Shelf Search Feature Guide

Document Version History 

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1.0

Shelf

Initial release of the document.

18 April 2023

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1.1

Shelf

Multiple amendments made to the document, including imagery and text additions.

23 May 2023

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Document Purpose 

This document describes one of the key features of the Shelf Knowledge Management System (Shelf KMS) - Search that allows users to look for the needed information in a fast and accurate manner. The guide also enables users to get the understanding of Semantic Search and Semantic Federated Search and their differences. The target audience of the document is Content Editors, Content Managers, Agents and other roles of the Shelf customers using the Shelf KMS for content storage and management.

In case you require assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us at support@shelf.io or via the Live Chat inside of the Shelf App.





Prerequisites 

In order to enjoy all the capabilities of Shelf’s search, you need the following preconditions to be met:
  • You need to be logged in to your Shelf KMS account
  • You need to have the  Content Integration Layer feature enabled and configured (for Semantic Federated Search)
  • You need to have some content stored on your respective external platform (for Semantic Federated Search).



Search in Shelf

The Shelf platform supports advanced search capabilities to enable our customers to easily and efficiently look for and find the needed content. 


Figure 1. Advanced Search in Shelf KMS
As obvious from Figure 1 above, advanced search allows you to look for various content stored in Shelf KMS and externally, using multiple filtering options. 

Note:
For enabling the search on external sources, Content Integration Layer functionality must be enabled and properly configured for your account. Read more about Content Integration Layer in the respective document: Shelf Content Integration Layer Feature User Guide. 

To perform a search for some needed content within the Shelf KMS, you need to perform just the following single step:
  • Once logged in to your Shelf account and being navigated to Shelf homepage, start entering your search query in the search field on top of the page. 

Note that the Shelf search has the autosuggestion feature that works as soon as you have entered 2 (two) characters of your query.  It shows up to 5 (five) autosuggestions just below the search field, and you can easily open any of them by simply clicking on it.

Figure 2. Entering the search query and viewing search autosuggestions
If you are not satisfied with the autosuggested search results or those displayed after you hit the Enter button, you can use the advanced search capabilities that are described below.

Note:
Search results offered to you in autosuggestions may differ from search results displayed after you run the search. This difference is attributed to the different algorithms applied for the autosuggested search and standard search procedures.


Advanced Search Options

Figure 3. Advanced search options in Shelf

Advanced search options become available once you click the down arrow icon in the right part of the search field.

Figure 4. Accessing advanced search options in Shelf

As seen in Figure 3 above, advanced search options include many filters to streamline your search and provide you with the most matching and accurate search results.

Note:
It is important to mention that if you select several options within the same filter - for example, Collection - they are applied using the OR logic. 


At the same time, if you select several options within different filters - for example, Collection and Rating - these options are applied using the AND logic.


              

Search by Content Type 

This option allows you to filter your future search results by content type. You can choose as many as 20 (twenty) content types from the available options displayed in the dropdown list. 


Figure 5. Filtering the search by content type

Once you have selected the needed types, click anywhere outside the dropdown list to collapse. Following that, in the Content Type field you will see how many content types have been selected.

Figure 6. Viewing the selected content type counter
After that you can continue streamlining your search by selecting other filters or hit the SEARCH button to launch the search procedure.


                

Search by File Format 

This option makes it possible to filter the search results by file format. Similarly to filtering by content type, you can choose up to 20 file formats to narrow or widen your search query.


Figure 7. Filtering the search by file format

Once the needed file formats are selected, collapse the dropdown list by clicking anywhere outside it. Now you can see the counter of the selected file formats in the respective field.


Figure 8. Viewing the selected file format counter


                 

Search by Language 

Using this option, you can filter the searched content by its language. Click on the Language field and select the needed option from the dropdown list. You can select only one option at once.

Figure 9. Filtering the search by content language


                    

Search by Source 

In this case, you can filter the content you search for by its source, that is by where it is stored and comes from. 


Figure 10. Filtering the search by content source

The quantity of selected sources is displayed in the Source field after you collapse the options list. 


Figure 11. Viewing the selected source counter


                      

Search by User (Added By) 

This option allows you to look for content added by certain user(s). To select the user(s) who have added the content, click on the Added By field and then select the needed user(s) in the popup window that appears.


Figure 12. Filtering the search by user(s) who added it


                       

Search by Date 

Using this option, you can filter your search query by a time when the content you look for has been added. This option has a standard date picker tool to help you select the start and end dates of the period.


Figure 13. Filtering the content search by date of its addition

Figure 14. Viewing the selected time period for search


                          

Search by Rating 

Shelf has made it possible for you to exclude certain results from your search. For example, you don’t want to see content that has bad feedback from other users as it may be useless and ineffective. You can do it by filtering your search query by the content rating. Click in the Rating field and select the suitable option from the dropdown list.

Figure 15. Filtering the content search by rating


                             

Search by Tag 

Filtering your search by content tag(s) helps you refine the search and get only the matching results. To do so, click in the Tag field and then select the needed tag(s) in the popup window that appears on your screen. You can select as many as 20 (twenty) tags.

Figure 16. Filtering the content search by tag


                              

Search by Category 

This option works similarly to filtering the search by tag. You click in the Category field and then select the needed category(-ies) from the dropdown list in the popup window displayed on your screen. 20 (twenty) categories can be selected.

Figure 16. Filtering the content search by category

Once you have applied the needed search filters, hit Enter and wait for search results to popup on the page.

Figure 19. Viewing the search results


                                                                                                                                                                                               

Sorting Search Results 

Once you see the search results in your Shelf KMS, you can further refine your search by applying various sorting and filtering options. 


In particular, you can filter your search results by language by clicking on the language field and selecting the needed language. The search results become filtered by the selected language, meaning that all content in languages other than the selected one become hidden.


Figure 20. Sorting and filtering the search results

You can also sort the results by the following options:

  • by content title, in which case you can further choose what sorting order - from A to Z or from Z to A - to apply

Figure 21. Sorting content by title

  • by content views, in which case you can further choose what sorting order - Most Viewed first or Least Viewed first - to apply to the found content

Figure 22. Sorting content by views


  • by content creation date, in which case you can further choose whether you want to see the newest or the oldest content first

Figure 23. Sorting content by its creation date

  • by content modification date, in which case you can further choose whether you want to see the recently modified content first or the content that was modified long ago

Figure 24. Sorting content by its modification date

  • by content rating, in which case you can further choose whether you want to see the top rated or the lowest rated content first

Figure 25. Sorting content by its rating


  • by content relevance, in which case the order is preselected automatically and you will see the Most Relevant content first.

Figure 26. Sorting content by its relevance



Semantic Search

Striving to provide our customers with the best user experience and the highest accuracy of search results, Shelf has improved its platform search from the standard search by words to the semantic search by meaning.
In the sections below, you can expect to learn more about what Shelf’s Semantic Search is, how it works and how it can benefit your and other users’ needs. 


People often know what they want to find before they run a search. That is why Shelf KMS sports some enhanced search features that help users find what they need faster and in a more efficient manner. 

One of such features is Semantic Search. As mentioned above, Semantic Search differs from the standard search in the approach: keywords are replaced by meanings. 

Semantic Search works like a Google search, it defines an intent in your query and does not look for the word match, but rather for the meaning match making it possible to increase the accuracy of search results.

The figure below shows a good example of the semantic search operation.

Figure 27. Viewing the semantic search results
What we see in the figure is the search query - animals, and search results. You can see that there is no word “animals” highlighted in any of the search results. However, Shelf’s search algorithms have identified the intent of your search and suggested those results that match it. In particular, you are offered content about dogs because a dog is an animal.


Semantic Search Advantages in Real-Life Scenarios 

Shelf’s Semantic Search is a capable tool to look for and find answers to particular questions. It is an improvement over keyword search, as it actually compares the semantic meaning of the query and the responses. In order to do this, it uses multiple unique capabilities such as text embeddings, response ranking based on their similarity to search queries, etc.

In real-life scenarios, Semantic Search may help users find what they are looking for faster and with a higher probability because in many cases time is a valuable resource and users often lack it to exactify their queries. 
Check the example in Figure 27 above: you are looking for animal-related content but you don’t know whether there is any such content and you don’t know what animals it can be related to. However, Shelf analyzes your query, identifies its intent, weighs it, builds a correlation with the available content, and provides you with the results you can look through and select what you need.

Note:
Semantic search works only on Shelf’s content, that is the content stored in Shelf KMS.


Semantic pinpointed search works similarly to a regular pinpointed search - it highlights portions of a phrase or sentence you are looking for, making it possible - and easier - for you to see where exactly in the suggested content it occurs. 

See the below steps to understand how Shelf’s Semantic pinpointed search operates.
  1. Once the search results are displayed on your screen, click the More Resultsbutton next to the needed search result (content item).

    Figure 28. Viewing the suggested search results

  2. You now see the numbered list of occurrences of the search query, with the highlighted portions of that query if there is a word match.
    Figure 29. Viewing the pinpointed search query portions

    If no word matches are available, the respective notification is shown.


  3. You can click on any of the list items to navigate to the respective content and check whether it is what you are looking for. The content (Gem) can be opened both in the same window or in the new one. If you want Gems to open in new windows, you need to enable it in your profile settings settings.
    Figure 30. Viewing the content with your query portion highlighted (pinpointed)


                                      

Sorting Semantic Search Results 

Once you have clicked the More Results button next to the needed content item in order to see occurrences of the search query portions in the content, you can further apply some sorting to the display of these occurrences in the numbered list.
You can sort the occurrences by relevance, when the most relevant ones go first in the list, or you can sort them by order, when those that occur first in the content go first in the list.

Figure 30. Sorting the search query occurrences in the content item




Semantic Federated Search

Federated Search: What It Is, How It Works, How It Benefits Users

Federated Search enables a user to search several different data sources at once by making a single query. The federator - in our case, Shelf Knowledge Management System - gathers results from one or more search engines and then presents all of the results in a single user interface.


Federated Search Benefits 

Federated search makes it faster and easier for you or your users - Agents, Content Developers or Managers - to find what you or they are looking for. It gives you the ability to search from one single location and pull results from all available sources. That makes your content and data more browsable and useful.

It helps you find the needed information with fewer clicks or page views. That, in its turn, improves your quality of service rendered to your customers and enhances their customer experience, making them more likely to remain loyal to you.

Federated search also helps users find the information they need with less time and effort. That improves the user search experience, increases discoverability, and boosts efficiency.
Federated search is especially valuable for complex organizations with multiple data sources, whether they are on-site or in the cloud. 

Here are the most important benefits offered by federated search:
  • Efficiency: Federated search allows users to search multiple data sources simultaneously, which saves time and effort compared to searching each source individually.
  • Comprehensive results: Federated search provides users with a comprehensive view of the information available across multiple data sources. This is especially important when searching for information on a topic that is distributed across multiple sources.
  • Cost savings: Federated search can help organizations save money by reducing the need to purchase multiple search tools or subscriptions to multiple data sources.
  • Accessibility: Federated search makes it easier for users to access information that may be spread across multiple systems, including systems that may be owned by different organizations.
  • Customization: Federated search engines can be customized to meet the specific needs of different organizations or user groups. For example, a federated search engine used by a law firm might be customized to search legal databases, while a search engine used by a contact center servicing smartphone users might be customized to search smartphone datasheets and other related details.

Generally, federated search is needed because it provides a more efficient and comprehensive way for users to access information from multiple sources.


Federated Search Operation

Let’s see how Shelf’s Federated Search feature works. But before jumping to Shelf-specific details, we first need to understand what generic principles Federated Search is based upon.


Federated Search Principles of Work 

The principles of how federated search works can be described as follows:

  • Query distribution: The federated search engine distributes user queries to the appropriate data sources, based on their relevance to the query.
  • Query normalization: Federated search engines must normalize queries to account for differences in vocabulary, syntax, and semantics among the data sources being queried. This involves transforming the user's original query into a standard format that can be understood by each data source.
  • Result merging: After the federated search engine receives results from each data source, it merges them into a single result set, eliminating duplicates and ranking the results based on relevance.
  • Relevance ranking: Federated search engines use a variety of algorithms to determine the relevance of each result to the user's query. These algorithms take into account factors such as keyword frequency, document length, and document age.
  • User interface: The federated search engine presents the results to the user in a single interface, usually a web page. The user interface may include features such as faceted search, which allows users to filter and refine their results.

Overall, federated search provides a way for users to search multiple data sources at once, without having to navigate between different search interfaces. By normalizing queries and merging results, federated search engines provide users with a seamless and comprehensive search experience.


The Federated Search feature implemented in Shelf KMS works in a similar manner, via the aid of Shelf’s algorithms: 
  1. Your search query is analyzed
  2. Your search intent is identified
  3. Your search intent is transformed into a standard format and sent both to internal search engine and to external sources via dedicated connectors
  4. Search results are obtained within external source and sent to Shelf
  5. Search results are merged into a single set with further duplicate removal
  6. Search results relevance is ranked
  7. Aggregated (those from Shelf and from external sources) search results are displayed to you on a single page.
Figure 31. Viewing all - internal and external - content in Shelf

As mentioned, federated search results are displayed all together in the single window. However, Shelf allows you to understand which content comes from external sources and which is stored locally in Shelf. 

This feature is implemented by means of content labels (icons) that can be associated with Shelf content (Gem) types shown in the diagram below.


Figure 32. Types of Shelf content (Gems)

The content icons are shown in all available view modes - Card View, Snippet View, List View.


Figure 33. Viewing the internal and external content in Search Results in Card View

Figure 34. Viewing the internal and external content in Search Results in Snippet View

Figure 35. Viewing the internal and external content in Search Results in List View

Additionally, aside from the source the content comes from, you can see the following details of the content (Gem):
  • In Card View: 
    • Gem title
    • Gem icon (Shelf Gem type icon or custom icon for internal (Shelf) content and external source icon for all content coming from it, regardless of its type; in our case, it is Zendesk being the external source, so we see Zendesk icon)
    • Gem snippet 
    • Date when the content was last updated (both for internal and external content)
    • User who was last to update content (only for Shelf’s internal content)

  • In Snippet View:
    • Gem title
    • Gem icon (Shelf Gem type icon or custom icon for internal (Shelf) content and external source icon for all content coming from it, regardless of its type; in our case, it is Zendesk being the external source, so we see Zendesk icon)
    • Gem snippet 
    • Gem description
    • Date when the content was last updated (both for internal and external content)
    • User who was last to update content (only for Shelf’s internal content)
    • Gem tag(s) 
    • Gem category(-ies) (only for Shelf’s internal content)

  • In List View:
    • Gem title
    • Gem icon (Shelf Gem type icon or custom icon for internal (Shelf) content and external source icon for all content coming from it, regardless of its type; in our case, it is Zendesk being the external source, so we see Zendesk icon)
    • Date when the content was last updated (both for internal and external content)
    • User who was last to update content (only for Shelf’s internal content)
    • Gem tag(s) 
    • Gem category(-ies) (only for Shelf’s internal content)

You can open the content coming from its external source directly in that source. To do so, you can either use the content context menu and select the Open option or by hovering over the content and then clicking the Open button.

Figure 36. Opening the external content from Shelf

External content always opens in a new window or tab of your browser and it opens in that external platform it has been synced from. Therefore, if such an external source/platform has restricted access, make sure to enter valid credentials to access it.

Figure 37. Viewing external content in the external platform

Federated Search Filtering

Once the search has been completed and search results are displayed in Shelf, you can filter them to refine your search. 

Some filters work only for search results fetched from Shelf KMS, while some filters work only for the Federated Search results, that is for content coming from external sources. There are also filters that work for both types of content. 

The table below shows which filters work for which content.


Filter name

Content from Shelf KMS

Content from external sources

Language

YES

YES

Content Source

YES

YES

Collection

YES

YES

Favorites

YES

NO

Rating

YES

NO

Content Type

YES

NO

File Format

YES

NO

Date

YES

YES

Tag

YES

YES

Category

YES

NO

Added By

YES

NO



                                              

Filtering by Language 

This filter works similarly to that described in the Advanced Search chapter: you select the language you want to see content in and the content in languages other than the selected one will be filtered out. This filter works both for internal and external content.

Figure 37. Filtering search results by language

The default language, if no filter is applied, will be your default language in Shelf.


In addition to filtering by language, Shelf has implemented a set of other filtering options for its Federated Search results. These filters are accessible from the sidebar panel in the left part of the window.


Figure 38. Viewing the Filters Panel in Shelf


                                                

Filtering by Content Source 

This option makes it possible to filter the unneeded search results out. You can select Shelf as the content source, in which case you can further select certain Shelf-associated sources such as Google Drive, OneDrive etc. Multiselect is supported. This will hide from search results all content created outside Shelf. 

If you select the external system as the content source, all Shelf content will be filtered out. In our case, this external content source is Zendesk, so if you select it, you will see only Zendesk content on the Search Results page.


Figure 39. Viewing the external content only in the search results


                                                 

Filtering by Collection 

A Collection is basically a top-tier library that can be both in Shelf KMS and outside of it, in an external system. This filter applies as part of the advanced search and allows choosing certain needed collections only and only displaying content stored in them, thus filtering out all the other content.

Figure 40. Filtering the search results by collection(s)


                                                    

Filtering by Favorites 

This option applies only to the Shelf content and is disabled by default. Select Shelf as the Content Source and toggle the Favorites switch on in the Filters Panel to display content that is added to favorites.

Figure 41. Applying the Favorites filter to the search results
If the external system (for example, Zendesk) is selected as the Content Source, this filter returns no results.

Figure 42. Applying the Favorites filter to the external source content


                                                       

Filtering by Rating 

This filter applies to content from Shelf only. 


Figure 43. Applying the Rating filter to the search results
Again, similar to the Favorites filter, if you select the external system as the Content Source and then apply the Rating filter, no results will be returned.

Figure 44. Applying the Rating filter to the external source content


                                                                                                                

Filtering by Content Type 

This is also the Shelf-only filter that applies to content from Shelf KMS. 


Figure 45. Applying the Content Type filter to the search results

If you preserve the selected Content Type filter and select the external system as the Content Source, it will return no results.

Figure 46. Applying the Content Type filter to the external source content


                                                         

Filtering by File Format 

This filtering option is applicable to the Shelf content only and works similarly to the Content Type filter and is enabled only if there is at least one file format in the Shelf content (Gem(s)). 
If there are no files - and, respectively, file formats - in the Shelf content, this filter remains disabled.

Figure 47. Viewing the disabled File Format filter in the Filters Panel


                                                            

Filtering by Date 

This option makes it possible to refine the search results by specific time period, meaning that you can filter out all content created outside of the specified period. This filter applies to both Shelf content and content coming from external sources (for example, Zendesk, in our case). Start and end dates are selected by means of a standard date picker tool.


Figure 48. Using the date picker tool in the Date filter

Figure 49. Applying the Date filter to the search results


                                                             

Filtering by Tag 

This is the filtering option that is applicable to all content - from Shelf and from external sources. Multiselect - multiple tags - is supported. 


Figure 50. Applying the Tag filter to the search results 


                                                               

Filtering by Category 

This option is applicable to the Shelf content only, that is to the content stored in Shelf KMS. Multiple categories can be selected. If you apply this filter, selection of external systems in the Content Source filter section will return no results.

Figure 51. Applying the Category filter to the search results

Figure 52. Applying the Category filter to the external source content


                                                                 

Filtering by Added By 

This option allows you to refine your search results by filtering out content added by persons other than you specify. This filter works only for the Shelf content only, that is to the content stored in Shelf KMS. Multiple users can be selected. 


Figure 53. Applying the Added By filter to the search results

If you select this filter and then select an external system as the Content Source, this filter becomes disabled and no results are returned.

Figure 54. Applying the Added By filter to the external source content


Federated Search Filtering Rule 

The basic rule for filtering the search results fetched by Shelf’s Federated Search is as follows:
  • If you apply a filter valid for Shelf content only (for example, Category), then external system options (for example, Zendesk) become unavailable in the Content Source section
  • If you select an external system option (for example, Zendesk) in the Content Source section, then those filters that are valid for Shelf content only become unavailable (disabled) in the Filters Panel.


Federated Search Sorting

In addition to various filtering options, there are a variety of options to sort the search results in Shelf. 


Figure 55. Viewing the sorting options menu on the Search Results page

Below is the table showing which sorting options are available for use for the internal and external content.

Let’s jump to the details of these sorting options.



                                                                       

Sorting by Title 

This option, when selected, allows you to sort both the internal and external content, that is content stored in Shelf and in any of the external content sources. You can additionally indicate the alphabetical order - direct or reverse - you want the content titles to be sorted in.


Figure 56. Sorting the search results by title - direct alphabetical order selected


                                                                        

Sorting by Views 

This option is applicable to the internal - Shelf - content only. When selected, it requires further indication of the order of content display: most viewed first or least viewed first.


Figure 57. Sorting the search results by views - Least Viewed content to be displayed first


Sorting by Creation Date 

This option can be used both on the internal and external content and, when selected, defines the order in which the search results are displayed: either the recently created content is displayed first or the oldest content is displayed first.


Figure 58. Sorting the search results by creation date - the newest content displayed first


 

Sorting by Modification Date 

This sorting option is applicable to the internal and external content. Same as in the case of sorting by creation date, you can further choose what content - changed recently or changed in the past - needs to be displayed first.


Figure 59. Sorting the search results by their change date - the newest content displayed first


    

Sorting by Rating 

This option is applicable to the internal - Shelf - content only. You can further indicate whether you want to see the most rated content first or the lowest rated content first.


Figure 60. Sorting the search results by rating - the top rated content displayed first


     

Sorting by Relevance 

The final sorting option is applicable to all content, both internal and external. There is only one ordering option selected by default - the most relevant content is displayed first.


Figure 61. Sorting the search results by relevance - most relevant content displayed first


Federated Search Sorting Rule 

The basic rule for sorting the search results fetched by Shelf’s Federated Search is as follows:
  • If you sort the search results by options valid for the internal - Shelf - content only, then Shelf is automatically selected in the Content Source filter section and only the Shelf content is displayed on the Search Results page
  • If you first select some external system in the Content Source filter section, then you can only sort the search results by those options that are available and valid for external content sources, which are Title, Created on, Changed on, and Relevance.
  • If you try to sort the external content by options not valid for it, the sorting will occur by the Relevance option.




Conclusions 

We hope that after reading this guide you have learned about one of the key features of the Shelf Knowledge Management System, Search and got the understanding of what Semantic and Federated Search capabilities are and how they can be used for real-life scenarios to complete your business needs. 

In case you have any additional questions about Shelf’s Search feature or any associated aspects, feel free to reach out to us at support@shelf.io or via the Live Chat inside of the Shelf App.