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OCLC Support

Why is the title I'm searching for not appearing as the first result?

Symptom
  • Entering a phrase of a title is not showing up as the top result whereas I was expecting it to be shown first 
Applies to
  • WorldCat Discovery
Resolution

This is to do with the indexing:

  • Entering it as a standard search will search across all indexes. That is, it is doing a keyword search on every word within the keyword index (kw).
  • It is better to perform a phrase search and ensure the search is across just the title index (ti) if the terms searched are part of the title.
  • This can be done by using = after the title index label (ti) to search specific words within a phrase. If a match in a field or subfield is found that contains only those words the results will display. For example, search for ti=lord of the rings.
  • Use the quotes around the phrase if you want those words to be searched together within the title index. For example, search for ti="lord of the rings".

Note: A whole phrase search in the standard search is not available in WorldCat Discovery. See more information on whole phrase searching.

Additional information
Page ID
16437