What to do when a record has been catalogued but is not appearing during a search

What to do when a record has been catalogued but is not appearing during a search



This document is intended to outline the different steps to take in the event that records which have been recently added cannot be found in the catalogue. 

Ensure the item was catalogued correctly

It is possible that a bibliographic record was added to the system but an item record was not. If you are searching by barcode and not getting any results, try to search by the title, author or ISBN of the record. If this brings up a bibliographic record with no items attached, like the example below, or brings up multiple bibliographic records for the same title, then it is possible bibliographic records are being added but item records are not being attached. For information on the difference between item records and bibliographic records please check the Help Centre page or contact Interleaf Technology directly.



Ensure the search is being completed correctly

Check the search tab

The search bar is context sensitive, so ensure you are searching in the correct tab. Along the bottom of the search bar there will be several tabs with blue lettering. Clicking on the blue lettering will cause the tab to pop out and the search bar will be prepped to complete a specific action. The tab for searching records in your catalogue is the Search the catalog option.

The wrong tab for searching for a record in the catalogue:


Vs. The right tab to search for an item in the catalogue:


There will be grey writing across the top of the search box instructing how to use the search tab.

Ensure barcode is being scanned correctly

If you are searching by scanning a barcode ensure your scanner is correctly configured so it is reading the barcode accurately. A quick way to check this is to confirm
the number of digits in the barcode you are scanning matches the number of digits in the search box after being scanned. To double check try type the barcode into the search box to check if this returns the item.


If you are searching through Cataloging > Cataloging Search it is possible you are not using the most effective option for searching the catalogue. The search bar on this page includes two options for searching the catalogue, Cataloging search and Search the catalog.

Cataloging search is intended to be used to support the act of cataloging, or adding records to the site, as opposed to circulation or surveying existing records. Results from this search will expect a cataloging action to be taken and will include records that are on the site, but also records that may have been imported from z39.50, or imported in bulk at some point, but have not been saved.

Search the catalog will be a straightforward search of the catalogue, showing the records that are in the site, so check if the missing records appear in this search.

Check if the item is appearing on either the staff of the OPAC side

If the record is not appearing on the OPAC side but is appearing on the staff side check if it matches parameters set in the suppress items system preference.

Go to KOHA administration > Global System Preferences and search for OpacHiddenItems. This will bring you to a system preference of the same name.


Click the Click to Edit button and this will cause a freetext box to open.

If this box is blank then this is not a factor in an item not appearing. However, if there is content in this box it could be hiding certain items on the OPAC if they match the parameters specified. 


There are many different ways in which this system preference can be configured, too many to go into here, but a short overview of this function can be found here: https://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/OpacHiddenItems

If you are still uncertain if the OpacHiddenItems system preference could be influencing items appearing when you search, please contact Interleaf directly. 

Rebuilding the index

If none of the above options has addressed the issue then it is possible the Zebra Index has not been updated. Zebra is a search index that controls the search terms and sorts items within the catalogue, determining which results to present for a search. This is constantly being updated as new records are added, but if it stalls out records may be saved on the system but not taken into account when a search is completed.

One indicator that this is the case is if you can find a record by inputting the bibliographic number into the URL or through a report.

Another indicator is if it is possible to find the item in the advanced or item search areas.

To check this go to Searchâ–¼> Item search on the KOHA homepage.



This will bring you to a new page where you can complete a search by barcode. If searching a barcode in this area returns an accurate result, this indicates that the record has been saved in the catalogue but the Zebra Index is not including it when a search is completed using the context sensitive search bar.


To correct this issue the Zebra Indexer needs to be rebuilt, which should be scheduled with Interleaf Technology. Please be aware, while the indexer is being rebuilt searching will not be available and no cataloguing must not be completed. How long the rebuild takes will depend on the size of the catalogue, but it can run from an hour up. Interleaf can give an estimation of how long it will take depending on the size of your catalogue. 

Version History

Version

Date

Detail

Author

1.0

02/12/19

Document created

Holly Cooper

1.1

09/12/19

Adding images and structure

Holly Cooper

1.2

27/12/19

Small corrections

Holly Cooper


24/02/2020
Published
Charles Quain
2.0
22/06/2020
Transferred to Zoho
Daphne Hoolahan
2.1
04/05/2021
Adding TOC
Holly Cooper

Retention Policy

Permanent

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