Boolean search
In advanced repository search: add the 'NOT' functionality in the drop down menu.
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We look to update you that this idea was moved to ‘Supported’ in light of the explanations given in the previous comment and the enhanced search operations recently released in the July and August 2017 releases.
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Please note that the advanced search has been improved as part of the NERS enhancement process. The July 2017 Release (after the re-indexing is completed) will have new options for searching, suc as 'not equals', 'not contains, etc... See here for more details: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Release_Notes/0099_2017/July_2017/Alma_July_2017_Release_Notes/02Resource_Management_-_July_2017_Enhancements#Advanced_Search_Options_Expanded
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Ex Libris has looked into this request in detail, and has come to the conclusion that in its present form, and in relation to other requests included here, we will not be able to undertake this requested change.
The reasons for this are threefold:
1. Alma’s search indexes have been designed and built to provide a whole new set of possibilities for searching for inventory based on the full set of bibliographic details and indexes. This type of search cannot be done in legacy systems as they essentially index the bibliographic data separately from the ‘administrative’ information that exists in the item record. As a result of this combined enriched bibliographic and inventory search index, certain queries which retrieve the bibliographic titles but also use inventory indexes, can lead to non-intuitive results when used in conjunction with NOT operations. An example of this is the search for titles that don’t have items in library A. If a title has items in library B and in library A, it will still be retrieved. This is a correct result as there is an item that matched the search query, but it is not intuitive to the staff user.
2. In order to support these NOT operations, Alma has developed the set management to be able to combine sets by performing a NOT operation on its members.
3. Ex Libris is undertaking, together with the User Group, and collaborative UX Initiative to enhance Alma’s UI, workflows, navigation and general usability. As part of this initiative, the staff search has been identified as one of the areas that requires redesigns and improved usability, As such it would not be appropriate to make significant changes to the search functionality while this is being done