Configuring Basic and Advanced searches
Answer
You'll need the following role in Alma:
- Discovery - Admin
Search Scopes determine the source of the content that you would like to search.
Primo VE was delivered with several scopes already set up for each campus, including your library catalog, CDI article content, etc. The scopes are configured to be reusable in a variety of search profiles.
- Scopes can contain a mix of different search sources or queries, or you can create your own using “Custom Local Data Scopes.”
- There are 3 different conditions by which you can create a custom scope: Inventory, Local Fields, or Metadata.
- Note that there are two versions of the SUNY Catalog in your scopes list, which were set up by Ex Libris. SUNY Library Services recommends using the NewDiscoveryNetwork scope because it is limited to physical items. The original DiscoveryNetwork scope includes electronic bib records which may not be requestable and may not be available for your campus.
If you want to edit or create a specific search scope and search profile, such as a search of a specific collection like audiobooks or DVDs, you can set that up in the Search Profiles area: Discovery>Search Configuration>Search Profiles:
To create a custom local data scope, click on the Custom Local Data Scopes tab and choose Add a Custom Scope:
Under Scope Details, give your new scope a code (anything you want, no spaces or unusual characters), a name, a description (optional), the source of your scope (local or network), and then identify the data by specific conditions, such as location/collection name:
Once you’ve created your scope, save it and then add any additional scopes that you’d like to use in your basic and advanced searches.
Search profiles allow you to define groups of records that meet specific conditions. A Search Profile can combine search scopes, or it can contain a single scope. You can choose a combination of custom scopes, scopes from your institution, or externally managed scopes such as the Central Discovery Index.
To create a new profile in Discovery>Search Configuration>Search Profiles, click on Add a Search Profile:
Pick a code, a display name (this will show in Primo), and then select the scope(s) that you'd like to use:
Any profiles that include the Central Discovery Index (CDI) are considered "Blended" profiles. Click the three dots to the right and choose Edit if you would like to filter that content in the following ways:
- Filter by Availability: checking this box sets your default Primo search for this profile to full-text only. Users will need to check the "expand" button to see all search results beyond what your campus has access to.
- Exclude CDI Books: checking this box will prevent duplicate entries for title level bib records from showing in Primo. Leaving it unchecked will display both a bib record from Alma and one from the CDI.
- All CDI Resource Types: use this filter to create specialized profiles that only search specific resources types, like ebooks, from the CDI. Unfortunately, you cannot use this filter to exclude resource types like book reviews. It's opt-in only.
- All CDI Disciplines: use this filter to create profiles by subject area, as defined by records in the CDI.
- Search in FT: checking this box opens your search to the full article or any other full-text content affiliated with the record in the CDI. It makes searching less targeted.
Blended profiles also let you boost your local content over content from the CDI. Click the three dots to the right of the profile to change your boost settings.
The View is what controls the patron experience in Primo. You can have a single view, or you might want a special view for a library search Kiosk, or one for Alumni, etc. You can copy your default view to test changes before making them live.
The view is where you decide which search profiles will display to your patrons. To get to the configure views menu, go to Discovery>Display Configuration>Configure Views. Click the three dots next to the view to edit it:
Search Profile Slots hold the search profiles that you want to use in your view. Click on the Search Profile Slots tab to add a new slot, or edit what is already in use:
You can toggle each slot on/off with the Active column, reorder the slots with the up/down arrows on the right, add new slots, and create nested slots which allow the user to search different areas within a top-level slot.
You can edit the way a particular profile works by clicking on the three buttons in the far right column and selecting Edit. Once you’re in the profile, you can change the Display name, the description, the Tooltip, and select the search profile(s) that you want to associate with this search profile slot:
To check your basic search, open your Primo instance and look at the drop down menu next to the search box to make sure that it includes all of the searches that you wish to provide for your patrons:
Try each search to make sure that you get the kinds of results that you expect.
To check the Advanced Search options, click on the Advanced Search link next to the basic search box.
Related Documentation: