Search Options

Search options define the types of searches that you can use in your Horizon system. These options display in your main Search window in staff searching. This is an example of a search option in the main Search window:

Search options are made of these elements:

Search types. Horizon includes three types of search options—keyword, browse, and exact match. These types are based on the type of information that staff is searching for.
Horizon indexes or table information. As it matches search terms, each search option uses either a Horizon index (sometimes referred to as a search index or mq_index) or a column in a database table. (For example, a “Title Keyword” search option might use an index to check all subfields in all title and contents note tags. A “Borrower Alphabetical” search option checks for borrowers in the borrower table and shows the name of the borrower that is closest to the name you entered.) Indexes help Horizon quickly search for information on the Horizon database and display search results based on search terms. You can assign one or more Horizon indexes to each search option. (For browse searches, Information Portal uses the same Horizon indexes that staff searching does. For more information, see the Information Portal System Administrator’s Guide.)
Display views. These views control the display of search results in staff searching. (For example, each browse search option, such as “Author Browse” or “Subject Browse,” has a single corresponding view. Each authority-controlled keyword search option has a single corresponding view. However, bib-based keyword searches generally share a view.) Your Horizon system comes with default MARC maps that help display data in brief and long views in staff searching and Information Portal.

Horizon comes with a variety of default search options. You can modify the elements of these default search options, or create new search options. As described later in this section, there are some limitations on what you can change or create, but you can customize many search capabilities in Horizon.

You should plan your PAC flavors before creating search options, but you do not need to set up flavors before creating the search options. You only need to know the code you will assign the flavor. (For more information, see Creating a PAC Flavor.)

This section explains these topics:

 


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