Content Library Search Feature is Useless

Mar 18, 2019

Jim Barker
By Jim Barker

I know there's been a lot of discussion regarding the search functionality within the Content Library. It's bizarre, to say the least, and often more than 50% of what's returned makes no logical sense for what I'm searching for - at least to me. Searching for the right image is taking exponentially longer than it should with the Content Library. Is this being addressed at all? I've seen no improvement in the search funtionality since the release of CL.

For example (see attached), I search for “customer” and get things like flowers in a field, colored eggs, a phone, toy ghosts, an empty picture frame, an old lantern, the moon???? 

1 Reply
Katie Riggio
5 years ago03/18/19 at 7:46 pm (UTC)

Hi, Jim. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

The example and feedback you gave is valuable. I'm going to bring them up with our team so we can continue to refine the search process, and will keep you posted with any new information.

In the meantime, my colleague Trina offers some great time-saving tips for using Content Library here. She also recommends:

Start with a little word association since one word can mean a lot of different things. Let's say I need a picture of someone falling for a workplace safety course. If I search "fall," I end up with lots of images of waterfalls and fall foliage. But if I search for a related term like "safety," I’m more likely to find something that works.

It can also help to think contextually to broaden your image options. Instead of searching for "boss" or "businessman," I might search for environments or situations where you’d find those types of people. I've found that the results of this approach are relevant to my course and also help me convey the right feeling for my content.

If there's anything else I can do to help, please let me know!

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