Use of quotes and the boolean AND in FS Digital Library
LegacyUser
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Charlie Black said: I find FS Digital Library to be very useful but only because I discovered that the search tool recognizes quotation marks and the boolean AND. If this is a repeat of previous comments or is explained in a help article, I apologize but I couldn't find them.
Currently, the FS Digital Library search tool is using the boolean OR between words when it should be using the boolean AND. Most researchers tend to think that adding search words should decrease the number of results rather than increasing the results. In example, searching on the word Thomas returns 337239 results, while searching with the words Thomas Knowlton returns 337691 results. Searching with the words Thomas Knowlton Cornwall increases the results further to 339458.
Researchers aren't typically interested in finding every book in the Digital Library that includes the word Thomas along with every book that includes the word Knowlton along with every book that includes the word Cornwall - they usually want to find only the books that include Thomas AND Knowlton AND Cornwall (which returns 12619 results). Adding quotation marks -- i.e. "Thomas Knowlton" AND Cornwall -- further reduces results to a manageable 699.
Also, it would be very beneficial for FS Digital Library to have a help link similar to the "Learn more about the catalog and how to access materials" that appears on the FS Catalog. As it is, it's been difficult to locate articles that explain FS Digital Library and none seem to explain that searches can include quotations and the boolean AND.
Currently, the FS Digital Library search tool is using the boolean OR between words when it should be using the boolean AND. Most researchers tend to think that adding search words should decrease the number of results rather than increasing the results. In example, searching on the word Thomas returns 337239 results, while searching with the words Thomas Knowlton returns 337691 results. Searching with the words Thomas Knowlton Cornwall increases the results further to 339458.
Researchers aren't typically interested in finding every book in the Digital Library that includes the word Thomas along with every book that includes the word Knowlton along with every book that includes the word Cornwall - they usually want to find only the books that include Thomas AND Knowlton AND Cornwall (which returns 12619 results). Adding quotation marks -- i.e. "Thomas Knowlton" AND Cornwall -- further reduces results to a manageable 699.
Also, it would be very beneficial for FS Digital Library to have a help link similar to the "Learn more about the catalog and how to access materials" that appears on the FS Catalog. As it is, it's been difficult to locate articles that explain FS Digital Library and none seem to explain that searches can include quotations and the boolean AND.
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Comments
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Phil Jeffrey said: I sent your suggestions to our Digital Library team for consideration.0
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Charlie Black said: Please pass to the Digital Library team -- the above issue is only PARTLY resolved now.
The search tool now defaults to finding books that contain ALL of the search words (that's great - thank you). But once a book is selected, the search within the book still defaults to finding ANY of the search words (that's bad).
Also, I'll reiterate my previous suggestion to add a help link to the Digital Library page. The Digital Library has wonderful material but it isn't of much value to the novice without some basic instructions.0 -
MaureenE said: I have cross referenced your further comments on another topic "New format for digitised Books. FamilySearch Digital Library"
https://getsatisfaction.com/familysea...
I completely agree with your comments, and I think it very sad that FamilySearch priorities are so focused on FS FamilyTree that even a simple thing like a help link with current information for the FS Digital Library can not be added0