in records 
to work, and that may be true of others as well.  But this is definitely 
an issue that I think the community will want to discuss, and to make 
sure that we get as much input as possible from public service librarians.


Elizabeth

On 8/29/2014 10:45 AM, Kathy Lussier wrote:

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
kluss...@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 mailto:kluss...@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