The Visual Search method provides patrons with an easy point-and-click graphical search method. From a patron’s perspective, a search consists of clicking a topic component and then clicking a related sub-topic component; this generates a list of search results. In actuality, it is a keyword search method disguised behind a graphical interface - topic components are connected to query components, which are linked to predefined search queries. A query component launches a search of the selected database and returns a list of results.
For more information about how to configure Visual Search results, please refer to the Visual Search section in Setup.
These graphical components can also be configured as link components, which launch external Web pages instead of search queries. Link components are optional and are not included in the default interface.
To display Visual Search, click the “Visual Search” button under the standard search bar, or open the widget from the OPAC homepage. This displays the Visual Search page, which contains a menu of topics.
2. Click a topic. This either opens a sub-menu page or launches an external Web page.
3. If a sub-menu page appears, continue clicking the desired topics (narrowing the search) until you reach the last menu level (a breadcrumb trail will also appear to allow you to click back to previous levels). Clicking the last level will launch a search query and display the search results on the Results page. (If you click a link component, it will launch a Web page instead of a search query.)
Tip: Topic, query, and link components look the same.
The result of selecting them is what makes them different.
