Searching

Basic searching

The search box that library staff will see most often is the persistent search box at the top of the page in the staff interface.

Search the catalog box at the top of the page in the staff interface

In the OPAC, library patrons will see a search box at the top of most pages.

Library catalog search box at the top of the page in the OPAC

To search, enter a word or multiple words in the search box. When no search index is specified, a keyword search is performed.

Note

You can verify this by typing one word into the form and note the number of results. Then, repeat the search with a minor change: in front of the search word, type ‘kw=’ followed by the same search term. The results will be identical.

When you have more than one word in the search box, Koha will still do a keyword search, but with the Boolean operator ‘AND’. This will narrow your search to only records matching all the words.

When searching, select the major terms of what you are looking for and enter them into the persistent search box.

Search the catalog box at the top of the page in the staff interface with the words 'king arthur' typed inside

Koha will perform the search and return the results.

Search results screen, 129 results found for 'shakespeare'

The order of the words does not affect the retrieval results.

4 results found for 'arthur king'

Too many words in the search box will find very few matches.

No results match your search for 'king arthur camelot merlin'.

Advanced searching

Advanced search can help when the basic search returns too many results.

  • Get there: Search or Advanced search

The advanced search form offers many ways to limit the results of your search. You can search using the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT; limit by item type; limit by year and language; limit by subtypes audience, content, format, or additional content types; by location and by availability.

You can use as many sections as you need, none are mandatory, as long as there is at least one search term or one limit selected.

The advanced search form in the staff interface

Search terms

In the first section in the advanced search form provides several search boxes to search different indexes at the same time.

Search for section of the advanced search form in the staff interface

If the expandedSearchOption system preference is set to ‘show’, options to choose Boolean operators will be automatically displayed. If the preference is set to ‘don’t show’, clicking ‘More options’ will make those options appear.

Search for section of the advanced search form in the staff interface when more options are enabled

In this section you can choose among the many indexes in the drop down menus. The text box that follows is where you enter your first search term or terms. On the second line, you can choose the Boolean operator you want to use in your search. The options are ‘and’, ‘or’, and ‘not’. Then, you would again choose the index to search, followed by the second term or terms. If you have more concepts you want to include in your search, you can click the [+] to add another line for your search.

For example, this is a search for records where the author is Twain and the title contains either ‘Huckleberry Finn’ or ‘Tom Sawyer’.

Search for section of the advanced search form in the staff interface when more options are enabled with an example (Author Twain and Title Huckleberry Finn or Title Tom sawyer)

Boolean operators broaden or narrow searches.

  • AND: narrows results because the search will retrieve the records that include all the search terms.

  • OR: expands the results because the search will look for occurrences of all the search terms, whether they are in the same record or not.

  • NOT: excludes records that contain the search term.

The indexes available in the advanced search form are the following (see more about indexes and which MARC fields are indexed in each in the Koha search indexes section below):

Index option

Index searched

Search type

Keyword

all

keyword

Keyword as phrase

all

exact phrase

Author

author

keyword

Author as phrase

author

exact phrase

Corporate name

corporate-name

keyword

Conference name

conference-name

keyword

Corporate name as phrase

corporate-name

exact phrase

Conference name as phrase

conference-name

exact phrase

Personal name

personal-name

keyword

Personal name as phrase

personal-name

exact phrase

Title

title

keyword

Title as phrase

title

exact phrase

Series title

title-series

keyword

Subject

subject

keyword

Subject as phrase

subject

exact phrase

Barcode

barcode

keyword

Shelving location

location (see note)

keyword

Standard number

identifier-standard

number

ISBN

isbn

isbn

ISSN

issn

number

Call number

local-classification

keyword

Language

ln

keyword

Notes/Comments

note

keyword

Curriculum

curriculum

keyword

Publisher

publisher

keyword

Publisher location

pl

keyword

Publication date

date-of-publication

date

Acquisition date

date-of-acquisition

date

Note

If using LOC authorized values in the item location field, the location indexed is the authorized value code.

Item types, locations and collections limits

Under the search boxes, there are tabs that allows you to limit your search by item type, shelving location or collection.

Advanced search tabbed limits for item type, shelving location and collection

The tabs shown here, as well as their order are controlled by the AdvancedSearchTypes system preference (or OpacAdvancedSearchTypes for the advanced search form in the OPAC).

Note

In the OPAC, this section can be hidden with the OpacAdvSearchMoreOptions or the OpacAdvSearchOptions system preferences (uncheck the ‘Item types’ option).

It is not possible to hide it in the staff interface.

It is possible, when searching, to check multiple options in multiple tabs. In that case, options from the same tab are searched with the OR operator and the options for different tabs are searched with the AND operator. For example, if a user checks the ‘Books’ and ‘Reference’ item types as well as the ‘Children’s area’ and ‘General stacks’ shelving locations, the options will be linked like this: (Books OR Reference) AND (Children’s area OR General stacks).

For each tab, the following indexes are searched (see more about indexes and which MARC fields are indexed in each in the Koha search indexes section below):

Tab

Index searched

Item type

itype

Shelving location

location

Collection

ccode

Date and language limits

The next section only appears if you click ‘More option’ or if the expandedSearchOption system preference is set to ‘show’. It allows you to limit your search based on publication date or language.

Date and language limits section of the advanced search form in the staff interface

Note

In the OPAC, this section can be hidden with the OpacAdvSearchMoreOptions or the OpacAdvSearchOptions system preferences (uncheck the ‘Publication date’ or the ‘Language’ option).

It is not possible to hide it in the staff interface.

The ‘Year’ limit allows you to search for titles published in a specific year as well as a range of years.

  • ‘2005’ will search for titles published in 2005

  • ‘2005-2010’ will search for titles published between 2005 and 2010 (including 2005 and 2010)

  • ‘-2010’ will search for titles published in 2010 and before

  • ‘<2010’ will search for titles published before 2010 (excluding 2010)

  • ‘2005-’ will search for titles published in 2005 and after

  • ‘>2005’ will search for titles published after 2005 (excluding 2005)

The ‘Language’ and ‘Language of original’ limits allow you to search for titles in specific languages or translated from specific languages.

Note

By default, the languages drop-down menus are populated by all languages. It is possible to limit the list with the AdvancedSearchLanguages system preference.

For each search field, the following indexes are searched (see more about indexes and which MARC fields are indexed in each in the Koha search indexes section below):

Search field

Index searched

Year

date-of-publication

Language

ln

Language of original

language-original

Subtype limits

The next section allows you to limit your search with coded values.

Subtypes limits section of the advanced search form in the staff interface

Note

In the OPAC, this section can be hidden with the OpacAdvSearchMoreOptions or the OpacAdvSearchOptions system preferences (uncheck the ‘Subtypes’ option).

It is not possible to hide it in the staff interface.

The ‘Audience’ drop down menu can be used to limit the results to a specific target audience.

  • Preschool

  • Primary

  • Pre-adolescent

  • Adolescent

  • Adult

  • Specialized

  • General

  • Juvenile

The ‘Content’ drop down menu can be used to limit the results to a specific type of content.

  • Fiction

  • Non-fiction

  • Biography

  • Musical recording

  • Non-musical recording

The ‘Format’ drop down menu can be used to limit the results to a specific type of format.

  • Regular print

  • Large print

  • Braille

  • CD audio

  • Cassette recording

  • VHS tape / Videocassette

  • DVD video / Videodisc

  • CD software

  • Website

The ‘Additional content types’ drop down menu can be used to further limit results to a specific type of content.

  • Abstract / Summaries

  • Bibliographies

  • Catalogs

  • Encyclopedias

  • Handbooks

  • Legal articles

  • Indexes

  • Patent documents

  • Discographies

  • Legislation

  • Theses

  • Surveys

  • Reviews

  • Programmed texts

  • Filmographies

  • Directories

  • Statistics

  • Technical reports

  • Legal cases and case notes

  • Law reports and digests

  • Treaties

For each search field, the following indexes are searched (see more about indexes and which MARC fields are indexed in each in the Koha search indexes section below):

Search field

Index searched

Audience

ta

Content

lf bio rtype

Format

ff7-01-02

Additional content types

ctype

Location and availability

The ‘location and availability’ section allows you to limit your search further.

Location and availability limits section of the advanced search form in the staff interface

Note

In the OPAC, this section can be hidden with the OpacAdvSearchMoreOptions or the OpacAdvSearchOptions system preferences (uncheck the ‘Location and availability’ option).

It is not possible to hide it in the staff interface.

The ‘Limit to available items’ box can be checked to show only available items in the results.

Warning

The ‘Limit to available items’ option only removes items that are currently checked out. It does not remove items that are withdrawn, lost, or otherwise not for loan.

The ‘Individual libraries’ drop down menu can be used to limit the search to a specific library.

If you have library groups that are selected to be search groups, they will appear under ‘Groups of libraries’.

Note

By default, the location limit looks for the item’s home library. This can be changed with the SearchLimitLibrary system preference.

For each search field, the following indexes are searched (see more about indexes and which MARC fields are indexed in each in the Koha search indexes section below):

Search field

Index searched

Available items

onloan

Individual libraries or groups of libraries

homebranch holdingbranch

Sorting

Finally, you can choose how the results will be sorted.

Sort by section of the advanced search form in the staff interface

Note

In the OPAC, this section can be hidden with the OpacAdvSearchMoreOptions or the OpacAdvSearchOptions system preferences (uncheck the ‘Sorting’ option).

It is not possible to hide it in the staff interface.

The default sort is set in the defaultSortField and defaultSortOrder system preferences, but you can choose to sort by author, by title, by call number, by dates, or by popularity (which uses the information on total issues found in the items table).

  • Relevance: when using ElasticSearch, the relevance is calculated with the weight of fields and the number of occurrences of the search terms in each field.

  • Popularity: this sort uses the issues index, the number of issues for each item on a record.

  • Author: this sort uses the author index

  • Call number: this sort uses the cn-sort index, which is built using the classification scheme and the call number

  • Publication/Copyright date: this sort uses the date-of-publication index

  • Acquisition date: this sort uses the date-of-acquisition index

  • Title: this sort uses the title index

See more about indexes and which MARC fields are indexed in each in the Koha search indexes section below.

Search results

After performing a search the number of results found for your search will appear above the results.

There will also be a link to return to the advanced search screen to edit the search.

Search results screen, 129 results found for 'shakespeare'

If StaffHighlightedWords is set to ‘highlight’, the search term(s) will be highlighted in yellow with red text in every record. You can remove the highlighting by clicking the ‘Unhighlight’ link at the top of the page.

Note

The highlighting does not represent where the search term was found in the record, it’s merely highlighting the string of characters everywhere it can be found on the page.

By default, search results will be sorted based on the OPACdefaultSortField and OPACdefaultSortOrder system preference values. To change this you can choose another sorting method from the drop down menu on the right.

Each search result is displayed in a table with bibliographic information in the left column and item information in the right column.

Under each title in the list, a series of values from the record’s leader will appear. It is important to note that this has nothing to do with the item types or collection codes assigned to the items, this data is all pulled from the record’s fixed fields. This can be turned on or off with the DisplayIconsXSLT system preference.

In the right column, the availability and information of the items attached to the record are displayed.

Note

Even if you filtered on one library, all libraries that hold the item will appear on the search results.

The availability of the items depends on their status. The following will appear as available:

  • Available (not checked out, no particular status)

  • Restricted

  • On hold

    • An item’s hold status doesn’t not affect whether or not the item is ‘available’ until the item is in ‘waiting’ status. Items with on-shelf holds will show as available until a staff member has pulled them from the shelf and checked the item in to confirm the hold and put it aside as awaiting pick up.

The following will appear as unavailable:

The availability of items is displayed only for the first twenty items in the record. This number can be changed with the MaxSearchResultsItemsPerRecordStatusCheck system preference.

If records have a lot of items, only twenty items will be displayed in the search results by default. This number can be changed with the maxItemsInSearchResults system preference.

If cover image-related Enhanced content system preferences are enabled, cover images will appear next to the search results.

Facets

To the left, there are filters, or facets, to refine your search.

Facets on the search results page

Currently available facets include:

  • Availability

  • Authors

  • Item types

  • Locations

  • Places (geographic name headings)

  • Series

  • Topics (subject headings)

  • Collections (collection codes)

  • Home library, holding library or both

    Note

    This depends on your setting for the DisplayLibraryFacets system preference.

  • Titles (uniform title headings) (zebra only)

Note

When using Elasticsearch, it is possible to remove facets and reorder them from the search engine configuration page.

By default, facets are constructed using the first twenty records. You can customize this with the maxRecordsForFacets system preference.

If you want to show the number of records that correspond to each facet next to it, you can make it appear with the displayFacetCount system preference. Note that this number is dependent on the maxRecordsForFacets system preference.

When there are more than five facets in a category, a ‘Show more’ link will appear. By default, this link will show up to twenty facets. You can change the maximum number of facets shown with the FacetMaxCount system preference.

By default, when facets are longer than twenty characters, will be truncated. You can change the number of character after which a facet is truncated with the FacetLabelTruncationLength system preference.

Note

When using Elasticsearch, facets are never truncated. This is only for Zebra users.

By default, facets in each category are ordered alphabetically. You can change the order with the FacetOrder system preference.

When using UNIMARC, the default separator for authors’ last and first names in the facets is a comma, but you can change this using the UNIMARCAuthorsFacetsSeparator system preference, if necessary.

Actions on search results

Along the top, under the number of results, there are buttons to do different actions on selected records.

  • Select all: selects all the records on the page.

  • Clear all: unselects all the records that were selected.

  • Unhighlight: removes the red/yellow highlighting of the search term(s).

    • If StaffHighlightedWords is set to ‘highlight’, the search term(s) will be highlighted in yellow with red text in every record. The ‘Unhighlight’ link removes the highlighting.

  • Add to cart: adds selected record(s) to the cart.

    Note

    The intranetbookbag system preference needs to be set to ‘Show’ in order for that button to appear.

  • Add to list: adds selected record(s) to the chosen list.

  • Place hold: places a hold on the selected record(s).

  • Browse selected records: goes to the detailed record page of the selected record(s). Clicking on ‘Next’ or ‘Previous’ from the detailed record will bring you to the next selected record.

    Note

    The BrowseResultSelection system preference needs to be enabled in order for that button to appear.

  • Z39.50/SRU search: opens the Z39.50/SRU search popup window with the fields pre-filled with the search terms.

  • Edit: batch edit, batch delete or merge selected records.

  • Sort: changes the sorting field and order. The options are the same as the ones described in the sorting section above.

    Note

    By default, search results will be sorted based on the defaultSortField and defaultSortOrder system preferences values.

    The sort options in the search results page

Under each record, at the bottom, there are more action links:

  • Holds: links to that record’s ‘Holds’ tab.

  • Recalls: links to that record’s ‘Recalls’ tab.

  • Add to cart: adds this record to the cart.

    Note

    The intranetbookbag system preference needs to be set to ‘Show’ in order for that link to appear.

  • Request article: links to that record’s ‘Article requests’ tab.

  • Edit record: links to that record’s MARC framework for editing.

  • Edit items: links to that record’s item list for editing.

  • OPAC view: links to that record’s detail page in the OPAC.

    Note

    The ‘OPAC view’ option needs the OPACBaseURL system preference to be properly set.

Search history

If the EnableSearchHistory system preference set to keep the search history, you can access this information by clicking on your username in the top right of the staff interface and choosing ‘Search history’.

Search history option in the user menu at the top of the page

From this page you will see your bibliographic search history

Bibliographic search history

And your authority search history.

Authority search history

From the search history page, it is possible to relaunch a search by clicking on the search terms.

It is also possible to delete previous searches by selecting them and clicking on the ‘Delete’ link at the top of the table.

Advanced search prefixes

The following prefixes can be added to search terms in the keyword search box to limit items returned

  • ti: title search

    • ex. ti:hamlet

  • su: subject search

    • ex. su:cooking

  • pb: publisher search

    • ex. pb:penguin

  • au: author search

    • ex. au:rowling

  • su-geo: geographic subjects

    • ex. su-geo:wales and kw:description and kw:travel

  • bc: barcode

    • ex. bc:502326000912

  • lex: lexile

    • levels lex:510

Guide to searching

This brief guide will explain a chart that shows a sample of how a MARC21 database can be configured, as well as a brief introductory searching guide. The indexing fields described in this document relate to the bibliographic data and does not address authority database indexing.

Zebra indexing

Koha’s databases are indexed by the Zebra open-source software. The overview to the documentation describes Zebra as:

“…Zebra is a high-performance, general-purpose structured text indexing and retrieval engine. It reads records in a variety of input formats (eg. email, XML, MARC) and provides access to them through a powerful combination of Boolean search expressions and relevance-ranked free-text queries.

Zebra supports large databases (tens of millions of records, tens of gigabytes of data). It allows safe, incremental database updates on live systems. Because Zebra supports the industry-standard information retrieval protocol, Z39.50, you can search Zebra databases using an enormous variety of programs and toolkits, both commercial and free, which understands this protocol…” Zebra - User’s Guide and Reference, p. 1, https://software.indexdata.com/zebra/doc/idzebra.pdf

This brief guide will explain a chart that shows a sample of how a MARC21 database can be configured, as well as a brief introductory searching guide. The indexing fields described in this document relate to the bibliographic data and does not address authority database indexing.

Note

The indexing described in this document is the set used by SouthEastern University. Your local indexing may vary.

Indexing configuration

There are three configuration files that Koha uses while indexing.

The first configuration file (etc/zebradb/biblios/etc/bib1.att) contains the Z39.50 bib-1 attribute list, plus the Koha local use attributes for Biblio Indexes, Items Index, and Fixed Fields and other special indexes. The Z39.50 Bib-1 profile is made up of several different types of attributes: Use, Relation, Position, Structure, Truncation, and Completeness. The bib-1 ‘Use’ attribute is represented on the chart; the other attributes are used primarily when doing searches. While there are over 150+ use attributes that could be used to define your indexing set, it’s unlikely that you will choose to use them all. The attributes you elect to use are those that become the indexing rules for your database. The other five attribute sets define the various ways that a search can be further defined, and will not specifically be addressed in this document. For a complete list of the standard Bib-1 attributes, go to http://www.loc.gov/z3950/agency/defns/bib1.html.

The second file is etc/zebradb/marc_defs/[marc21|unimarc]/biblios/record.abs if you use grs1 indexing [the default until 3.16] or etc/zebradb/marc_defs/[marc21|unimarc]/biblios/biblio-koha-indexdefs.xml if you use dom indexing [the default from 3.18]. Either files contains the abstract syntax which maps the MARC21 tags to the set of Use Attributes you choose to use. To be more precise the xml file to be activate needs to be transform into biblio-zebra-indexdefs.xsl, read the head of biblio-zebra-indexdefs.xsl to know more about this topic. The rules established in this file provides a passable Bath level 0 and 1 service, which includes author, title, subject, keyword and exact services such as standard identifiers (LCCN, ISBN, ISSN, etc.)

The third file (etc/zebradb/ccl.properties) is the Common Command Language (CCL) field mappings. This file combines the bib-1 attribute set file and the abstract file and adds the qualifiers, usually known as index names. The qualifiers, or indexes, for this database are: pn, cpn, cfn, ti, se, ut, nb, ns, sn, lcn, callnum, su, su-to, su-geo, su-ut, yr,pubdate, acqdate, ln, pl, ab, nt, rtype, mc-rtype, mus, au, su-na, kw, pb, ctype, and an.

The Koha Indexing Chart summarizes the contents of all three of these files in a more readable format. The first two columns labeled Z39.50 attribute and Z39.50 name matches the Z39.50 bib-1 attributes file. The third column labeled MARC tags indexed is where you find which MARC tags are mapped to an attribute. The fourth column labeled Qualifiers identifies the search abbreviations used in the internal CCL query. The following description provides a definition for the word ‘qualifiers’.

Qualifiers are used to direct the search to a particular searchable index, such as title (ti) and author indexes (au). The CCL standard itself doesn’t specify a particular set of qualifiers, but it does suggest a few shorthand notations. You can customize the CCL parser to support a particular set of qualifiers to reflect the current target profile. Traditionally, a qualifier would map to a particular use-attribute within the BIB-1attribute set. It is also possible to set other attributes, such as the structure attribute.

In the MARC tags indexed column, there are some conventions used that have specific meanings. They are:

  • A three digit tag (100) means that all subfields in the tag can be used in a search query. So, if you enter a search for ‘Jackson’ as an author, you will retrieve records where Jackson could be the last name or the first name.

  • A three digit tag that has a ‘$’ followed by a letter (600$a) means that a search query will only search the ‘a’ subfield.

  • A three digit tag that is followed by a ‘:’ and a letter (240:w) means that a search query can be further qualified. The letter following the ‘:’ identifies how to conduct the search. The most common values you’ll see are ‘w’ (word), ‘p’ (phrase), ‘s’ (sort), and ‘n’ (numeric).

The contents of the MARC tags, subfields, and/or fixed field elements that are listed in this chart are all indexed. You’ll see that every attribute line is not mapped to a specific qualifier (index)-LC card number, line 9 is one example. However, every indexed word (a string of characters preceded and succeeded by a space) can be searched using a keyword (kw) search. So, although an LC card number specific index doesn’t exist, you can still search by the LCCN since tag 010 is assigned to the LC-card-number attribute. To verify this, enter 72180055 in the persistent search box. You should retrieve The gods themselves, by Isaac Asimov.

Examples of fixed field elements indexing can be seen on the chart between Attribute 8822 and Attribute 8703. These attributes are most commonly used for limiting. The fixed field attributes currently represent the BK codes. Other format codes, if needed, could be defined.

Common command language searching

Koha uses the Common Command Language (CCL) (ISO 8777) as its internal search protocol. Searches initiated in the graphical interface use this protocol as well, although the searcher doesn’t know which indexes, operators and limiters are available and being used to conduct their search. The searcher can use the Advanced Search when more precise results set are desired and where the search indexes are somewhat known. However, some library users and many library staff prefer using a command based structure. This part of the document will present and explain the use of the Koha command based structure. The indexes, operators, and limiters used are identical to those used in the graphical interface.

Indexes

The CCL standard itself doesn’t specify a particular set of qualifiers (indexes), but it does suggest a few short-hand notations such as ‘ti’, ‘au’, and ‘su’. Koha has a default set of indexes; it’s possible to customize that set by adding needed indexes based on local requirements. A qualifier (index) maps to a particular use-attribute within the Z39.50 BIB-1 attribute set. The complete Z39.50 Bib-1 Attribute can be viewed at http://www.loc.gov/z3950/agency/defns/bib1.html.

The standard Koha set of indexes is a fairly common example of MARC21 indexing rules. The indexes that are defined in Koha are indexes typically used by other integrated library systems. The defined Z39.50 Bib-1 Attribute mapped to the indexes include:

Bib-1 Attribute

Qualifier (index)

Personal-name

pn

Corporate-name

cpn

Conference-name

cfn

Title

ti

Title-series

se

Title-uniform

ut

ISBN

nb

ISSN

ns

Local number

sn

Local-classification

lcn and callnum

Subject

su, su-to, su-geo, su-ut

Pubdate

yr,pubdate

Date-of-Acquisition

acqdate

Language

ln

Place-of-publication

pl

Abstract

ab

Notes

nt

Record-type

rtype, mc-rtype, mus

Author

au, aut

Subject-person-name

su-na

Any (keyword)

kw

Publisher

pb

Content-type

ctype

Koha-Auth-Number

an

Author-personal-bibliography

aub

Author-in-order

auo

Table: Attributes

Refer to the Koha Indexing Chart for the MARC21 tags mapped to each Bib-1 Attribute and index combination.

Audience examples
  • aud:a Preschool

  • aud:b Primary

  • aud:c Pre-Adolescent

  • aud:d Adolescent

  • aud:e Adult

  • aud:f Specialized

  • aud:g General

  • aud:j Juvenile

Contents examples
  • fic:1 Fiction

  • fic:0 Non Fiction

  • bio:b Biography

  • mus:j Musical recording

  • mus:I Non musical record

Search syntax

In the persistent search box, single words generally retrieve large sets. To narrow a search, you can use multiple words. Koha automatically uses the ‘and’ Boolean operator to create a set of records matching your input. When you want to narrow the search to an author or a title or a subject or some other specific field or use a Boolean operator, there isn’t an obvious way to accomplish that specificity. The library user can, of course, go to the Advanced Search page; however, if you know how to construct a CCL search, you can achieve more specificity while using the persistent search box on any page.

There is a specific order to the CCL search syntax. Although it can be used for simple searches, it is an especially effective way to perform complex searches, as it affords you a great deal of control over your search results. To construct a CCL search, first enter a desired index code, then an equal sign, followed by your search word(s). Following are examples of simple CCL searches.

  • ti=principles of accounting

  • au=brown joseph

  • su=poetry

  • su-na=Shakespeare

  • kw=marlin

You can refine your search by combining search terms with Boolean operators ‘and’, ‘or’, or ‘not’. Following are examples of searches using Boolean operators.

  • ti=principles of accounting and au=brown joseph

  • su=poetry not su-na=Shakespeare

  • kw=communication and su=debate

You can also choose to search for things that start with a character or series of characters

  • ti,first-in-subfield=C (will show you all titles that start with the letter ‘C’)

Other string location searches can be performed with the following keywords:

  • rtrn : right truncation

  • ltrn : left truncation

  • lrtrn : left and right truncation

  • st-date : type date

  • st-numeric : type number (integer)

  • ext : exact search on whole subfield (does not work with icu)

  • phr : search on phrase anywhere in the subfield

  • startswithnt : subfield starts with

Using specific indexes and Boolean operators are not the only way a search can be refined. You can also refine your search as a phrase when looking for a title, author, or subject. The syntax for this search is index,phr=search words.

To illustrate the results of various search types, a search was done for the words ‘supreme court’. The results illustrate that the search index and the word order make a difference in search results. Only the results count and the search itself is in these examples. The search executed will always be between the single quotes.

image1049

image1050

image1051

image1052

image1053

image1054

image1055

image1056

image1057

You can also choose to use limiters in your search query. Some common limiters include dates, languages, record types, and item types. In the Advance Search, you can either click a box or key in data to limit your search. You can also apply the same limits with CCL by using the syntax in the following examples. In all

By Date: su=supreme court and yr,st-numeric=>2000

image1058

When you limit by date, you can use the ‘>’ (greater than), ‘<’ (less than), ‘=’ (equal), or ‘yyyy-yyyy’ (range) symbols.

By Item Type: su=nursing and itype:BK

image1059

Each library will have a different set of item types defined in their circulation configuration. When you set up item types, you define a code and a name for each one. The name will appear on the Advance Search page. The code you assigned is used as a CCL search limit, formatted as ‘itype:x’, where ‘x’ is the assigned code. The initial set of item types in Koha will usually be edited to reflect your collections, so your item type limiters may be different than the initial ones. The initial item type limiters follow.

  • itype:BKS Books, Booklets, Workbooks

  • itype:SR Audio Cassettes, CDs

  • itype:IR Binders

  • itype:CF CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, General Online Resources

  • itype:VR DVDs, VHS

  • itype:KT Kit

  • itype:AR Models

  • itype:SER Serials

By format: su=supreme court not l-format:sr

image1060

The format limiters are derived from a combination of LDR, 006 and 007 positions. The formats that are currently defined are the following.

  • l-format:ta Regular print

  • l-format:tb Large print

  • l-format:fk Braille

  • l-format:sd CD audio

  • l-format:ss Cassette recording

  • l-format:vf VHS tape

  • l-format:vd DVD video

  • l-format:co CD software

  • l-format:cr Website

By content type: su=supreme court not ctype:l

image1061

The content types are taken from the 008 MARC tag, positions 24-27.

There are two other limiter types that are not described in this document. They are: Audience and Content. The only difference in the syntax of the CCL is the actual limiter. They are reproduced here just in case you would like to use these limiters.

Koha search indexes

Zebra

By default, not all fields are indexed in the Zebra search engine, but many are. Below are the MARC21 fields that are indexed in Zebra.

Field

Description

Leader/06

Record-type, rtype

Leader/07

Bib-level

Leader/06-07

Material-type

001

Control-number

005

Date/time-last-modified, dtlm, date-time-last-modified

007

Microform-generation:n:range(data,11,1), Material-type,ff7-00:w:range(data,0,1), ff7-01:w:range(data,1,1), ff7-02:w:range(data,2,1), ff7-01-02:w:range(data,0,2)

008

date-entered-on-file:n:range(data,0,5), date-entered-on-file:s:range(data,0,5), pubdate:w:range(data,7,4), pubdate:n:range(data,7,4), pubdate:y:range(data,7,4), pubdate:s:range(data,7,4), pl:w:range(data,15,3), ta:w:range(data,22,1), ff8-23:w:range(data,23,1), ff8-29:w:range(data,29,1), lf:w:range(data,33,1), bio:w:range(data,34,1), ln:n:range(data,35,3), ctype:w:range(data,24,4), Record-source:w:range(data,39,0)

010

LC-card-number, Identifier-standard

011

LC-card-number, Identifier-standard

015

BNB-card-number, BGF-number, Number-db, Number-natl-biblio, Identifier-standard

017

Number-legal-deposit, Identifier-standard

018

Identifier-standard

020$a

ISBN:w, Identifier-standard:w

020

Identifier-standard

022$a

ISSN:w, Identifier-standard:w

022

Identifier-standard

023

Identifier-standard

024$a

Identifier-other

024

Identifier-standard

025

Identifier-standard

027

Report-number, Identifier-standard

028

Number-music-publisher, Identifier-standard

030

CODEN, Identifier-standard

034

Map-scale

035

Other-control-number

037

Identifier-standard, Stock-number

040

Code-institution, Record-source

041$a

ln-audio

041$h

language-original

041$j

ln-subtitle

041

ln

043

Code-geographic

050$b

LC-call-number:w, LC-call-number:p, LC-call-number:s

050

LC-call-number:w, LC-call-number:p, LC-call-number:s

052

Geographic-class

060

NLM-call-number

070

NAL-call-number

080

UDC-classification

082

Dewey-classification:w, Dewey-classification:s

086

Number-govt-pub

100$9

Cross-Reference:w, Koha-Auth-Number

100$a

Author,Author:p, Author:s, Editor, Author-personal-bibliography, Author-personal-bibliography:p, Author-personal-bibliography:s

100

Author, Author-title, Author-name-personal, Name, Name-and-title, Personal-name

110$9

Koha-Auth-Number

110

Author, Author-title, Author-name-corporate, Name, Name-and-title, Corporate-name

111$9

Koha-Auth-Number

111

Author, Author-title, Author-name-corporate, Name, Name-and-title, Conference-name

130$n

Thematic-number

130$r

Music-key

130$9

Koha-Auth-Number

130

Title, Title-uniform

210

Title, Title-abbreviated

211

Title, Title-abbreviated

212

Title, Title-other-variant

214

Title, Title-expanded

222

Title, Title-key

240$r

Music-key

240$n

Thematic-number

240

Title:w, Title:p, Title-uniform

243$n

Thematic-number

243$r

Music-key

243

Title:w, Title:p, Title-collective

245$a

Title-cover:w, Title-cover:p, Title-cover:s, Title:w, Title:p, Title:s

245$c

Author, Author-in-order:w, Author-in-order:p, Author-in-order:s

245$9

Cross-Reference:w, Koha-Auth-Number

245

Title:w, Title:p

246

Title, Title:p, Title-abbreviated, Title-expanded, Title-former

247

Title, Title:p, Title-former, Title-other-variant, Related-periodical

260$a

pl:w, pl:p

260$b

Publisher:w, Publisher:p

260$c

copydate, copydate:s

260

Provider, pl

264

Provider

300

Extent:w, Extent:p

400$a

Name-and-title

400$t

Author-title, Name-and-title, Title, Title-series

400$9

Koha-Auth-Number

400

Author, Author-name-personal, Name, Personal-name

410

Author, Corporate-name

410$a

Name-and-title

410$t

Author-title, Title, Title-series

410$9

Koha-Auth-Number

410

Author-name-corporate, Name

411

Author, Conference-name

411$a

Name-and-title

411$t

Author-title, Title-series

411

Author-name-corporate, Name

440$a

Title-series:w, Title-series:p

440$9

Koha-Auth-Number

440

Title-series:w, Title-series:p, Title, Title-series

490$a

Title-series:w, Title-series:p

490

Title, Title-series

490$9

Koha-Auth-Number

500

Note:w, Note:p

502

Material-type

505$r

Author

505$t

Title

505

Note:w, Note:p

510

Indexed-by

520

Abstract:w, Abstract:p

521$a

lex:n

526$c

arl, arl:n

526$d

arp, arp:n

590

Note:w, Note:p

600$a

Name-and-title, Name, Personal-name, Subject-name-personal, Subject

600$t

Name-and-title, Title, Subject

600$9

Koha-Auth-Number

600

Name, Personal-name, Subject-name-personal, Subject

610$a

Name-and-title

610$t

Name-and-title, Title

610$9

Koha-Auth-Number

610

Name, Subject, Corporate-name

611

Conference-name

611$a

Name-and-title

611$t

Name-and-title, Title

611$9

Koha-Auth-Number

611

Name, Subject

630$n

Thematic-number

630$r

Music-key

630$9

Koha-Auth-Number

630

Subject

650$9

Koha-Auth-Number

650

Subject, Subject:p

651$9

Koha-Auth-Number

651

Name-geographic, Subject,Subject:p

652$9

Koha-Auth-Number

653$9

Koha-Auth-Number

653

Subject, Subject:p

654$9

Koha-Auth-Number

654

Subject

655$9

Koha-Auth-Number

655

Subject

656$9

Koha-Auth-Number

656

Subject

657$9

Koha-Auth-Number

657

Subject

690$9

Koha-Auth-Number

690

Subject, Subject:p

700$9

Cross-Reference, Koha-Auth-Number

700$a

Author, Author:p

700$n

Thematic-number

700$r

Music-key

700$t

Author-title, Name-and-title, Title, Title-uniform

700

Author, Author-name-corporate, Author-name-personal, Name, Editor, Personal-name

710

Author, Corporate-name

710$t

Author-title, Name-and-title, Title, Title-uniform

710$a

Name-and-title

710$9

Koha-Auth-Number

710

Author, Name

711$a

Name-and-title

711$t

Author-title, Title, Title-uniform

711$9

Koha-Auth-Number

711

Author-name-corporate, Name, Conference-name

730$n

Thematic-number

730$r

Music-key

730$9

Koha-Auth-Number

730

Title, Title-uniform

740

Title, Title-other-variant

773$t

Host-item

780$t

Title

780$w

Record-control-number

780

Title, Title-former, Related-periodical

785$w

Record-control-number

785

Related-periodical

787$w

Record-control-number

800$a

Name-and-title

800$t

Author-title, Name-and-title, Title, Title-series

800$9

Koha-Auth-Number

800

Author, Author-name-personal, Name, Personal-name

810$a

Name-and-title

810$t

Author-title, Name-and-title, Title, Title-series

810$9

Koha-Auth-Number

810

Author, Corporate-name, Author-name-corporate, Name

811$a

Name-and-title

811$9

Koha-Auth-Number

811$t

Author-title, Name-and-title, Title, Title-series

811

Author, Author-name-corporate, Name, Conference-name

830$9

Koha-Auth-Number

830

Title, Title-series

840

Title, Title-series

942$0

totalissues:n, totalissues:s

942$2

cn-bib-source

942$6

cn-bib-sort:n, cn-bib-sort:s

942$c

itemtype:w

942$n

Suppress:w, Suppress:n

942$h

cn-class

942$i

cn-item

942$k

cn-prefix

942$m

cn-suffix

952$0

withdrawn:n, withdrawn:w

952$1

lost, lost:n

952$2

classification-source

952$3

materials-specified

952$4

damaged:n, damaged:w

952$5

restricted:n, restricted:w

952$6

cn-sort:n, cn-sort:s

952$7

notforloan:n, notforloan:w

952$8

ccode

952$9

itemnumber:n, itemnumber:s

952$a

homebranch

952$b

holdingbranch

952$c

location

952$d

Date-of-acquisition, Date-of-acquisition:d, Date-of-acquisition:s

952$e

acqsource

952$f

coded-location-qualifier

952$g

price

952$j

stack:n, stack:w

952$l

issues:n, issues:w, issues:s

952$m

renewals:n, renewals:w

952$n

reserves:n, reserves:w

952$o

Local-classification:w, Local-classification:p, Local-classification:s

952$p

barcode, barcode:n

952$q

onloan:n, onloan:w

952$r

datelastseen

952$s

datelastborrowed

952$t

copynumber

952$u

uri:u

952$v

replacementprice

952$w

replacementpricedate

952$y

itype:w

952$z

Note:w, Note:p

999$c

Local-Number:n, Local-Number:w, Local-Number:s

999$d

biblioitemnumber:n, biblioitemnumber:w, biblioitemnumber:s

Table: Indexes

Elasticsearch indexes

The indexes for elasticsearch are available in the mappings.yaml file in :: admin/searchengine/elasticsearch.

They are copied here for easier reference.

Bibliographic record indexes

MARC21 bibliographic indexes

Index name

MARC fields

abstract

520

acqsource

952$e

arl

526$c

arp

526$d

author

100$a

110$a

111$a

245$c

700$a

author-in-order

245$c

author-name-corporate

110

111

711

810

811

author-name-personal

100

400

700

800

author-personal-bibliography

100$a

author-title

100

110

111

400$t

410$t

411$t

700$t

710$t

711$t

800$t

810$t

811$t

barcode

952$p

bgf-number

015

bib-level

leader/7

biblioitemnumber

999$d

bio

008/34

bnb-card-number

015

ccode

952$8

classification-source

952$2

cn-bib-sort

942$6

cn-bib-source

942$2

cn-class

942$h

cn-item

942$i

cn-prefix

942$k

cn-sort

952$6

cn-suffix

942$m

code-geographic

043

code-institution

040

coded-location-qualifier

952$f

coden

030

conference-name

111

411

611

711

811

control-number

001

copydate

260$c

copynumber

952$t

corporate-name

110

410

610

710

810

cross-reference

100$9

245$9

700$9

ctype

008/24-27

curriculum

658$a $b $c

damaged

952$4

date-entered-on-file

008/00-05

date-of-acquisition

952$d

date-of-publication

008/07-10

date-time-last-modified

005

datelastborrowed

952$s

datelastseen

952$r

dewey-classification

082

dissertation-information

502

editor

100$a

700

extent

300

ff7-00

007/00

ff7-01

007/01

ff7-01-02

007/00-01

ff7-02

007/02

ff8-23

008/23

ff8-29

008/29

geographic-class

052

holdingbranch

952$b

homebranch

952$a

host-item

773$a $t

host-item-number

773$9

identifier-other

024$a

identifier-publisher-for-music

028

identifier-standard

010

011

015

017

018

020$a

022$a

index-term-genre

655$a

index-term-uncontrolled

653$a

indexed-by

510

interest-age-level

521$a

interest-grade-level

521$a

isbn

020$a

issn

022$a

issues

952$l

itemnumber

952$9

itemtype

942$c

952$y

koha-auth-number

100$9

110$9

111$9

130$9

245$9

400$9

410$9

440$9

490$9

600$9

610$9

611$9

630$9

648$9

650$9

651$9

652$9

653$9

654$9

655$9

656$9

657$9

662$9

690$9

691$9

696$9

697$9

698$9

699$9

700$9

710$9

711$9

730$9

751$9

796$9

797$9

797$9

798$9

799$9

800$9

810$9

811$9

830$9

896$9

897$9

898$9

899$9

language-original

041$h

lc-call-number

050$b

lc-card-number

010

011

lexile-number

521$a

lf

008/33

llength

leader/00-04

ln

008/35-37

ln-audio

041$a

ln-subtitle

041$j

local-classification

952$o

local-number

999$c

location

952$c

lost

952$1

map-scale

034

material-type

007

materials-specified

952$3

microform-generation

007/11

music-key

130$r

240$r

243$r

630$r

700$r

730$r

nal-call-number

070

name

100

110

111

400

600$a

610

611

700

710

711

800

810

811

name-and-title

100

110

111

400$a $t

410$a

411$a

600$a $t

610$a $t

611$a $t

700$t

710$a $t

711$a

800$a $t

810$a $t

811$a $t

name-geographic

651

751$a

nlm-call-number

060

not-onloan-count

999$x

note

500

505

590

952$z

notforloan

952$7

number-db

015

number-govt-pub

086

number-legal-deposit

017

number-local-acquisition

952$i

number-natl-biblio

015

onloan

952$q

other-control-number

035

personal-name

100

400

600$a

700

800

pl

008/15-17

price

952$g

provider

260

264

publisher

260$b

reading-grade-level

521$a

record-control-number

770$w

772$w

773$w

774$w

775$w

776$w

777$w

780$w

785$w

787$w

800$w

810$w

811$w

830$w

record-source

008/39

related-periodical

247

780

785

renewals

952$m

replacementprice

952$v

replacementpricedate

952$w

report-number

027

reserves

952$n

restricted

952$5

rtype

leader/06

stack

952$j

stock-number

037

su-geo

651$a

subject

600$a

600$t

610$a

611

630$n

630$r

650$a

650$b

650$c

650$d

650$v

650$x

650$y

650$z

651

653$a

subject-name-personal

600$a

suppress

942$n

ta

008/22

thematic-number

130$n

240$n

243$n

630$n

700$n

730$n

title

130

210

211

212

214

222

240

245$a

246

247

490$a

505$t

700$t

710$t

711$t

730

740

780

785

title-abbreviated

210

211

246

title-cover

245$a

title-expanded

214

246

title-former

246

247

780

title-key

222

title-later

785

title-other-variant

212

247

740

title-series

440$a

490$a

title-uniform

130

240

700$t

710$t

711$t

730

totalissues

942$9

udc-classification

080

uri

952$u

withdrawn

952$0

UNIMARC bibliographic indexes

Index name

MARC fields

author

200$f

200$g

700$a

701

700$a

bio

105$a/12

ccode

995$8

ctype

105$a/04-07

date-entered-on-file

099$c

date-of-acquisition

995$5

date-of-publication

100$a/09-12

date-time-last-modified

099$d

ff8-29

105$a/08

holdingbranch

995$c

homebranch

995$b

host-item-number

461$9

identifier-standard

010$a $z

011$a $y $z

isbn

010$a $z

issn

011$a $y $z

itemnumber

995$9

itype

200$b

995$r

lc-card-number

995$j

lf

105$a/11

ln

101$a

local-classification

686

995$k

local-number

001

location

995$e

not-onloan-count

999$x

notforloan

995$o

onloan

995$n

publisher

210$c

su-geo

607$a

subject

600

600$a

601

602

604

605

606

607

608

610

suppress

955$n

ta

100$a/17

title

200$a

200$c

200$d

200$e

200$h

200$i

205

304$a

327$a

327$b

327$c

327$d

327$e

327$f

327$g

327$h

327$i

328$t

410$t

411$t

412$t

413$t

421$t

422$t

423$t

424$t

425$t

430$t

431$t

432$t

433$t

434$t

435$t

436$t

437$t

440$t

441$t

442$t

443$t

444$t

445$t

446$t

447$t

448$t

451$t

452$t

453$t

454$t

455$t

456$t

461$t

462$t

463$t

464$t

470$t

481$t

482$t

488$t

title-series

225$a

Authority record indexes

MARC21 authority indexes

Index name

MARC fields

Corporate-name-see-also-from

510(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

Corporate-name-see-from

410(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

Descriptive-cataloging-rules

008/10

Heading

100(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

110(abcdefghjklnpqstvxyz)

111(acdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

130(adefghjklnpqstvxyz)

148(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

150(abgvxyz)

151(agvxyz)

155(avxyz)

Heading-Main

100$a

110$a

111$a

130$a

148$a

150$a

151$a

155$a

Heading-use-main-or-added-entry

008/14

Heading-use-series-added-entry

008/16

Heading-use-subject-added-entry

008/15

Kind-of-record

008/09

Match

100(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

111(acdefghjklnpqstvxyz)

400(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

410(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

411(acdefghjklnpqstvxyz)

500(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

510(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

511(acdefghjklnpqstvxyz)

Match-heading-see-from

400(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

410(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

411(acdefghjklnpqstvxyz)

Meeting-name

111(acdefghjklnpqstvxyz)

Meeting-name-heading

111(acdefghjklnpqstvxyz)

Meeting-name-see-also-from

511(acdefghjklnpqstvxyz)

Meeting-name-see-from

411(acdefghjklnpqstvxyz)

Personal-name-heading

100(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

Personal-name-see-also-from

500(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

Personal-name-see-from

400(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

See-also-from

500(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

510(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

511a(bcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

530(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

547(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

548(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

550(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

551(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

555(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

562(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

See-from

400(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

410(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

411(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

430(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

440(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

441(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

444(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

447(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

448(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

462(abcdefghklmnoprstvxyz)

Subject-heading-thesaurus

008/11

authtype

942$a

lc-card-number

010$a $z

local-number

001

personal-name

100(abcdefghjklmnopqrstvxyz)

record-source

040(acd)

UNIMARC authority indexes

Index name

MARC fields

Heading

200(abcdfgjxyz)

210(abcdefghjxyz)

215(ajxyz)

216(afcjxyz)

220(afjxyz)

230(abhijklmnqrsuwxyz)

235(abejkmrsuwxyz)

240(atjxyz)

250(ajxyz)

260(abcdjxyz)

280(ajxyz)

Heading-Main

200$a

210$a

215$a

216$a

220$a

230$a

235$a

240$a

250$a

260$a

280$a

Match

200(3478abcdfgjxyz)

210(3478abcdefghxyz)

215(78ajxyz)

216(378acfjxyz)

220(378afjxyz)

230(8abhijklmqrsuwxyz)

235(378abeijkmratsuwxyz)

240(8abcfjtxyz)

250(8abcdjvxyz)

260(378abcd)

280(378ajxyz)

400(0234568abcdfgjxyz)

410(02345678abcdefghjxyz)

415(0235678ajxyz)

416(acfjxyz)

420(afjxyz)

430(0235678abhijklmnqrsuwxyz)

435(0235678abejkmrsuwxyz)

440(0235678abcdfjtxyz)

445(ajtxyz)

450(0235678ajxyz)

460(abcd)

480(ajxyz)

500(023456789abcdfgjxyz)

510(02345678abcdefghjxyz)

515(0356789ajxyz)

516(9acfjxyz)

520(9afjxyz)

530(02356789abhijklmnqrsuwxyz)

535(02356789abjkmqrsuwxyz)

540(0235678ajtxyz)

545(9ajtxyz)

550(02356789abjxyz)

560(59abcd)

580(59ajxyz)

700(23478abcdfgjxyz)

710(23478abcdefghjxyz)

715(2378ajxyz)

716(acfjxyz)

720(afjxyz)

730(2378abhijklmnqrsuwxyz)

740(2378ajtxyz)

745(378ajtxyz)

750(23789abjxyz)

760(abcd)

780(ajxyz)

authtype

152$b

local-number

001