The SmartBrowse Series: Five Ways to Search Specific on SmartBrowse

Search is a great way to find what you’re looking for when you know exactly what you’re looking for. But what happens when you just have a keyword in mind or a just a fuzzy idea of what you’re seeking? When searching in basic Search, general keywords can produce laundry lists of results with no organizational scheme—or worse, no results at all! Check out what happened when I typed “Big.”

Fortunately, Midwest Tape designed SmartBrowse as a tool for finding specific results with general inquiries. I decided to play around with SmartBrowse myself and develop some tips for successful searching. Here are five ways to find specific results with general searches using SmartBrowse:

1.   Shop selectively using category searches:

“I want to enhance the action section of my library’s DVD collection.  But I want Academy Award winners only.”

1. Search “Academy Award” in the SmartBrowse search box. 

2. Under Categories, select DVD results in line with VIDEO::FICTION::ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS.

3. Sort by Genre to view all Academy Award films categorized by the Action genre.

4. Scroll through the listings; view product details, Academy Awards won, and Rotten Tomatoes ratings without leaving your search. 

2.   Search series names to find all titles related:

“I need to make sure I have all the audiobooks in the Anita Blake series!”

1. Search “Anita Blake” in the SmartBrowse search field.
2. Expand the Series results in the Search Results screen by clicking the plus symbol.

3. Select the Audiobook results in line with Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. Your results will appear in a sortable list.

4. Click on column headings to sort your list and identify the titles you need to round out your series. You can even scroll through the listings and view product details without leaving your search.

3.   Round out collections by focusing on people:

“I want to beef up my Bruce Springsteen CD collection.”

1. Search “Bruce Springsteen” in the SmartBrowse search box.
2. Expand the People results, and select the CD media format. Your results will appear in a sortable list.

3. Click on column headings to sort your list. Try sorting by Sales Rank or Release Date to quickly identify hot Springsteen titles.
4. Scroll through the listings; view album tracks, product details, and AllMusic Guide ratings without leaving your search.

4.   Enhance your international collection while adding to your language-learning selection by searching languages:

“I have Korean-speaking patrons who want to learn English, and English-speaking patrons who want to learn Korean, and they’re all interested in Korean films and music!”

1. Search “Korean” in the SmartBrowse search box.
2. Expand the Language results.

1. Select Audiobook results to view Korean for English Speakers and English for Korean Speakers titles.
2. Click CD results to view Korean music.
3. Select DVD or Blu-ray results to view Korean films.
3. After reviewing results for your format of interest always click “Return to Original Search” to return to the SmartBrowse Search Results screen. 

5.   Got a keyword in mind?  Look for collections that relate.

“2010 Emmy nominations were just announced!  I want to shop those titles!”

1. Search “Emmy” in the SmartBrowse search box.
2. Expand the Collections results.
3. Select the DVD format for 2010 EMMY NOMINATIONS; results will appear in a sortable list.

4. Click on column headings to sort your list. Try sorting by Sales Rank or Release Date to quickly identify hot titles.
5. Scroll through the listings; view product details, Emmy nominations, and Rotten Tomatoes reviews without leaving your search.

These are just a few examples of how to best use SmartBrowse for collection development. Play around with SmartBrowse yourself; share your insights and experiences here as comments.