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Search Tips

SHAREit V6 continues to undergo a variety of updates including bug fixes that can result in changes to how you search & display results. Have questions, concerns or feedback? Contact us!

Additional video search guides are available in the Auto-Graphics documentation under Staff Dashboard > Support > User Guides and Videos > SHAREit > Training Videos > Search when logged in as Staff to your Illume interface.

Search Tips

  • Use either upper or lower case when entering terms. Searching is NOT case-sensitive.
  • We recommend you omit punctuation marks, unless specified as is the case for numbers.
  • If a Title includes a Sub-Title, sometimes searching without the sub-title works better when searching Z39.50 targets.
  • Browse search has been removed in V6 due to it's lack of use by most SHAREit members.
  • Search results display in the default arrangement selected in UX Admin. For example we recommend Gallery view and Clustered or Merged results for Patrons. And List view and Clustered or No Grouping results for Staff. More information in our guide here: https://illumebc.ca/training/ux-admin/search-results
  • Sort order can also be customised and we recommend "Relevance".
  • The "Type Ahead" feature can be configured for use by Patrons and/or Staff. Type ahead suggestions are only pulled from Union Database records not live Z39.50 server records.
  • Date: Users can now filter by a single year (eg. 2020) when using the Date search field rather than having to use a range (eg. 2019 to 2020). Use the Date Facet Single Year option to enter an end date to filter records not allowed for requesting (eg. the last year).
  • LCCN: Enter the full number with or without hyphen.
  • ISBN: Enter the full number without a hyphen.
  • ISSN: Enter the full number with or without a hyphen. When V6 launched, only ISSN searches without a hypen worked but Auto-Graphics has made recent improvements. Please let us know if you continue to encounter issues searching for ISSNs with a hypen.

Quick (Basic) Search

Check-out the V6 Simple Search video available from Auto-Graphics under Staff Dashboard > Support > User Guides and Videos > SHAREit > Training Videos > Search > Searching Part 1 (V6)(May 2019)(06:59) also.

1. Enter your search terms into the Basic Search box and press "Enter" or click the (4) Magnifying glass search button to start your search.

  • You may want to omit “The” as the first word of a title. You can also not include “A” or “An” if it is the first word of a title to often improve results.
  • Stop words "of", "and", "the", "in", "to", and "for" are ignored.
  • We recommend entering an entire search term word in it's complete form for best results as there is no automatic truncation and exact matches will always be displayed first. (e.g. GONE WIND not GONE WIN).
  • As of June 2nd 2021, search term stemming has been implemented to facilitate better search results. A search for “run” will rank results with “run” as most relevant but will also find results for “running”. Likewise, a search for “lion” or “lion’s” will find results for the term “lions.” In all cases, the records with the exact term searched by the user will be ranked as more relevant than the related stemming results.
  • Wildcards include question marks ? for single character wildcards (can be used multiple times in one term) and asterisk * for mutliple characters. Wildcards can be used in both Simple or Advanced Searches. These wildcards only apply to Union Databases (eg. BC Union Catalogue) and will not necessarily work for Z39.50 targets (eg. Simon Fraser University). Check-out the V6 Wildcards video available from Auto-Graphics under Staff Dashboard > Support > User Guides and Videos > SHAREit > Training Videos > Search > Searching Wildcards (V6)(May 2019)(03:28) also.
  • Tips for No Results:
    • By default search terms entered are combined with "AND". If no results are found with "AND" the SHAREit software will Boolean "OR" your search terms together instead.
    • As of June 2nd 2021, when there is no exact match a phonetic lookup will be done for the entered term (eg. "timline") and a suggested term (eg. "timeline") will be displayed with records that match the suggestions

2. Select your desired Search Index using the up-down arrows. A different default search index can be assigned to Staff versus Patrons. Search index options can also be edited to display fewer or more options. We recommend using the "Title" index as the default for Staff in V6.

3. Select your desired Search Resources or Targets. Libraries can set-up different default search resources for Staff versus Patrons. For example many Public libraries only allow patrons to search the "BC Union Catalogue" Union Database. While Staff may also have Z39.50 live search targets such as "Simon Fraser University".

4. Click the magnifying glass to Submit your search or hit Enter.

5. Click the Advanced link to go to the Advanced Search.

Z39.50 Search Resources versus Union Databases

  • For more information on how to tell which records/results are from live Z39.50 search targets please check-out our FAQ here: https://illumebc.ca/faq-udb-z3950
  • We recommend simplifying your searches when targeting live Z39.50 servers. Most Z39.50 servers only support very basic searches of Title, Author, Subject and sometimes All Headings (keyword). This can also depend on the Z39.50 server set-up and is not consistent between libraries. Some Z-targets may experience issues searching basic indexes (eg. Title) also if their configuration on their Z39.50 server or within SHAREit needs updated. Please let us know if a Z-target consistently has issues searching a particular index.
  • Some University libraries are only searchable via Z39.50 target, including Simon Fraser University, University of BC, University of Northern BC and University of Victoria. But many libraries that also upload to the Union Databases provide live Z39.50 search options.
  • If a Title includes a Sub-Title, sometimes searching without the sub-title works better when searching Z39.50 targets.

Advanced Search

Check-out the V6 Advanced Search video available from Auto-Graphics under Staff Dashboard > Support > User Guides and Videos > SHAREit > Training Videos > Search > Searching Part 2 (V6)(May 2019)(09:25) also.

Can't see the Advanced Search when logged in as Staff? This is a known bug with some older accounts and V6. Please contact us for assistance fixing your account.

Three text boxes are available for your search query along with drop-downs for matching criteria (eg. This exact phrase) in a particular Search Index (eg. Title) along with drop-downs to AND, OR, and NOT your search boxes. OR will broaden your search; AND or NOT will narrow it. To revise a search after completion, click on the "Modify Search" link and revise your search.

  1. Three text boxes are available for building your search query. When building a Boolean search, follow the keyword searching tips above for term entry, stop words, etc. Enter search term words in complete form; there is no automatic truncation in this mode. (e.g. GONE WIND, not GONE WIN).

  2. Use the matching criteria drop-downs (eg. This exact phrase) to narrow or expand your search results.
  3. Remember to select the type of Search Index (author, title, subject, isbn, issn, all headings etc) to be searched for each term by using the Search index drop-down menus.
  4. Drop-downs to AND, OR, and NOT your search boxes are also available between search query boxes. OR will broaden your search; AND or NOT will narrow it.
  5. Wildcards include question marks ? for single character wildcards (can be used multiple times in one term) and asterisk * for mutliple characters. Wildcards can be used in both Simple or Advanced Searches.
  6. Choose your Sort Order such as "Title Ascending".
  7. In the Targets section you can select your resources from available targetssuch as the Union Databases (eg. BC Union Catalogue) as well as live Z39.50 targets (eg. Simon Fraser University).

  8. Use the "Libraries" filter to scope to only particular library Scoping Levels and Location Groups you've configured under Pac Admin. For example, all InterLINK libraries.
  9. Search Qualifiers can be used to Filter your search results including "Year of Publication", Formats, Languages and more.
  10. The number of total searchable records for our BC Union catalogue union database is displayed at the bottom of the Advanced Search. These record numbers will update as you select different Filters (eg. Language). This record count does not include records in live Z39.50 targets only (eg. University of BC).


Mobile Search

Mobile search can be previewed on desktops by dragging your desktop browser as small as it can go.

  1. Menu options are collapsed in Mobile under the "3 lines" option. Click to expand the Home, Guest ILL Tracking (if activated) and Advanced Search options.
  2. The Simple Search is available from the magnifying glass icon. Click to expand and enter your search terms in "Search...".
  3. Search Indexes can still be selected by the patron.
  4. Resources can also be checked-off using the drop-down.



Library Staff and Administrators - Please contact us if you'd like assistance searching Illume (SHAREit V6) or customising your Search and Search Results settings.

Patrons - Please contact your Public or Post-secondary home library for assistance searching Illume.