Hello,

 

I am seeking some sharing of experience from Ex Libris Primo users.

 

We moved to using Alma and Primo for our LMS in the summer. We are facing some challenges in understanding how search techniques are working in Primo – eg. Boolean, phrase searching, using the topic facet etc – which is impacting on our teaching and the support materials we are writing. Apparently the way Primo works is that it has various algorithms, rankings and weightings which operate in the background, which makes to appear that Primo isn’t doing what we’d expect when applying the principles of search techniques. We are exploring whether this may require us to change what advice we are giving our students and staff

 

For example, doing the following search, you’d expect by amending the search strategy as defined in search 2, that you’d get more results, but it gives you less than half the results.

 

Search 1: “body mass index” 746,852 results

Search 2: “body mass index” OR BMI 302,963

 

When refining your search using the topic refinements, we get different results if you select 3 topics in one go, or if you select one, then click on Continue, and then individually select the other 2 terms.

 

Do you get different results when you use the main simple/single search box, to when you use the ‘more search options’ or ‘advanced’ search options?

 

Have you experienced any of these issues? If so, how have you addressed them, both in terms of teaching and advice you give people, and in any help-guides you have written.

 

We have a meeting to discuss the above next Wednesday, so any light you can shine on this from your perspective by then would be very gratefully received!

 

Yours hopefully…

Suzie

 

 

Suzie Kitchin BA (Hons); MSc (Econ); MCLIP; PGCert; FHEA

Skills Development Librarian, University Library

 

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