Jerry V. Caswell's Research Site
University of Northern Iowa Library

Uniform Titles and Record Browse Displays

Statement of Problem

In record browse displays that result from headings searches, the uniform title displays in the WebOPAC at the expense of the regular title. These displays occur whenever there are multiple title entries under the heading that is searched. It is only in these subordinate title entries that the problem occurs. This occurs most frequently with author searches, but can also occur with title or subject searches when there are multiple records for the same heading.

This situation does not occur in keyword searching. Under normal circumstances keyword searches do not display the uniform title, even if it is the element searched. In a keyword search that is sorted alphabetically, the browse sequence is still determined by the uniform title.

Background

Prior to Release 2000 record browse displays always showed the uniform title. One of the enhancements that appeared in Release 2000 is that "libraries may choose which field appears in the title browse display--either the first t-tagged field or the 245." While the wwwoption DISPLAY_245 allows the 245 to display, the sort sequence is still determined by the uniform title. An enhancement request was submitted to change this, but Innovative never acted upon it. Given this situation other display controls were reviewed. The most promising one appears to be the use of briefcit.html, which can be used to control the fields that appear in the record browse display.

Examples

In the staging area the briefcit.html option has been set to allow display of both the 240 and 245 field for author, title, subject, and keyword searches. Thus executing the same search in both the production (first option) and in the staging areas (second option) will illustrate the effect of the briefcit parameter. For further comparison keyword searches have been included as well (third option).

Conclusion

The briefcit parameter appears to be the best compromise for displaying both uniform and regular titles in record browse displays. However, it does not succeed in all situations, such as when there are multiple added authors/titles in a bibibliographic record. Thus it is important to keep in mind that there is no way to ensure that the user can see the term searched under all circumstances. Therefore, a decision on displays should be made on the basis of some principle such as the greatest good for the greatest number of users.


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Revised: 30 Apr 2010