Confusing search semantics for content vs metadata

[ctb]

at https://search.nihdatacommons.us/master_list?doctype=gdoc, it seems like the search is only for the titles and so on, and not for content. is this correct? If so, might use "search metadata" there, not "search".

separately, I think it might be nice to unify the master_list view with the search content view (https://search.nihdatacommons.us/search?query=user+narrative), in the sense that I might want to reorder the results from search content by last modified, created, etc. Potentially non-helpful comment follows: you could add a column "search score" on the content search page, have sorting by that be the default view, and then allow resorting by other metadata fields (which aren't displayed on this page).

it also seems odd that https://search.nihdatacommons.us/master_list only lets you search for specific document types (e.g. I can only search & sort the metadata for google docs). is this something that we could unify across the document types?

[charlesreid1]

at https://search.nihdatacommons.us/master_list?doctype=gdoc, it seems like the search is only for the titles and so on, and not for content. is this correct? If so, might use "search metadata" there, not "search".

Yes, metadata is the right way to describe the information being searched in the master list. You are right, the use of the generic term "Search" is confusing in the context of the master list. Great suggestion about changing it to "metadata". Can also think about it like a filter.

separately, I think it might be nice to unify the master_list view with the search content view, in the sense that I might want to reorder the results from search content by last modified, created, etc.... you could add a column "search score" on the content search page, have sorting by that be the default view, and then allow resorting by other metadata fields (which aren't displayed on this page).

Very interesting idea! I think this might be easier than it sounds, too - if we stuff search results into a table, we can apply the dataTables plugin to a table after-the-fact to make it sortable, paginated, etc.

it also seems odd that https://search.nihdatacommons.us/master_list only lets you search for specific document types (e.g. I can only search & sort the metadata for google docs). is this something that we could unify across the document types?

It was the path of least resistance. Including everything in one table raises two hairy problems: (1) how do you reconcile different columns for different objects? leaving them empty is ok but then sorting might need fixing; (2) information overload - if you display all the columns for 4-5 document types that's a lot of columns, and you start to run into space limitations and it looks scary and bad and overwhelming.

I agree this is worth thinking about, but it requires ways of hiding/organizing information. That requires writing Javascript, and I'm about as fast writing Javascript as I am sculpting marble with a hammer and chisel...

[charlesreid1]

"Metadata search" issue closed by #50, discussion on sorting search results continuing in #49, discussion on consolidated master list continuing in #53