Searching Record Sets (Polaris PowerPAC)

You can create a bibliographic record set in the Polaris staff client and publish the URL to the record set on your Polaris PowerPAC portal page, to a page dashboard, or to your website pages. One or multiple record sets can be referenced by a single URL, and you can specify a sort order for the results. For information on creating record sets, see Using Cataloging Record Sets. For information about making record sets available in PowerPAC, see Defining Web Parts for Dashboards.

When the patron clicks the URL link, a catalog search is launched for the titles in the record set. The Polaris PowerPAC results set consists of the titles in the record set, formatted according to your organization’s settings for PowerPAC search results and including all the title information that your PAC normally displays. You can use this feature to integrate bibliographies such as summer reading lists with your catalog and make them readily accessible to your patrons.

This feature uses two search access points that are also available for Boolean searches in Polaris PowerPAC: brs - Record set control number; brsn - Record set name

Record Set Control Number Searches

To set up a record set link with the record set control number, structure the URL like this:

http://{PowerPACURL}/polaris/view.aspx?brs=bibrecordsetid

Where bibrecordsetid is the Polaris control number for the bibliographic record set.

Example (single record set by number)
http://mylibrary.org/polaris/view.aspx?brs=1234

Separate multiple record set control numbers with commas.

Example (multiple record sets by number):
http://mylibrary.org/polaris/view.aspx?brs=1234,12345,123456

Record Set Name Searches

To set up a record set link with the record set name, structure the URL like this:

http://{PowerPACURL}/polaris/view.aspx?brsn='bibrecordsetname'

Where bibrecordsetname is the name of the record set. Enclose the name in single quotation marks.

Example (single record set by name):
http://mylibrary.org/polaris/view.aspx?brsn='MyRecordSet'

This format also works with a record set name that contains spaces.

Example (record set name with spaces):
http://mylibrary.org/polaris/view.aspx?brsn='Science Fiction Book Club'

Separate multiple record set names with commas, enclosing each name in single quotation marks.

Example (multiple record sets by name):
http://mylibrary.org/polaris/view.aspx?brs='TotSummer','TeenSummer','AdultSummer'

Sort Order

By default, the PAC search results (the titles in the record set) are sorted by author, then title. You can specify a different sort option using this format:

http://{PowerPACURL}/view.aspx?brs={bibrecordsetid}&sort={sortoption}

Example (results sorted by call number):
http://mylibrary.org/polaris/view.aspx?brs=1234&sort=CALL

The following table lists the mnemonics for the valid sort options:

Sort Order	Mnemonic	Sort Order	Mnemonic
Relevance	&sort=RELEVANCE	Title, then Author	&sort=TI_AU
Most Popular	&sort=MP	Title, then Publication Date	&sort=TI_PD
Author	&sort=AU	Title, then Format	&sort=TI_TOM
Title	&sort=TI	Publication Date, then Author	&sort=PD_AU
Call Number	&sort=CALL	Publication Date, then Title	&sort=PD_TI
Publication Date	&sort=PD	Call Number, then Author	&sort=CALL_AU
Author, then Title (default)	&sort=AU_TI	Call Number, then Title	&sort=CALL_TI
Author, then Publication Date	&sort=AU_PD	Call Number, then Publication Date	&sort=CALL_PD

Record Set Results

Record sets may contain any number of records, but the number of records displayed in the PAC is limited by the setting in Polaris Administration for the PowerPAC profile Result set: Maximum number of records to return. Searches for multiple record sets return results in one results list.

Note:
Bibliographic records that are suppressed from display in PAC are not included in the results set.

If records are added, edited, or removed from the record set, the changes are reflected in the result set. If you have enabled the Search Agent for Polaris PowerPAC, patrons can save the search, have it run automatically, and receive notification of any changes.

If the record set itself is deleted, and you do not remove the URL from the Web page or dashboard, the standard Web error message for “page not found” is displayed when a patron clicks the URL.