Documents with apostrophe not findable

[lydipi]

Front and back. When a word contains an apostrophe, if the word is entered in the search bar without the apostrophe, the document cannot be found.
For example: https://catalogue.library.cern/search?q=%22grands%20secrets%22%20AND%20univers&l=grid&order=asc&p=1&s=15&sort=bestmatch

It can only be found by including the apostrophe: https://catalogue.library.cern/search?q=%22grands%20secrets%22%20AND%20l%27univers&l=grid&order=asc&p=1&s=15&sort=bestmatch

This poses a problem because users may not be able to find certain documents, or even the library team if they don't know about it.

[callumlewis05]

I believe the issue with this is that the search query that was missing an apostrophe was also missing an L because when you add the L back in the search works.

Full search
Search with no apostrophe
Search with no apostrophe or L (given in example above)

Here are other examples with missing apostrophes that still work to verity the problem is not with search apostrophes.

Search with no apostrophe
Search with apostrophe

[lydipi]

Thanks for checking! That is actually the issue I am trying to highlight: I would like users to be able to find the document even if they omit the apostrophe or the letter before the apostrophe.

In the last example you provided ("L' électronique de puissance"), the result appears because there is a space between "l'" and "électronique" (which is a cataloguing mistake on our side, there shouldn't be a space in between), which allows the search to match differently. Without the space between the apostrophe and the word following, the document is no longer found when the apostrophe and the preceding letter are omitted entirely, even though this is a common user input pattern.

My expectation is that searches should still return the document whether users type the apostrophe correctly, omit it, or omit the letter before it.

Let me know if my explanation isn't clear or if I am missing something.

[callumlewis05]

Okay thank you I thought the issue was just the apostrophe not the letter too! So are there any other common patterns similar to L'... such as M'... that need to be checked for or is it all single letters followed by an apostrophe to check for?

[lydipi]

My expectation is that users should be able to find documents even if they don't type apostrophes, since patrons often omit them when searching.
So it is not limited to words starting with L' or any other specific letter. Ideally, this should work for any word containing an apostrophe, as there are many different cases depending on the language. For example:

• l'universo in espansione: https://catalogue.library.cern/search?q=l%27universo%20in%20espansione&l=grid&order=asc&p=1&s=15&sort=bestmatch
• L'accélérateur de paix: https://catalogue.library.cern/literature/xd6pw-94f03
• L'infini: https://catalogue.library.cern/search?q=l'infini&l=grid&order=asc&p=1&s=15&sort=bestmatch
• Qu'est-ce: https://catalogue.library.cern/search?q=qu%20est-ce&l=grid&order=asc&p=1&s=15&sort=bestmatch
• cos'è: https://catalogue.library.cern/literature/hwbe2-72m12
• d'un: https://catalogue.library.cern/search?q=d%27un&l=grid&order=asc&p=1&s=15&sort=bestmatch
• let's: https://catalogue.library.cern/search?q=let%27s&l=grid&order=asc&p=1&s=15&sort=bestmatch
• dell'elettromagnetismo: https://catalogue.library.cern/literature/a3mfd-vn598
• all'origine: https://catalogue.library.cern/literature/4a355-nnd92
• Sull'influenza: https://catalogue.library.cern/literature/bkhh4-ex912
• 'anni (trent'anni, cinquant'anni, ...): https://catalogue.library.cern/search?q=%2A%27anni&l=grid&order=asc&p=1&s=15&sort=bestmatch

There is also a similar usability issue with hyphens, for example "a-t-il": https://catalogue.library.cern/literature/14f4h-geg82

[callumlewis05]

I have done some testing and it seems they all work with no apostrophe as if they were one word but when the apostrophe is replaced with a space it stops working then. Should it work for when the apostrophe or hyphen is replaced with a space as a general rule?