Configuring Search Expansion With Controlled Vocabulary

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If you are working with Primo VE and not Primo, see Configuring Search Expansion with Controlled Vocabulary for Primo VE.

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The Controlled Vocabulary Search Expansion feature expands searches with words and phrases that constitute variations of the search term with the same meaning, thereby increasing the accuracy of searches. This service is similar to the expansion with synonyms feature but is more robust. The expansions are visible on the screen and add, for example, variations of the search term with the same meaning (for example, ADHD and attention deficit disorder, or name variations such as assata shakur and asata shakur). Users are provided with an option to revert to using only their original search term. All customers will see this expansion above the results in searches that include the Primo Central search scope. For all hosted customers (not on-premises), these expansions are also applied to local search scopes. Over time, the controlled vocabulary repository will be extended so that users see more expansions in their search results.

For example, if the user enters heart attack in the query, Primo also returns results that include myocardial infarction. If the user is interested only in results that include heart attack, the user can select the link to the right of the recommendation.

Vocabulary Expansion as Shown in a Simple Library Search within a CDI Scope

If the query contains more than one term that can be expanded, the system expands only the term with the most characters. For example, if a user searches for "informatics heart attack," the system expands "heart attack" (12 characters) because it contains more characters than "informatics" (11 characters).

Depending on the scope of a search, Primo uses one of the following controlled vocabulary services:

Primo's controlled vocabulary service utilizes mappings from various controlled vocabularies, including LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings), MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), and Wikipedia. This service is used for local and blended search scopes if any expansion occurs in the local scope.
CDI's controlled vocabulary service uses LCSH and MeSH as well as a curated synonym list that is regularly updated. CDI suggestions are generally more conservative than Primo's controlled vocabulary service. Requests to add new controlled vocabulary terms are welcomed and evaluated case-by-case. This service is used for CDI and blended search scopes if an expansion occurs only in the CDI scope.

If the user's query contains Boolean operators (for example, heart attack AND surgery), the system does not provide an expansion for the term (for example, myocardial infarction is not included).
Regardless of the phrase's context, expansions are added.
Expansions are not usually bi-directional (for example, the term myocardial infarction is not expanded to the term heart attack).
This functionality is supported only for simple and advanced library searches within CDI scopes.
This functionality is disabled when search queries include Boolean operators or exact phrases.

This service applies to both on-premises and hosted environments but is available only in the new Primo user interface.

Back Office Configuration

This service is enabled by default. Clear the Use Controlled Vocabulary Search Expansion check box in the Search Engine Configuration Wizard (Primo Home > Advanced Configuration > Search Engine Configurations) to disable it.

Enable/Disable Controlled Vocabulary Expansions

The following codes in the Results Tile code table allow you to modify or translate the labels for this service:

default.nui.results.controlVocabulary.including – Including {{equivalentTerm}}.
default.nui.results.controlVocabulary.searchOnly – Just search {{query}}