It would be hard to overstate the importance of filtering when doing searches. This is an area where Record Search shined, and I'm puzzled as to why filtering on the beta site is so much less robust. For example:
1. In beta, filtering options are almost always off the screen, whereas in Record Search they were always visible at the top of the screen. Inexperienced users may not realize they're available in beta; experienced users will find them less accessible. The bottom of the screen isn't a good place for such a useful feature.
2. In beta, when you click on a filtering option, the page autoscrolls back to the top without giving you the chance to choose subordinate filters. So if you want a subordinate filter, you have to scroll back down again. If you didn't want a subordinate filter, it's nice that the page autoscrolls--but it would be better if autoscrolling weren't necessary at all.
3. In beta, you can't select multiple filters. This was probably the most powerful feature of Record Search and one I used constantly. Examples:
- I'm doing a lot of research in Michigan and Alabama. Both states have birth, marriage, and death collections. It saves time and can reveal unexpected patterns when you can search all of a states' collections at once instead of having to search them each individually.
- I'm working with some names that tend to be frequently misspelled and/or mistranscribed--e.g., Keyes, which has ended up as Reyes and Kyler, among others
Another is Kingsland, which was transcribed as Hingsland (the loopy K on the original image did look rather like an H ) In Record Search, I could ask for all last names starting with K and R, or K and H. In beta, there is no ability to filter by letter.
- I also found it helpful to filter by gender in a large result set. But that functionality is also absent from beta.
- I would often combine filters: i.e., not only would I specify several collections to search, but I would also filter by alphabet, date, gender, etc. This made it possible to hone in quickly and easily on the desired record. But it's not possible on beta.
4. Long lists of filter options were more manageable in Record Search. For example, the list of collections was displayed in two columns in a dropdown box. It was easy to view and use. But in beta, all filter options are shown in a long list (sometimes a
very long list
) Visibility again is a problem, as I can only see a limited portion of the filter options at once; finding options is also challenging in a long, long list. And the problem will only get worse as more collections are added.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" may apply here. I hope the entire filtering functionality can be moved from Record Search to beta, and finally to the live site. It's too valuable to lose.
