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Search activity

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Find information about the Search activity tab of My Account which displays search history and saved searches from WorldCat Discovery.

If your library also subscribes to WorldCat Discovery, you have access to the Search activity functionality. Access the Search history and Saved searches tab from My Account.

Use the Search history

Navigate to the search history view by clicking Search history in the navigation bar or footer. Additionally, select Search activity from the My Account menu when authenticated.

Authenticated users are able to:

  • View recent searches
  • Re-run a search query by clicking on the term in the Your search column
  • Delete search queries
  • Share search queries
  • Promote a search history to a permanently saved search.

 Note: When signed in, My Account will store the most recent 100 searches to a user’s account. 

Re-run, Delete and Share search queries

Screenshot of the Search history screen in WorldCat Discovery with a search link and the Share and Delete buttons called out

To re-run a search query, click on the hyperlinked term under the Your search column.

To delete a search query, use the Select all option to include all previous search queries or select individual queries and click the Delete button. 

To share search queries:

  1. Use the Select all option to include all previous search queries or select individual queries. 
  2. Click the Share button.
  3. From the Share your search screen, you can either
    1. Use the Copy link button to copy the link to your clipboard.
    2. Send an email with the link to any desired recipients. When finished entering the required email addresses and an optional Subject and Message, select Send email.
      • The email will be sent to the recipient by an automated email address.

Enable Search History

To enable search history for your institution, navigate to Display Settings in the WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local module of the OCLC Service Configuration.

From the Search History section:

  1. Select to Enable Search History.
  2. Determine whether to use Search history as the default text or to use custom text to display.
    • Add your custom text to Display Text.
      • 25 character limit.
    • The custom text will only display in the navigation bar. Search history will continue to display on the Search history page and the footer.
  3. Optional. Add Translation for the Display Text.
    1. Select the desired language from the drop-down.
    2. Add Custom Text to display when the user has selected this language in the WorldCat Discovery and My Account interface.
  4. Click Save.

Use the Save search

From the Search history screen:

  1. Use the Actions drop-down to select Save search.
  2. From the Save search screen, enter a custom Search name.
  3. Click Save.

    Screenshot of the Search history screen in WorldCat Discovery with the Actions menu expanded and called out

The saved search will now appear in the Saved searches tab. To delete saved searches, Select All or individual queries and click Delete Searches.

Enable Save Search

To enable Save Search for your institution, navigate to Display Settings in the WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local module of the OCLC Service Configuration.

  1. Select to Enable Save Search.
  2. Determine whether to Display the save search button to unauthenticated users.
    • If a user is not authenticated, they will be prompted to sign in to use this functionality. 
  3. Determine whether to use Save search as the default text or to use custom text to display.
    • Add your custom text to Display Text.
      • 25 character limit.
  4. Optional. Add Translation for the Display Text.
    1. Select the desired language from the drop-down.
    2. Add Custom Text to display when the user has selected this language in the WorldCat Discovery and My Account interface.
  5. Click Save.