I attended a PLA 2014 session last week on building better library websites. The entire panel said every library needs to have a catalog search on the home/main page of the library website and their regular operating hours prominently displayed and/or easily located. They claimed this is what 90% of their website visitors wanted according to their analytics.
The HTML code to add a search box for a quick keyword search is pretty simple. The problem that needed to be solved for Pioneer members was limiting the search to just their library’s holdings. Randy Rowe with LCL provided the “hidden” solution. Thanks Randy! Here’s the HTML code you need to add it to your webpage:
Basic
<form id=”searchform” action=”http://ccpl.pioneer.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl” method=”get” name=”searchform”><strong>Search the Catalog: </strong><input id=”transl1″ type=”text” name=”q” size=”40″ /> (Type term then Enter.)<input type=”hidden” name=”multibranchlimit” value=”CCPL-OPAC” /></form>
Advanced
<form id=”searchform” action=”http://ccpl.pioneer.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl” method=”get” name=”searchform”><strong><span style=”color:#000000; font-family:arial;”>Search the Catalog!</span></strong><select id=”masthead_search” name=”idx” style=”float:left;”>
<option value=””>Keyword</option>
<option value=”title”>Title</option>
<option value=”author”>Author</option>
<option value=”subject”>Subject</option>
<option value=”series-title”>Series</option></select>
<input id=”transl1″ style=”font-size:16px; font-family:arial;” type=”text” name=”q” size=”40″ /><input id=”searchsubmit” type=”submit” value=”Search” /><input type=”hidden” name=”multibranchlimit” value=”CCPL-OPAC” /></form>
The sections in red need to be modified for your library. ccpl is the first part of Central City’s OPAC Search Group URL. You can get if from the URL displayed when you bring up your library’s Koha OPAC. CCPL is Central City’s library code and will limit the search results to just their holdings. You will need to replace the CCPL with your library’s code. This code can be found in Administration/Libraries and Groups in the Code column next to your library’s Name.
Andrew “Sherm” Sherman, IT Coordinator, Sump Memorial Library
Pioneer Consortium 