Sort Your Search Results by Relevance

January 12th, 2009 • Robb Brunansky

One of the most requested features the library receives for our online catalog is the ability to sort search results by relevance. In the past, search results could only be sorted by title, author, and date of publication. While this system works well when people know what they want in advance, it is cumbersome and unhelpful when researchers want to browse topics and keywords.

We are happy to announce that we have upgraded our catalog so that you can now sort your results by rank. This method of sorting using a complex algorithm to put the most relevant items at the top of your search results.

Sorting by rank is simple and easy to use. Search the catalog for a keyword, and then when the results appear, click the Rank column. This will take you to a screen where you can verify your search terms, click Go, and see your search display the most relevant books, articles, and dissertations at the top. The example below returns the most relevant results for “Christology.”

James P. Boyce as Seminary Librarian

December 10th, 2008 • Robb Brunansky

OPAC Now Supports Z39.50 Searching

November 3rd, 2008 • Robb Brunansky

We are happy to announce that our patrons now can use our catalog for Z39.50 searching. If you use reference management software (such as Sente or Bookends), you can now add resources to your reference libraries directly from the SBTS catalog. The settings needed to access the catalog through reference management software are:

hostname: 199.117.46.115
port: 9991
database: SYS01
encoding: ANSEL

In the future, we plan to add more searchable fields to expand your research options through the seminary library. We hope this new capability assists you in your research endeavors for the glory of Christ.