gateway to the mountain knowledge: new searching features of advanced keyword searching
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Third Annual Hong Kong INNOVATIVE User Group Meeting 9 December, 2002 University of Hong Kong Library. Gateway to the Mountain Knowledge: New Searching Features of Advanced Keyword Searching. Y iu-On Li, Assistant Librarian (Systems), [email protected] - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Gateway to the Mountain Knowledge: New Searching Features of
Advanced Keyword Searching
Yiu-On Li, Assistant Librarian (Systems), [email protected]
Paul Lee, Assistant Librarian (Reference), [email protected]
Third Annual Hong Kong INNOVATIVE User Group Meeting9 December, 2002
University of Hong Kong Library
Revised: 15 Dec., 2002
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Outlines
Paul LeeI. IntroductionII. Searching HKBU’s theses in Web OPACIII. Survey on Other LibrariesIV. Usability Engineering
Li Yiu OnV. A New ApproachVI. Searching StrategiesVII. Advantages of Using Enhanced AVS FormsVIII. Conclusion
I. Introduction
1A. OPAC: A Gateway to a Mountain1B Searching Special Collections
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1A. OPAC: A Gateway to a Mountain (I)
OPAC is an essential tool to access a mountain of library information resources
Of all access points, keyword search offers flexibility that a user can apply various strategies to search specific types of library materials in OPAC. truncation adjacency boolean operators proximity field searching
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1A. OPAC: A Gateway to a Mountain (II)
In other words, the sophisticated search engine (OPAC) is there and it depends on how a user can effectively utilize various features of OPAC
Very often, users may not be able to master all searching skills to locate particular items or subsets of library materials easily.
It will be useful if the Library can do SOMETHING for users to facilitate the process of searching particular library materials
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1B. Searching Special Collections
Like other libraries, HKBU Library has its own unique or special collections, some of which are frequently inquired by users Theses by HKBU students Monographs by HKBU faculty and staff Electronic books
These materials are also catalogued in OPAC just like other new acquisitions
Let us take an example of searching theses and dissertations by the postgraduate students
II. Searching HKBU’s theses in Web OPAC
2A. Current Approach2B. Examples2C. Limitations
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2A. Current Approach
Author search and title search do not really help because such information is often not known in advance
Subject search or keyword search plus limiting is useful but it involves a series of steps that users generally may not remember especially when repeating the same search at a later time.
We will take a look at the following examples using keyword search
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For example, a list of all theses for browsing
2B. Example 1
Dissertation* or theses or 論文
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For example, master’s theses by Dept. of Biology
2B. Example 2
a:(dept of biology OR department of biology) AND NOT (Ph.D. or 哲學博士 )
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Current approach can be a complicated procedure which requires a user to: have some pre-knowledge of bibliographic record structure
Need to know “theses”, “dissertations” or “ 論文” in subject field be familiar with a number of features available in Web
OPAC Hidden commands such as boolean operators, nesting, truncation,
field searching, etc. An average user may not be able to make use of these various
commands and strategies effectively. enter a long and complex search statement plus clicking
here and there
2C. Limitations (I)
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Such procedure or method is generally not preferred and it can easily confuse users, especially those who desperately need such information when approaching to the Reference Desk
Cannot directly limit the results by a combination of the following parameters by degree (i.e. master’s or doctoral) by department
2C. Limitations (II)
III. Survey on Other Libraries
3A. Approaches by Other Libraries3B. Summary on Findings3C. Examples by Other Libraries
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3A. Approaches by Other Libraries (I)
Before looking for a new approach, we survey how other libraries do to facilitate searching their own theses, and are hoping that we can learn from them
For ease of comparison, we examined “Academic: ARL Libraries” in the U.S. that are also using III’s Web OPAC by following the list at http://www.iii.com/html/customers/c_type.php
Only college/university libraries on the list are selected for the purpose of this survey
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3A. Approaches by Other Libraries (II)
A total of 37 libraries were surveyed. Approaches of searching theses are categorized into
the following: Option 1: INNOPAC catalog subset Option 2: Web listing or a separate database Option 3: “do nothing” or not specified at all
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3B. Summary on Findings (I)
Library NameOption 1: INNOPAC
Catalog SubsetOption 2: Dedicated
Database or Listing on WebOption 3: Do Nothing or
Not Specified at all State Library Type1 Arizona State University x Arizona Academic 2 Boston University x Massachusetts Academic 3 Brown University x (Web listing) Rhode Island Academic 4 Case Western Reserve University x Ohio Academic 5 Colorado State University-Fort Collins x Colorado Academic 6 Dartmouth College x New Hampshire Academic 7 Georgetown University x District of Columbia Academic 8 Howard University x District of Columbia Academic 9 Kent State University x Ohio Academic
10 Michigan State University x Michigan Academic 11 Ohio State University x (Ohio ETD) Ohio Academic 12 Ohio University x (Ohio ETD) Ohio Academic 13 Southern Illinois University-Carbondale x Illinois Academic 14 Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville x Illinois Academic 15 Temple University x Pennsylvania Academic, Consortia 16 Texas A&M Univeristy-Corpus Christi x Texas Academic 17 Texas A&M Univeristy-Kingsville x Texas Academic 18 Texas A&M-Texarkana x Texas Academic 19 University of Arizona x (Innopac) Arizona Academic 20 University of California, Berkeley: Main Library S x California Academic 21 University of California, Irvine x California Academic 22 University of California, Riverside x (Innopac) California Academic 23 University of California, San Diego x California Academic 24 University of Cincinnati x (Ohio ETD) Ohio Academic 25 University of Colorado-Boulder x Colorado Academic 26 University of Colorado-Colorado Springs x Colorado Academic 27 University of Houston x Texas Academic 28 University of Massachusetts-Amherst x Massachusetts Academic 29 University of Miami x Florida Academic 30 University of Michigan-Dearborn x Michigan Academic 31 University of Missouri—Columbia x Missouri Academic 32 University of Nebraska-Lincoln x Nebraska Academic 33 University of New Mexico x New Mexico Academic 34 University of Oregon x Oregon Academic 35 University of Washington x Washington Academic 36 Washington State University x Washington Academic 37 Washington University x Missouri Academic
© 2002 Innovative Interfaces Inc. All rights reserved Nov-02
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3B. Summary on Findings (II)
Option 1: INNOPAC catalog subset 3 libraries Not to be considered due to the following limitations:
Cannot retrieve a complete list of ALL theses Cannot search theses by Department or Degree
Option 2: web listing or a separate database 6 libraries (including 3 of them from Ohio participate in
OhioLink ETDs) Option 3: “do nothing” or not specified at all
29 libraries
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3C. Example 1: Brown University
Only a web listing without sorting or a search engine
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3C. Example 2: UC, Riverside
A Web page for browsing without a search engine
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3C. Example 3: University of Arizona
A search interface with limited flexibility
Not much different from OPAC
Not convenient Because you need to limit aftersearching by dept
IV. Usability Engineering
4A. What is Usability?4B. Factors of Usability
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4A. What is Usability?
Before doing anything, we looked at usability engineering and used it as a guideline for developing a new approach.
What is Usability? Usability is the measure of the quality of a user’s
experience when interacting with a product or system – whether a Web site, a software application, mobile technology, or ay user-operated device.
(Source: Usability Basics, http://www.usability.gov/basics/index.html)
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4B. Factors of Usability
(1) Ease of learning How fast can a user learn to use the system if s/he has never seen it
before? (2) Efficiency of use
Having learned to use the system, how fast can a user accomplish tasks?
(3) Memorability Can s/he easily remember how to use the system the next time?
(4) Error frequency Will s/he easily make errors when accomplishing tasks?
(5) Subjective satisfaction How much does s/he like using the system?
V. A New Approach
5A. Enhanced AVS Forms5B. Demonstration Sites5C. Searching Strategies
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5A. Enhanced AVS Forms
Our approach to facilitate users to retrieve records from collection subsets are:
Enhanced Advanced Keyword Searching (AVS) Forms The design of these searching forms conform to the
Usability principle. The structures are based on:
Innopac AVS capabilities, and MS Active Server Pages (ASP) script
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5B. Three Enhanced AVS Forms
Currently, three forms are designed HKBU Theses
Contains the catalog records of all doctoral and master's theses by HKBU postgraduate students
Electronic Books Contains the catalog records of electronic books subscribed by
HKBU Library HKBU department and staff publication
Contains the publications by HKBU staff and departments Demonstration site:
http://lib-nt.hkbu.edu.hk/avs_test/searching2.html
VI. Searching Strategies
6A. Workflow6B. Two Types of Searching Strategies6C. AVS URL Based on Bib Location6D. AVS URL Based on Keywords6E. More Library Catalog Subsets
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6A. Workflow
Enter searching data elements to the Enhanced AVS Form.
The form will automatically use ASP scripts to generate a AVS URL to retrieve records from Innopac server.
Record results are displayed on a pop up window.
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6B. Two Types of Searching Strategies
Searching strategies are based on two type of AVS URLs
1. AVS URL based on bibliographic location, e.g. HKBU Theses, and Electronic Book Collection.
2. AVS URL based on keywords or phrases, e.g. HKBU Staff and Department Publications.
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6C. AVS URL Based on Bib Location (1)
Useful to retrieve records kept at the same bib location.
For example, the bib locations for BU Theses catalog records in our Innopac system are "th___“.
Special subject headings are assigned: English Records: Hong Kong Baptist University --
Dissertations Chinese Records: 香港浸會大學 -- 論文
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6C. AVS URL Based on Bib Location (2)
Accordingly, we may use the following AVS URL to retrieve the whole BU Theses collection:http://hkbulib.hkbu.edu.hk/search/X?SEARCH=%28su%3Adissertations+or+%BD%D7%A4%E5%29&searchscope=5&SORT=D&l=&m=&p=&b=th+++&Da=&Db=
Where
URL portions Descriptions http://hkbulib.hkbu.edu.hk/search/X?SEARCH=%
AVS search command link to HKBU Innopac system
%28su%3Adissertations+or+%BD%D7%A4%E5%29
Subject field have the keywords "dissertations" or " 論文 "
&b=th+++ Bib location = "th" (i.e. "theses")
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6C. AVS URL Based on Bib Location (3)
Searching examples in HKBU Theses: Whole collection Theses from Dept of Biology Doctoral theses from Dept of Biology Records have keywords "heavy metals" No entries found (i.e. keyword = “aaa”)
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6D. AVS URL Based on Keywords (1)
Useful to retrieve records scattered in different bib locations and contain different types of materials.
For example, the records in this HKBU Staff and Dept Publication collection should contain one of the following phrases: Hong Kong Baptist University, or Hong Kong Baptist College, or 香港浸會大學 , or 香港浸會書院 , or Faculty/staff publication
But, at the same time, we want to exclude all the HKBU theses titles, thus the below searching criteria should be added: And not_s:(dissertations_or_' 論文 ')
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6D. AVS URL Based on Keywords (2)
Accordingly, we may use the following AVS URL to retrieve the whole BU Staff and Department collection:
http://hkbulib.hkbu.edu.hk/search/X?SEARCH=%28%28%27hong+kong+baptist+university%27%29+or+%28%27hong+kong+baptist+college%27%29+or+%28%27%AD%BB%B4%E4%AE%FB%B7%7C%A4j%BE%C7%27%29+or+%28%27%AD%BB%B4%E4%AE%FB%B7%7C%AE%D1%B0%7C%27%29+or+%28%27Faculty+staff+publication%27%29%29+and+not+s%3A%28dissertations+or+%27%BD%D7%A4%E5%27%29&searchscope=5&SORT=D&l=&m=&p=&b=&Da=&Db=
Where URL portions Descriptions
http://hkbulib.hkbu.edu.hk/search/X?SEARCH=% AVS search command link to HKBU Innopac system
%28%28%27hong+kong+baptist+university%27%29+or+%28%27hong+kong+baptist+college%27%29+or+%28%27%AD%BB%B4%E4%AE%FB%B7%7C%A4j%BE%C7%27%29+or+%28%27%AD%BB%B4%E4%AE%FB%B7%7C%AE%D1%B0%7C%27%29+or+%28%27Faculty+staff+publication%27%29%29+and+not+s%3A%28dissertations+or+%27%BD%D7%A4%E5%27%29
('hong_kong_baptist_university')_or_('hong_kong_baptist_college')_or_(' 香港浸會大學 ')_or_(' 香港浸會書院 ')_or_('Faculty_staff_publication'))_and_not_s:(dissertations_or_' 論文 ')"
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6D. AVS URL Based on Keywords (3)
Searching examples in HKBU Theses: Whole collection Technical Reports (Dept of Mathematics) All videorecordings No entries found (i.e. keyword = “aaa”)
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6E. More Library Catalog Sets
Given the sophisticated capabilities of the Enhanced AVS Forms, we may create as many virtual special collections or library catalog subsets for OPAC as we wish.
Examples include: Works on/by a famous author Collection has a main theme, HK music, HK movies
provided you can retrieve the catalog records by special keywords or
phrases. your collection has reached a reasonable size.
VII. Advantages of Using Enhanced AVS Forms
7A. Awareness7B. Extendibility7C. Flexibility7D. Measurability7E. Cost
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7A. Awareness
Many users are not very clear about what to find in a collection subset.
Some of them also have difficulty in using Boolean operators to combine different data elements such as degree type and department name when searching the theses collection.
Each Enhanced AVS Form with drop down list boxes serves two purposes: Amplifies the Library’s collection subsets, and Simplifies the searching process
Also refer to the concept of Usability discussed above.
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7B. Extendibility
INNOPAC’s scoped searching option restricts the confines of a search to a particular collection based solely on bibliographic locations, or material types, or a combination of the two (see INNOPAC Manual page# 101264).
The Enhanced AVS Forms, however, extend searching by combining keywords with bibliographic location and material type.
It thus allows the retrieval of records scattered in various locations with different material types as shown in the Enhanced AVS Forms for searching the HKBU Department and Staff Publications.
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7C. Flexibility
The settings of scoped searching have to be carefully pre-defined as their implementation and subsequent modifications can only be handled and charged by III.
The Enhanced AVS Forms, on the other hand, allow the library the flexibility and convenience to design new forms for collection subsets as needed.
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7D. Measurability
The program will keep track of the usage of each form by logging the access date, time, user’s IP (on/off campus access), and the search fields used.
http://lib-nt.hkbu.edu.hk/avs_test/test1.txt
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7E. Cost
Other than the initial programming efforts, there are no ongoing maintenance costs.
VIII. Conclusion
8A. OPAC As Mountain Knowledge8B. True Shape of Mountain OPAC8C. Su Tung-Po’s Poem 8D. Why Can’t Tell the True Shape8E. Hints to Provide More Angles8F. Enhanced AVS Forms as Effective Gateway to Mountain Knowledge
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8A. OPAC As Mountain Knowledge
As said, OPAC is an essential tool to access a mountain of library information resources
OPAC problems to library users What can be found? How/Where can start? Easily to get lost in a large mountain OPAC
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8B. True Shape of Mountain OPAC
The difficulty of library users to understand the true shape of Mountain OPAC makes us recall a famous philosophical poem written by Su Tung-Po ( 蘇東坡, 1036-1101).
The poem is about the famous description of scenic Mountain Lu in Chekiang province.
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8C. Su Tung-Po’s Poem
“From the side a whole range; from the end, a single peak;橫看成嶺側成峰far, near, high, low, no two parts alike;遠近高低各不同Why can’t I tell you the true shape of Lu-Shan (Mountain Lu)?不識廬山真面目Because I myself am in the mountain”只緣身在此山中
-- “Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple” ( 題西林壁 )English translation by Burton Watson,Selected Poems of Su Tung-po, p.108
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8D. Why Can’t Tell the True Shape
The poem is so famous that I believe most of you have heard the sentence”Why can’t I tell you the true shape of Mountain Lu?不識廬山真面 ?“
But why? Why the poet said that he cannot tell the true shape of Mountain Lu. The reason is very simple. It is because he myself is inside the mountain.
The perception of the mountain will be changed if you have the opportunity to view the mountain from different angles, directions, height, and distance.
You can always discover some new beautiful and special scenic of the mountain from different points and directions.
The mountain is still there, but the perception may be changed with the ways you view it. To tell the true mountain shape, you should never be bounded by a single view and angle.
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8E. Hints to Provide More Angles
As a similar analogy, the library online catalog is just like a big knowledge mountain.
Most library users are not sure what can be found inside the mountain.
Once they have entered the mountain, it won’t be possible to tell the true shape of OPAC.
In order to help library users to have a better understanding of the true shape of our library catalogs, it is our responsibility, as professional librarians, to provide them hints to search our OPAC and to retrieve information from our collections in multi dimensions, perspectives, angles, height, and distances .
More dimensions and angles provide, more you can find.
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8F. Enhanced AVS Forms as Effective Gateway to Mountain Knowledge
To achieve that, we believe that the design of searching forms have to conform to “usability” principle.
We hope our newly designed Enhanced AVS Forms can provide library users an effective and efficient gateway to travel our Mountain OPAC and also enable them to tell the true shape of our OPAC.