The autocomplete that I implemented in Scriblio searches across title,
author, subject (and others), and suggests possible matches in any of
them. You can see it here:
http://library.plymouth.edu/
I've been skeptical of the value of autocomplete (there are a number
signs that suggest that it slows down the user experience or leads
them to prematurely narrow their searches), but I've been pleased at
how it works against library data. I'm especially happy at how it
allows users to begin a search without first having to select which
field to search.
--Casey
On Feb 18, 2009, at 12:31 PM, Mike Cunningham wrote:
> I thought someone on this list might be interested in this. I now
> have a proof of concept running on our staging port of an
> autocomplete/live search feature for the opac. You may have seen
> this type of feature on sites like Amazon or Zip.ca. It comes back
> with different results depending on which search field the user
> selects (title, keyword, author, subject, call number). Since there
> is no keyword index per se, keyword also uses the title index. The
> feature kicks in after the user has typed at least 3 characters.
>
> I'm curious if anyone knows of other library catalogues that do
> something like this. Someone pointed out to me that BiblioCommons
> has a feature like this. Does anyone know of others?
>
> You can try it out here:
>
> http://search.cambridgelibraries.ca:2082/search
>
> There is some background info on the feature here:
>
> http://ex-libris.ca/?p=694
>
> Mike
>
> --
> Mike Cunningham
> Web Services Librarian
> Cambridge Libraries
Received on Wed Feb 18 2009 - 23:08:58 EST