Presently, Search mode in all modules feels a bit like a dead end when looking at the toolbar menu. One has the ability only to run a query or to go to New Record mode. It is not possible, without going to New Record mode, to clear all search terms from the query form. I would like to propose two new toolbar options in query mode for all modules...

1. Clear Search or New Search. It can be useful, especially for complex queries with parameters entered on multiple tabs, to be able to simply click a button to clear the search form. That would make it possible for users to completely redefine a search without leaving query mode or having to go to New Record mode to get a fresh start.

2. Return to previously retrieved results. If the last view was of query results, allow users to click a toolbar button to go back to viewing those. That would allow users to change their minds if they decide that those were actually the desired results after going to query mode or to go back to be reminded of data from those results for query revision. Ideally, this would not require rerunning the query or records retrieval as those can, in some cases, take a good amount of time.

I would love to know thoughts from other users on this topic. I still consider myself fairly new to EMu, but have seen similar features used regularly by all levels of user in other collections management software.

Best wishes,

Will

Will Scott
Museum Database Consultant
New York, NY / Philadelphia, PA