Known Issues

• The latest question is not saved in the research history after a page refresh or after opening Primo Research Assistant with a deep link.

How It Works

Primo Research Assistant uses a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture to combine the language capabilities of the LLM (Large Language Model) with the knowledge from material indexed in the Central Discovery Index (CDI). Responses are generated as follows:

1. Query Conversion – The user's question is sent to the LLM, where it is converted to a Boolean query that contains a number of variations of the query, connected with an OR. If the query is non-English, some of the variations will be in the query language, and the other variations will be in English.

2. Results Retrieval – The Boolean query is sent to CDI to retrieve the results.

3. Re-ranking – The top results (up to 30) are re-ranked using embeddings to identify five sources that best address the user's query.

4. Overview Creation – The top five results are sent to the LLM with the instructions to create the overview with inline references, based on the abstracts.

5. Response Delivery – The overview and sources are returned to the user in the response.

For information regarding AI usage and privacy, see Research Assistant Privacy.

Language Support

Users can ask questions in their local language. The Research Assistant will search for material in both, the local language and English, the overview will be in the local language.  

Content Scope

We use the entirety of CDI metadata and abstracts with the following exceptions:

• News content (Newspaper articles, Newsletters, Text resources).

• Collections (except for IHP, Rambi and Moshe Dayan center) that are not marked as “free for search” in the CDI collection list (subscription A&I databases).

• Sources with insufficient metadata and abstracts that are needed to run the tool effectively.

• Documents marked as withdrawn or retracted; retraction notes.

• Any collections from the following content providers: APA, DataCite, Elsevier, JSTOR, and Conde Nast.

• Any content published by the providers above coming via aggregator collections.

These details will be updated regularly, as some content providers actively discuss GenAI tools with their stakeholder groups.

Interface Overview

The interface for Primo Research Assistant consists of the following panels:

• Left panel – Enables users to start a new search or view previous sessions that may include multiple questions. For more information, see Primo Research Assistant's Search History.

• Right panel – Enables users to enter research questions and view their responses. For more information, see Primo Research Assistant's Response.

Primo Research Assistant's Response

After entering a research question in the right panel, Primo Research Assistant returns a response that includes the following sections:

1. Sources – This section provides a citation for each of the top five sources. Selecting a source displays its abstract at the bottom of the section.

   

   Sources Section - Displaying Abstract of Selected Source #5

   Selecting the View more results tile triggers a search in Primo, where the scope of the search is the first scope that includes the CentralIndex search profile. From the expanded results in Primo, users can then apply facets, filters, and any other Primo search functionality to refine the search results for this topic.

   

   Expanded Search Results in Primo (Original UI)

   

   Expanded Search Results in Primo (NDE UI)

   From the source's abstract, users can choose from the following options:

   • Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down – These icons enable users to provide feedback regarding the selected source.

   • Download PDF – This button uses Quicklinks to download the article's PDF.

     Primo Research Assistant uses Quicklinks to provide PDF full-text links (regardless of whether the library has enabled the Quicklinks feature).

   • Full Text Online – This button displays the full text of the article.

   • More Details and Request Options – This button displays the article's full record in Primo.

2. Overview of Sources – Provides an overview of how the top five sources answer the question, including inline references. Note that this section may not utilize all top five sources, but all five sources are listed under the Sources section. Selecting a source number moves the focus to that reference in the Sources section.

   Primo Research Assistant does not filter out CDI eBooks excluded with the Exclude CDI eBooks option in the Primo Search Profile.

   

   Overview of Sources Section

   In addition, users can select the following options from this section:

   • Thumbs up and Thumbs down — These icons enable users to provide feedback regarding the information returned in the Overview section. The Primo Research Assistant is a work in progress. We encourage you to share your thoughts about what can be improved.

   • Copy – This icon enables users to copy the entire topic's text to the clipboard and paste its contents quickly to a file or an email.

   • Try Again – This icon enables users to ask the same question again. Answers to the same question are not always the same because there may be more than one possible answer that references resources differently.

3. Related research questions – This section offers additional questions that users may select to find additional research information or learn about a topic.

   

   Related Research Questions Section

Refined Search

Users can refine their searches by resource type (Books, Journal articles, and Peer-reviewed) and date (Last 12 months, Last 5 years, Last 10 years, or a Custom date) by selecting the Refinement icon next to the Search Box to open the refinement options. The default settings are all types and dates. In addition, you can choose the Online availability check box to filter your results by availability (New for May 2025).

Alternatively, users can add these refinements after the question in the search box:

For example, the following question includes all three refinements (Availability, Resource Type, and Date Range):

Once entered for a question, the refinements are applied to the query and automatically populated in the search box for follow-up questions:

Primo Research Assistant's Search History

The Research History section in the left panel lists the first question asked for each topic, which may contain many questions. Unless you use the Start a new topic option, all questions in a Primo VE session are added to a single topic. If you are researching different areas, starting a new topic for each area may be best.

You may select a topic to view all the questions and responses researched in the current Primo VE session.

When the save_users_RA_search_history parameter is set to true (default) on the Discovery Customer Settings page (Configuration > Discovery > Other > Customer Settings), signed-in users can save RA search history between sessions. The search history is categorized as follows:

• Today – Lists all topics researched on the current day.

• Last <1-7> days – Lists all topics researched in the previous 7 days, excluding topics researched today.

• <Year> – Lists all topics researched per year. The current year excludes the last 7 days.

In addition, the number of questions asked in each topic appears after the topic. Hovering over a topic and selecting its Delete icon enables users to delete it when it is no longer needed.

When enabled, users can decide whether to save RA searches between sessions with the personal settings option Allow saving Research Assistant search history_users_RA_search_history:

For more information, see Discovery Customer Settings and Configuring the Personal Details and Settings Tab.