Searches by record number: problems

[Elizabeth Thomsen <et at noblenet dot org>]

Bob Duncan wrote:
> I don't have much to offer about why the searches don't work, but if
> you want 100% success with links to items in the catalog the only way 
> to do so is to use the record number in the link, using the format
> http://yourserver/record=xyz. E.g., a link to the the VHS edition of
> Yu-gi-on! in your catalog would<http://209.139.23.23/record=b1185436>.

Bob is right about this format, and we sometimes use this, too. 
However, we're using it less and less, since for us there are times when 
this format does not result in 100% success, but 92% frustration and 82% 
confusion.  (I thought I'd throw in some bogus statistics to sound 
scientific.)

One problem we've had is with merging records.  This may be a negligible 
 issue for most systems, but the nature of our system is such that 
we've created and merged a lot of duplicate records over the years, 
especially when we've taken on a new member library.  When this happens, 
links in webpages that link directly to a record number fail miserably, 
leaving the user at a page that doesn't even look like part of the 
catalog, and leaves the user with no useful option: 
http://innopac.noblenet.org/record=b1576091

The other problem we have with record number links is that although the 
format is such that you can explicitly scope or unscope them (unless we 
just haven't figured it out yet), these links do follow the previous 
scope set on the server in terms of showing items.  This means that if I 
did a catalog search and changed my scope to Gordon College for some 
reason, and later I am looking at a booklist and click on a link to a 
title Gordon doesn't own, I get the bib record but no items, a very 
confusing display.

This also happens to us in Millennium, with the View Public Display 
option (which we love, except for this.)  If your browser hasn't been 
closed since a previous scoped search, you get that same problem of 
seeing the bib record but not items outside the scope.

This may not be a problem for other sites who aren't so dependent on 
location-based scoping as we are, but since I'm zipping in and out of 
various scopes all day without closing my browser, I see it all the time.

--
Elizabeth Thomsen, Member Services Manager
NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange
Danvers MA 01923
et at noblenet dot org