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OCLC Support

Why do search results include records without matching fields?

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Applies to

  • WorldCat Discovery 

Answer

This behavior is often caused by the presence of Local Bibliographic Data (LBD) on the records. When LBD is present, metadata from the parent bibliographic record—such as the title, author, subject, and notes fields—is copied into a keyword-searchable field within the LBD.

This affects how WorldCat Discovery processes both title (ti:) and subject (su:) searches. Even if a search is scoped to a specific field, such as subject headings (MARC 6XX), Discovery may return results based on matches in the LBD keyword field.

What this means for searches:

  • A ti: search will search the title field of the parent record and the keyword field of the LBD.
  • A su: search will search the subject fields of the parent record and the keyword field of the LBD.

What can I do?

If this behavior is causing confusion or impacting search precision:

  • Consider reviewing how LBD is used in your local cataloging workflows.
  • Use more specific search indexes or filters to narrow results.
  • Contact  OCLC Support if you need help adjusting your Discovery configuration.

 

Page ID

62384