Search history, save searches, and search alerts

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 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.

Non-authenticated users and 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

Authenticated users or users who are signed-in will additionally be able to promote a search history to a permanently saved search. Refer to Saved search for more information.

 Note: 

• For non-authenticated users or users who are not signed in, search history is tracked per browser session and is not saved between browser sessions.
• For signed-in users, WorldCat Discovery will store the most recent 100 searches to a user’s account. Navigate to the Search Activity tab in My Account to retrieve the most recent search queries.   

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.

Save searches in My Account

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. Optional. Select Create alert to configure search alerts for this query. Refer to Search alerts for more information.
4. Click Save.

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

 Note: If a user's institution ends access to a database that is part of the user's original search, the search will no longer work and will need to be re-run.

Enable Search alert

This feature is available to WorldShare Management Services and WorldCat Discovery Premium libraries.

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

 Note: Save search functionality must also be enabled to leverage the search alert functionality. Refer to Save Search for more information.

1. Select to Enable Search Alert.
   1. Select the E-mail frequency for how often users will receive alerts for their saved query. Options include:
      • Weekly
      • Monthly
      • Quarterly
   2. Select the Duration for how long a particular saved query will receive alerts. Options include:
      • 6 months
      • 12 months
      • 24 months
      • 36 months
2. Determine whether to Use the default text or Use custom text.
   • The default text Create alert will display as the action button on your WorldCat Discovery and My Account site unless a custom text is used.
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.

Create a search alert

Once enabled, the Create alert button displays on the search results page. Select the Create alert button to open a drawer where the library user can review their search details. Search alerts can also be created from the Save search action. The user will be able to:  

• Rename their search alert.
  • The default name will be the original search query terms.
• Include one email address that will receive notifications when new results are available.
  • Use a group email address if you need to reach more than a single recipient.
• View the frequency and duration of email notifications.
  • Configurable at the institution level via Display Settings in the WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local module of the OCLC Service Configuration.

Once an alert has been saved, the user will receive an email confirmation that the search alert has been successfully created.

View a search alert

Users can find their search alerts in the Saved searches module of the Search activity tab within My Account. There is a limit of 25 active search alerts for signed-in users of WorldCat Discovery.

 Note: When a search alert has expired, the user will receive email notification that will prompt them to renew their alert by signing into My Account and toggling the alert from inactive to active.

Authenticated users will be able to:

• View their search alerts
• Turn Off/On search alerts for specific queries
• Create alerts for newly saved searches
  • Users may not create alerts for pre-existing saved searches in My Account. We recommend the user delete the older saved search and re-run a search to create a search alert from older saved search data. 

If a user needs to change the email address of a search alert for any reason, the user will need to delete the existing saved search, re-run the search, and create a new search alert with the new email address.

Search alert notification of new results

Users will receive an email notification only when new results are available that match their saved search query. The email will contain a preview of up to five new results and a link to view the full result set in a customized view of WorldCat Discovery.

Click See all new items from the results email to be taken to a customized view of WorldCat Discovery and review the entire results set.

Users will be able to:

• View a total new result count and re-run the existing saved search
• Filter the result set
• Save/Share/Cite individual results
• Leverage the search box to perform search queries (once executed, the standard discovery experience will apply)

 Note:  Functionality that is tied to user-generated search queries will be disabled in this view: Save Search, Create Alert, Search History, Retain Filters, Sort, and Expand this Search. All new search alert results will be returned in a flat show-all view with Libraries Worldwide set as the holding library. Institution defaults will be applied for any new searches that are executed via the search box.

Alert expiration

When a search alert has expired, the library user will receive an email notification that will prompt them to renew their alert by signing into My Account and toggling the alert from inactive to active.