More Ajax goodness

I’ve spent the afternoon Ajax-ing the “did you mean?” code on the OPAC, and also finishing off the serendipity suggestions.
The serendipity suggestions take longer to generate than before, as the the code now considers keyword phrases returned by answers.com, instead of just single keywords.  As an example, here’s what appears if I try searching for the film “Faraway, So Close” on our OPAC:

Obviously the suggestion of searching for “Close Faraday” is of little use.  However, most of the serendipity suggestions are relevant to the film, and at least two of them will lead me straight through to the catalogue page for “Der Himmel über Berlin” (the prequel to “Faraway, So Close”).
One rather cool outcome of this is that our OPAC can now sometimes answer questions!  Sadly the results don’t always lead to relevant items, but at least our OPAC knows the answer to the Ultimate Question!

One thought on “More Ajax goodness”

  1. It’s been interesting watching the first day of serendipity suggestions generated by student queries. Here’s a random selection:
    Delia Smith:
    – Apprentice
    – Bbc Books
    – Chelsea
    – Cookery
    – Daily Mirror
    – Evening Standard
    – Kipper
    – Norwich City
    – Rolling Stones
    – Woking Surrey
    For those of you outside the UK, Delia is a TV cook (perhaps the most famous one in the UK). Her first published recipe was for kipper pate in the Daily Mirror, and she baked the cake that appears on the front of the Rolling Stones’ “Let It Bleed” album
    e mail:
    – Arpanet
    – Electronic Mail
    – Information Overload
    – Instant Messaging
    – Internet
    – Lotus Notes
    – Mail Transfer Agent
    – Microsoft
    – National Security Council
    – Transport Layer Security
    …hands up if email gives you information overload!
    bi-polar disorders:
    – Antidepressants
    – Depression
    – DSM-IV-TR
    – Electroconvulsive Therapy
    – Lithium
    – Mania
    – Manic Depressive Illness
    – Medications
    – Paranoia
    – Psychosis
    mod music:
    – England
    – Margate
    – Mods and Rockers
    – My Generation
    – Quadrophenia
    – Rockers
    – Specials
    – Two Tone
    – Vespa
    – Weller, Paul
    peer pressure:
    – Anomie
    – Attitudes
    – Careers
    – Conformity
    – Fashion
    – Financial Analysts
    – Groupthink
    – Moral
    – Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
    – Peer Group
    Although a few of the serendipity suggestions are way off the mark, and some are way too general, overall I’m very pleased with the results!

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