Sorting search results with the same relevance score

When a user does a search, Portfolio returns a relevance score for each search result and displays each result in order from highest to lowest relevance. Results found in the Title and Author fields are weighted to be more relevant than results in other fields. An exact match in the Title or Author fields will result in the highest score in a result set. A match in any other field will result in a lower relevance score. For more information about Relevance, see Fields: Add/Edit/Copy Profile.

It is possible for search results to have the same relevance score. Portfolio only considers the first four decimal places of the relevance score. If two scores are identical, the display order for these results is determined by the Relevance Sort search field.

The Relevance Sort field uses publication date values, sequencing them numerically from greatest to smallest. These consist of only the year portion (for example, 2007). For records that have multiple publication dates, the greatest publication date is used. For example, if a serials publication with issues published from 1993–2005 is searched, 2005 will be used as the value for sorting. If a search result does not have a publication date (for example, a Library Favorites URL or a PDF document), the Relevance Sort field assigns it a value by default.

The following table lists the default values for delivered source sites:

Source Sites Default Value for Relevance Sort Field

SD_ILS

10

SD_ASSET

9

SD_CONTENT

8

SD_LIB_FAVS

7

SD_PDF

6

If you do not specify a Relevance Sort default value for a source site, the default value is automatically 0.

When the Relevance Sort field is applied to Discovery search sources, it sorts search results of the same relevance score in the following order:

  1. Results from ILS records with a publication date, beginning with the most recent
  2. Results from ILS records with no publication date
  3. Results from the asset repository
  4. Results from Rooms Content
  5. Results from Library Favorites
  6. Results from PDF records
  7. Any results from other source sites (in no particular order)

Basic setup for Relevance Sort

You can configure new search source sites to display using relevance sort.

Any time you change the Relevance Sort default value for a Discovery source site, you must re-index the search source data. For more information about indexing, see Fields: Search Source Tasks .

To set up a new Discovery search source site to display using Relevance Sort

These steps assume you have already added a new Discovery search source and source site. For more information, see Fields: Add/Edit Discovery Search Sources and Fields: Add/Edit Discovery Source Site.

  1. Open your new Discovery search source (Search Configuration > Discovery Search Sources > Edit).
  2. Select Relevance Sort Field from the Available Search Fields. For more information, see Fields: Add/Edit Discovery Search Sources.
  3. Save your changes.
  4. Open the source site (Search Configuration > Discovery Search Sources > Manage Discovery Search Sites > Edit).
  5. Select Relevance Sort Field from the Search Field drop-down under Search Field Defaults.
  6. Place a numerical value in the Value box, depending on the sort order of results from other search sites (see Changing the Relevance Sort order).

  7. Choose Add.

    “Relevance Sort Field = [your numeric value]” will appear in the Defaults box.

    For more information on assigning Search Fields Defaults, see Fields: Add/Edit Discovery Source Site.

  8. Save your changes.

    Important: You must re-index modified search sources before changes to default values will take effect. For more information about indexing, see Fields: Search Source Tasks .

Changing the Relevance Sort order

You can change the default values for the Relevance Sort search field to configure the sort order for search results with the same relevance score. For example, you can choose to sort and display results from Library Favorites before results from Rooms Content, so that search results would be displayed in the following order:

  1. Results from ILS records with a publication date, beginning with the most recent
  2. Results from ILS records with no publication date (Relevance Search Field =10)
  3. Results from Library Favorites (Relevance Search Field =9)
  4. Results from Rooms Content (Relevance Search Field =8)
  5. Results from PDF records (Relevance Search Field =7)
  6. Any results from other source sites (in no particular order)

To change the default sort order for search results with the same relevance score

  1. Identify the sort order you want to display in search results (for example: ILS records, Library Favorites, Rooms Content, PDF, other).

  2. Assign each Discovery search site a new Relevance Sort default value, depending on your desired sort order (Search Configuration > Discovery Search Sources > Discovery Source Sites > Edit).

    For example, if you want to sort and display Library Favorites results before Rooms Content results, you will change the SD_LIB_FAVS Relevance Sort default value from 8 to 9. You will also change the SD_CONTENT Relevance Sort default value from 9 to 8. For more information on how to change Search Field Default values, see Fields: Add/Edit Discovery Source Site.

    Important: You must re-index modified search sources before changes to default values will take effect. For more information about indexing, see Fields: Search Source Tasks .

Forcing search results to the top of the list

You assign a higher default relevance to search results from a non-ILS source site before anything else. For example, if you assign a high default relevance to Rooms Content, then search results with the same relevance score would be displayed in the following order:

  1. Results from Rooms Content
  2. Results from ILS records with a publication date, beginning with the most recent (or the greatest numeric value)
  3. Results from ILS records with no publication date
  4. Results from Library Favorites
  5. Results from PDF records
  6. Any results from other source sites (in no particular order)

This only affects search results that have the exact same relevance score. Because default relevance is usually a small value, it typically is not enough to compensate for the relevance added by the existence of a publication date. Thus, any item with a publication date is likely going to be higher on the list than an item without a publication date.

To sort search results from non-ILS source sites first

  1. Identify the non-ILS Discovery source site whose results you wish to display first (for example, Rooms Content).

  2. Assign that Discovery source site Relevance Sort default value any number larger than any possible publication date, for example, 10000 (Search Configuration > Discovery Search Sources > Discovery Source Sites > Edit).

    For More information on how to change Search Field Default values, see Fields: Add/Edit Discovery Source Site.

    Important: You must re-index modified search sources before changes to default values will take effect. For more information about indexing, see Fields: Search Source Tasks .

Related topics 

Configuring the search result display

Setting up Portfolio