AquaBrowser Library: Search, Discover, Refine
| Date | 01 December 2005 |
| Published date | 01 December 2005 |
| Pages | 9-12 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050510644329 |
| Author | Jasper Kaizer,Anthony Hodge |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
AquaBrowser Library: Search,
Discover, Refine
Jasper Kaizer and Anthony Hodge
LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 10 2005, pp. 9-12, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050510644329 9
AquaBrowser Library
1
is a
revolutionary library catalog browser
and interface developed specifically to
enhance the experience of the library
patron. AquaBrowser Library makes
searching the catalog as easy as
searching the internet, but also
transforms the search experience in the
library into an adventure comparable
with ``browsing the shelves'',while still
providing easy exact searches.
By using an associative search result
set, you may learn new things as you
search. The AquaBrowser has the
power to make suggestions much the
way a reference provider would. This
not only makes the patron more
independent, but opens up the catalog in
a whole new way so that information
that could be overlooked is brought
back to the surface.
Much has been said about the
internet and Google
TM
vs the library. In
this day of de facto Google searching,
the library catalog or OPAC is very
complex and often difficult to use for
patrons. Nowadays, when people want
to find information they fire up Google
and start searching. Just entering some
keywords and wading through endless
lists of results. Everyone knows that if
they want to find a better result, they
need to add words to their query. This is
where it becomes more complex.
Which words does one use? What is the
correct keyword for the information
they are looking for? How can you
verify the validity of all that Google
finds?
The two most common issues that
users encounter with internet search
engines can also happen in the library
catalog search. The first issue is a query
retrieving tens of thousands of results.
The second issue is when a query is
retrieves zero results.
The library has always been a good
source for trustworthy information.
Patrons come to the library or visit the
library's web site looking for
information. However:
.80 percent of the patrons do not
know exactly what they are look-
ing for. The catalog only helps
them when they are exact in their
search.
.People expect a Google experi-
ence. They want to type in a word
or two and go from there.
.The library catalog is very rich in
its metadata and tools to describe
and retrieve information: authority
records, controlled vocabulary, etc.
The patron usually does not know
how to use these tools. You cannot
expect your patrons to do so.
This article describes AquaBrowser
Library, a product that enhances the
patron's search and browse experience
in the library catalog (and all other
sources that a library offers).
AquaBrowser Library does not only
offer a very user friendly and intuitive
search method, but its appealing user
interface makes it fun!
What does it do?
When a patron uses AquaBrowser
Library to search his library catalog, he
has access to a powerful search engine
that gives him the functionality and
ease of access he is used to from
internet search engines. But
AquaBrowser Library also widens the
scope of the catalog search by
incorporating three distinct design
principles, known as search, discover,
and refine. Search shows a relevance-
ranked result list that works similarly to
any search engine. The discover area
next to the result list displays
suggestions that are dynamically
visualized in a cloud of words. These
suggestions help the user to discover
new information and to better formulate
his query. The refine area shows what
the current result list actually contains,
along several dimensions found in the
catalog, enabling the user to quickly
zoom in on specific areas in the result
list.
The best way to understand how
AquaBrowser Library works and why it
is useful is by using it. Let us see what
happens when a patron searches the
catalog with AquaBrowser Library.
Our patron is interested in finding
information about his favorite planet
``Mercury''. In AquaBrowser Library
he enters the, of course, the query
``mercury''. Immediately he sees three
panels opening up (see Figure 1). The
center panel shows the search results,
the left panel shows the suggestions to
discover and the right panel shows the
options to refine the search results.
Search
The AquaBrowser search engine
holds an index of the full title catalog.
When the user enters a query, all
relevant fields of the MARC record are
searched instantly. The search results
are relevance-ranked based on which
fields contain the query and the number
of occurrences of the query. The
weighting and selection of the fields for
the indexing and relevance ranking is
configured by the library. Usually the
title and subject fields have the most
relevance and summary fields the
lowest. While searching, AquaBrowser
also automatically expands the search
query to retrieve results containing
stemmed variants of the query and see
also-references derived from the
authority files.
Results can instantly be sorted on
year, title or author and limited to
specific branches. Of course, basic
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