Introduction

Browse Search enables users to navigate local library resources by browsing through alphabetically or numerically ordered lists rather than by performing a keyword or advanced search. It is particularly useful for finding items when you know part of the title, author name, or call number, or you would like to see what subjects are defined in a specific area.

The key features of Browse Search are:

• Alphabetical Lists – Instead of retrieving results ranked by relevance, Browse Search displays an ordered list (A–Z) of headings based on the selected index.
• Indexes Available –
  • Author – Author names
  • Title – Titles of works
  • Subject – Controlled subject headings (e.g., Library of Congress Subject Headings)
  • Call Number – Classification numbers (e.g., Dewey or Library of Congress)
• Exact Match Behavior – When you enter a term, Primo VE positions you at the closest match in the list, so you can scroll forward or backward to explore related headings.

Supported Types of Browse Searches

The following types of Browse Searches are supported:

• Bibliographic headings of the following types: Authors, Titles, Series, and Subjects (based on a selected vocabulary). This type of Browse by utilizes the Alma browse functionality. For information on its full mapping, see Browsing Bibliographic Headings.

• Shelf listings with call numbers of the following types: Library of Congress, Dewey, NLM, SUDOC, Shelving control number, UDC, and generic.

When performing a browse search by title, it is recommended to omit leading articles. For example, it is best to search for the title great modern English stories an anthology instead of the title The great modern English stories an anthology.

Since Primo VE utilizes the Alma browse capabilities, Browse Search includes only records from the IZ and does not return NZ records that are available to the institution. The Union view/NZ view includes only information held by the NZ and not IZ-specific records.

Results of a Browse Search

The results of a Browse Search are presented as an alphabetical list of headings. For each heading in the list, the number of related records is shown. Each heading in the list returns a maximum of 500 related records.

If a heading contains records with suppressed or restricted holdings:

• These records are included in the heading's record count.

• When a user selects the heading, the records with suppressed or restricted holdings are omitted from the results, and the system displays the following message:

  Some records are not displayed since they are restricted / suppressed from display.

The following figures show the alphabetical list returned by a Browse Search by Author. Users can select one of the headings in the alphabetical list to display the brief results for the records related to it.

Brief Results for a Selected Heading

When you select a heading in the results list, the related records are presented in a brief results page. In the NDE UI, information about the selected heading appears above the list of records.

Configuration Options

The following table describes the configuration that supports the Browse functionality. For information on how Browse searches are handled in Alma, see Browsing the Shelf Listing.