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Find questions by keyword

Introduction

You can search by keyword to find current questions in your question lists or to find archived questions in Service History. (We use the term questions to refer to chat transcripts, as well as questions received via web form or text messaging. Questions is sometimes used interchangeably with transactions.)

When you search current questions, QuestionPoint searches them regardless of their status or the question list from which you began your search.

Questions are indexed every 24 hours so newly submitted questions and recent activity may not yet be included in search results. The date and time that questions were last indexed appears at the bottom of the Search Results page.

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How to do a basic search

A basic search is limited to questions from your own patrons (we say these are "owned" by you). It excludes questions from other patrons that were referred to you or that you picked up while covering cooperative chat queues.

To find questions by keyword using a basic search:

  1. Go to a question list in the Ask module to search for current questions or to Service History to search for archived questions.
  2. Type one or more keywords in the Search box located at the upper right of the page, select Keyword(s) in the drop-down list, and click the arrow or press Enter.
    QuestionPoint displays the Search Results.
    Note: AND is the default operator between multiple words. To find an exact phrase, enclose it in quotation marks.

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How to do an advanced search

To find questions by keyword using an advanced search:

  1. Go to a question list in the Ask module to search for current questions or to Service History to search for archived questions.
  2. Click the Advanced Search link located at the upper right of the page below the Search box.
    QuestionPoint displays the Advanced Search page.
    If this is your first advanced search since entering the Ask module in this session, the default search criteria are shown on the page.
    If this is not your first advanced search, the search criteria from your previous search are shown. Click Clear if you want to restore the default search criteria.
  3. Enter your search terms in the search boxes, change any limits that you want, and click Search.
    QuestionPoint displays the Search Results.
    You are not required to enter search terms in your search. If you do not, QuestionPoint displays your questions limited by the other criteria on the page.

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Why use advanced search

You must use Advanced Search to search for questions owned by other institutions but which you picked up or answered. You'll also want to use Advanced Search to narrow a search; only 1,000 questions will be retrieved for any search.

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Search boxes and limits in advanced search

The following is information about the search boxes and limits on the Advanced Search page.

Results per Page drop-down list

You can select any of the following options to specify how many results (questions) are listed on each page of the Search Results list:

  • 10 Results
  • 20 Results (default)
  • 30 Results
  • 50 Results
  • 100 Results (If you select this option, you cannot view multiple Full Questions on one page.)

Search boxes

AND is the default operator between multiple words in the same search box. To find an exact phrase, enclose it in quotation marks.

The following help topics contain additional information about entering terms in the Search boxes:

In drop-down lists

Use these to target your search to specific parts, or fields, of a question.

You can select any of the following options:

  • All fields (default; includes all fields, except descriptive codes, form fields, and IP addresses; includes patron information when searching question lists but not when searching Service History.)
  • Descriptive codes (enclose multiple-word descriptive codes in quotation marks; for example "ready reference")
  • Form fields (IP addresses are included in form fields)
  • Full text (includes questions, answers, notes)
  • Institution name
  • Notes text (includes any notes, including Referral and Rejection automatic notes and comments that you entered, and messages to librarians)
  • Patron information (not available in Service History)

OR, AND, NOT drop-down list

Use these to specify how to combine your search terms.

You can select any of the following options:

  • OR (default)
  • AND
  • NOT

For more information, see AND, OR, NOT (searching).

Language of Search Term(s) drop-down list

Use this to specify the language of your search terms.

You can select any of the languages supported by QuestionPoint.

The default is the language of the QuestionPoint interface that you use.

Some languages use different indexing rules. For more information, see Tips for searching non-English content.

Transactions Owned By drop-down list

Questions may be of two kinds: those from your own patrons (we say these are "owned" by you) and those from other patrons that were referred to you or that you picked up while covering cooperative chat queues ("owned" by others but "touched" by you). Librarians and Institution Administrators can search for questions owned or touched by their own institution. Subscription Group (BME) Administrators can search for questions owned or touched by any institution in the Subscription Group (BME).

You can select from the following options:

  • Owned by my library (default)
  • All Transactions in my library (owned or touched)
  • All Transactions in my BME (owned or touched, available to BME admin only)
  • Owned by my BME (available to BME admin only)
  • Owned by others but my library touched
  • Owned by others but my BME touched (available to BME admin only)

Transaction Type drop-down list

You can select any of the following options:

  • All transactions types (default)
  • Chat sessions only
  • Email transactions only
  • Qwidget sessions only
  • Texting only

Transactions Received drop-down list

For current questions, you can select any of the following options:

  • Anytime (default, about 90 days)
  • Last 2 days
  • Last 7 days
  • Last 30 days
  • Last 60 days

For Service History, you can select any of the following options:

  • Anytime (default, the length of time your library has used QuestionPoint)
  • Individual years that your library has used QuestionPoint (You can select multiple years by using <Ctrl> and click.)

Sort By drop-down list

You can select any of the following options:

  • Relevance (default)
  • ID descending
  • ID ascending
  • Patron Name (not available in Service History)

Related topics

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