Searching for and Viewing Resources

Searching for and Viewing Resources

Search and View Resources

All users (unless access has been restricted by an Admin) can look up resources. Resources can be searched inside a call report (if enabled) and from the main Resources page.

There several search options available, searching by:
  1. By text or phrase (on resource name or all fields)
    1. Names Search looks in the following places
      1. Resource record’s Name, Alternate Name and Search hints fields
      2. Any/all of your custom categories / keywords
      3. Taxonomy terms and Use References
    2. Search All Fields currently looks in all of the text fields in the resource records. (click ‘Filter’ to select) - Search hints are not intended for 'search all fields'.
  2. By category name (taxonomy or custom names/keywords)
  3. By location
  4. By geographic details
  5. By coverage/serving location
  6. Taxonomy
  7. Keywords
  8. Key resources and preferred resources can be highlighted on the main resource page.
  9. Categories/sub-categories are displayed in the category list once they have resources allocated to them.
  10. Categories/sub-categories are listed in alphabetic order to make them easy to find.
Steps to search resources:
  1. Click on "Resources" on the left hand menu or click the "Search for resources" link at the top of the Contact Record
  2. Option 1: Browse through the category or taxonomy system to find matching resources
  3. Option 2: Search for that names of your categories or taxonomy terms
  4. Option 3: Search for any word or phrase in the resources names or other text fields "Search all Fields". (To change your preference for which fields to search, click on the word Filters just below the search box.)
    1. To search with a partial search word, use * (eg. search 'behavior*' to find behavior or behavioral)
    2. To search for all resources in your database, select "Resources" as your search type, adjust your Geographic Filters, enter an asterisks (*) in the search bar and click "Search"
  5. For all of these options, you can further filter the search results geographically; if you entered a location in your Contact Record, a setting can be enabled for your organization so the location from the Contact Record automatically transfers into the Geographic Filters when you click the "Search for resources" link
Taxonomy Use References:
You can search the Taxonomy using the actual Taxonomy Term or any of the Use References. If you want Use References to appear in the auto-suggest list when searching by Taxonomy, enable the Admin Tools - Resources setting "In taxonomy search results include Use References too". If you disable this setting, you can still search by Use References, but they will not appear in the auto-suggest list.

Search limitations:
  1. Any entry selected from a drop-down list (eg languages) is NOT searchable.

How to search for Resources by Resource Number

Each resource record in iCarol has a unique resource number (Resource Num) associated with it. This number can be found within the resource record and within data exports of your resource database or when viewing/editing Resource Records. You may wish to search for resources by the resource number for many reasons, and you can do so by completing the following steps:
  1. From the main Resources page, if the 'Resources' radio button is visible under the search bar, make sure it's selected
  2. If the Geographic Filters box appears on the main Resources page, make sure 'All resources' is selected from the first drop-down list
  3. Click the Filters link under the search bar and make sure the appropriate filters are selected; if the 'Search' and 'Verify' filters are visible under the Geographic Filter, make sure the appropriate filter is selected
  4. Enter the Resource Num in the search bar and click 'Search'
  5. If you wish to search for more than one Resource Num at the same time, enter the first Resource Num in double quotes (" "), then put a space, then put the word [or], then put another space followed by the next Resource Num in double quotes; you can search for as many Resource Nums at a time as you wish (ex. "37068725" or "37068720" or "37068727")
    1. Note, the quotation marks (" ") MUST be typed into the search bar manually; if you copy and paste them into the search bar, your search will not work 

Understanding the Resources Geographic Filter Settings: All Resources, Resources serving and Resources within

When searching for resource records, you have the option to filter your search results by using various geographic filters. There are three options. You can search for All resources, Resources within, and Resources serving.

All Resources

When you set the geographic filter to look for All resources, your search results will include resource records that meet the other search criteria you have entered regardless of where the resource is located and regardless of the resource records assigned coverage area. Said another way, your search results will return every resource record that meets the searched for criteria, without considering any geographic filters.

Resources within

The Resources within geographic filter will only show you search results that meet all of your other search criteria and that are located within the specified location. These searches look at the physical location of the actual resource record. Resources within searches do  not consider assigned coverage areas on resource records. For example, if you would like to see a list of food pantries that are all located in a certain county, you would:
  1. Enter Food Pantries in the search box
  2. In the Geographic filters box, change the first drop down box to Resources within
  3. Change the State drop down box to the state the County is located in
  4. Change the County to the desired County
  5. Click the Search button
  6. Your results will be only those food pantries that are physically located in the searched for county

Resources serving

This geographic filter is used in conjunction with the assigned coverage area feature. When you assign a coverage area to a resource record, you are indicating that the person accessing that resource must live in the assigned coverage area to access the program and/or services offered. When conducting a search on your resource database, your search results will show resource records that meet all of your other search criteria that also have an assigned coverage area based on your settings in Country, State/Province, City, and ZIP Code/Postal Code as follows:
  1. If only a Country (for example, United States) is entered in the geographic filters, then all resource records with any assigned coverage area will return in your search results. So for example, if you enter the country United States in the geographic filters, your search results will include all resource records that have an assigned coverage area of the United States, a state in the US, or any county, any city or any ZIP Code located in the US. 
  2. If only a State/Province (for example California) is entered in the geographic filters, then all resource records with an assigned coverage area for that state and any county, city or ZIP Code in that state will return in your search results. So for example if you enter the state California in the geographic filters, your search results will include all resource records that have an assigned coverage area of California, or any county, any city or an ZIP Code located in the state of California. They will also include any resource record with a coverage area assigned to the United States.
  3. If only a County (for example Marin County) is entered in the geographic filters, then the search results will include only those resource records that have an assigned coverage area to that county, the state that the county is in and the country. For these searches, the assigned coverage area must cover the entire area entered to be returned in the search results. So for example if you enter Marin County which is located in California, then all resource records with an assigned coverage area of Marin County, the state of California, or the United States will return in your search results. Any resource record that has an assigned coverage area of a town/city or ZIP code, even if it is located in the searched county will not appear in these search results, as these resource records do not have an assigned coverage area that covers the entire searched area.
  4. If only a Town/City (for example Fairfax) is entered in the geographic filters, then the search results will include only those resource records that have an assigned coverage area of that town/city, county that the town/city is in, the state that it is located in and country. For these searches, the assigned coverage area must cover the entire area entered to be returned in the search results. So for example if you enter Fairfax, which is a town in Marin County located in California, then all resource records with an assigned coverage area of Fairfax, Marin County, the state of California, or the United states will return in your search results. Any resource records that have an assigned coverage area of a specific ZIP code, even if it is located in the searched town/city will not appear in these search results, as these resource records do not have an assigned coverage area that covers the entire searched area.
  5. If a ZIP Code/Postal Code (for example 94930) is entered in the geographic filters, then the search results will include only those resource records that have an assigned coverage area to that ZIP Code, the town/city that ZIP Code is located in, or the county, or state that it is located in and the country. For these searches, the assigned coverage area must cover the entire area entered to be returned in the search results. So for example if you enter 94930, which is in the town of Fairfax, which is in Marin County located in California, then all resource records with an assigned coverage area of 94930, Fairfax, Marin County, the state of California, or the United states will return in your search results. Any resource record that has an assigned coverage area of a specific ZIP Code other than this ZIP Code, even if it falls within the same Town/City, will not appear in these search results, as these resources are not available to the entire searched area. For example, ZIP Code 94978 is a second ZIP Code that is located in the town of Fairfax. Resource records that have an assigned coverage area of 94978 would not appear in a Resources serving search results list for Resources serving ZIP Code 94930.
When looking at the Resources Serving filter, if your organization uses the Agency, Site, Program structure, when this filter is used it will only include resources in the search results that have a coverage area defined. In other words, if you only set coverage area at the Program level, and you search by Resources Serving, Agency and Site level resources will never appear in your search results.
If you wish to include resource records that don't have a defined coverage area set, then you'll want to change your geographic filters to 'All Resources' or 'Resources Within', depending on your search, and ensure your main Filters (under the search bar) have all levels selected that you wish to include.
Note: Your administrator needs to have actually set up these service areas for your resources, in order for your search results to be filtered on this basis accurately.
Geographical Phone Search: when you put in area code and prefix and click Go, it tries to find the city/state associated with it (as indicated by the phone company). When a match is found, it then sets the city/state geographic filters accordingly and then performs the search.
Note: The Geographical Phone Search does not search for specific phone numbers in resource records.  To search for a specific phone number in a resource record, use Option 3 above and enter the full phone number in the search field.

Using quotes when searching Resources

In iCarol you are able to search for resource records in multiple ways. When searching by Resources you can search for the resource record by the name of the record, by all text fields on the resource record, or by choosing a specific field. 

When you begin typing a search term in the search box for a Resources search, suggestions appear in a drop down menu. By default in iCarol, if you click on one of the suggestions, quotation marks are put around your search, and any geographic filters entered are disregarded and the resource record chosen is shown in the search results list. If this is not true when you are completing a search, then it is likely an Admin at your organization enabled the Admin Tools setting to 'Enforce geo filters when searching for an exact name (search term gets enclosed in quotation marks)'.

If you have chosen a resource from the auto-suggested list, and you would like your geographic filters to be applied, then simply remove the quotation marks from the search box and click the Search button. When the search reloads, the results will be displayed with your selected geographic filters being applied.

Keep in mind if your geographic filters are set to 'Resources Serving', and you have the coverage area defined at the Program level, then if you search for an AGENCY name without quotations it will not appear in your search results. This is one reason why it is helpful the quotations are automatically entered in the search box when you select a resource from the auto-suggested list that appears. 

Similarly, if you are searching for a resource by name and it is not appearing in your search results, then you can try manually putting quotations around the text in your search box to try and yield the results you are looking for. 

How to use the Taxonomy search filters 'ANY/ALL of these terms'

When searching for Resources by 'Taxonomy', you may choose to search by just one taxonomy term, using the search bar appearing to the left of the Search button.
You also have the option to search by up to two more Taxonomy terms at the same time, using the drop-down list below Filters link, using either of the following search filters:
  1. "or in ANY of these terms" can be used to find resources serving several needs at once.
    1. For example, using this filter with the taxonomy terms "Rent Payment Assistance", "Eviction Prevention Assistance", and "Homelessness Prevention Programs", would return resources categorized with ANY of these taxonomy terms. This search filter can be a short-cut to find all appropriate resources for two or three needs at once, rather than completing separate searches for each need. 
  2. "and in ALL of these terms" is used to find resources that provide many different services themselves, under one roof.
    1. For example, using this filter with the taxonomy terms "Emergency Shelter" and "Laundry Facilities" would return resources categorized with ALL of those taxonomy terms; it wouldn't return resources categorized with just one of those terms. This search filter can be a short-cut to find all appropriate resources that meet more than one need within the same referral.
To develop a better understanding of the difference between these two filters, try completing the following steps:
  1. Find a resource in your database that is categorized with more than one Taxonomy term (ex. a resource categorized with both 'Low Income Housing Search Assistance' and 'Rental Deposit Assistance')
  2. In a new tab open the Search Resources page, either by clicking 'Resources' in your left side menu, or by clicking 'Search Resources' from within a call report
  3. Select the 'Taxonomy' radio button and in the search bar directly above the radio button enter one of the Taxonomy terms appearing in the resource from step 1
  4. Keep the default selection in the drop-down list 'Or in any of these terms'
  5. In the search bar below the drop-down list enter a different Taxonomy term from the resource in step 1
  6. Make sure your other filters are set as you wish and click 'Search'
  7. Notice which resources appear in your search results; view the details of a few resources and notice the resources appearing your search results can be categorized with: just one of the Taxonomy terms you searched for, or categorized with both of the Taxonomy terms you searched for
    1. Note, if you don't have any resources in your search results that are categorized with just one of the Taxonomy terms, and instead all of them are categorized with both of the Taxonomy terms, try using a different search for this example until you have at least one resource that is categorized with just one of the Taxonomy terms you searched for
  8. Change your drop-down list selection to 'And in all of these terms' and click 'Search'
  9. Notice which resources appear in your search results now are different than from your previous search results; view the details of a few resources and notice the resources appearing in your search results are all categorized with both of the Taxonomy terms
You may wish to consider creating ' Saved Searches' using these filters; read the related help article to learn more.

Understanding Default Resource Search Filter Settings

Admin users are able to configure default settings for the Resource search filters. The first time a user logs into iCarol, their default Resource Search Filters are based on the systems default settings.

If the user adjusts either of the following filters and complete a resource search, the next time they search for Resources iCarol will remember their individual selections: “Record Type filters” (Agencies, Programs, Sites, ProgramAtSite) or “Status filters” (Include ‘Inactive’, Include ‘Active but do not refer’) - filters shown in the green box in screenshot below.

If the user adjusts any of the following remaining filters, the next time they search for Resources iCarol will always reset back to the default settings for your organization: “Search Type filters” (Taxonomy or Resources), “Search field” filters (Names, All fields, Specific field), “Geographic Filters”, and “Taxonomy Searches filters” (Name/Description) - filters shown in the red boxes in screenshot below.


Filter on custom fields in Resource records

Admins have the option to add custom fields to resources.
One these fields have been created you have the option to add a filter for these custom fields in the resource search feature.
Steps to turn on the custom field filter feature:
  1. Click on 'Resources' in the left hand menu or click the 'Search for resources' link at the top of the Contact Record
  2. Select 'Manage Resources' top right.
  3. In the first column select 'Custom Fields'.
  4. You will see a list of custom fields created (and/or have the option to create new fields by clicking on 'Add a new custom field').
  5. Click on the custom field that you would like to add to the filter feature
  6. Under the "Visible on" section, click on "Filter on main Resource page"
  7. Save your changes.

How to view resources

Your organization has resources setup as either Agency only records, or Agency records with Site and/or Program records. If your organization uses any structure other than Agency only, it is likely you store the following types of data in the different levels:
  1. Agency – overall information about the organization
  2. Site – each particular location where services are delivered
  3. Program – service delivery information
Programs and Sites are then linked together to indicate when a service is offered at one or more locations.

When viewing resource records that are setup as anything other than an Agency only structure, there is certain promotion logic used in regard to the visibility of different fields at different levels of the resource. This means depending on the level of the resource you’re viewing (Agency, Site, or Program), and depending on your organization's Field Visibility Settings, different information will be displayed.

Your organization’s Resource Editors enter data into Resource records and the different data they’ve entered will appear depending on the level of the resource record you’re viewing. In most cases, it’s likely you’ll want to be viewing the Program level record when providing referrals to help seekers, since that’s usually where the most valuable information is stored, and where you can see data promoted from other levels of the resource. However, it’s also possible you’ll want to look at the Agency level record so it’s important to understand how to view each level of the resource record.

Depending on your organization’s settings, users may save referrals to Agency and/or Program level records.
 
Note, some organizations also edit ProgramAtSite records, but for the purpose of this training, that doesn’t have any impact.

How to view an Agency level record

  1. Search for any resource and click the link to view the details of the record.
  2. If you’re viewing a Site or Program level record, the Agencies name will appear as a link at the top of the page; click the link now to view the Agency level record. If you don’t see the link, that means you’re already looking at the Agency level.
  3. You are now viewing the Agency level record, which only shows you the high-level information about the Agency, and if your organization has Sites and Programs setup, from here you’ll to see links to all Sites and Programs belonging to this Agency.
  4. Notice the Site links are listed in the middle of the page under the section Location Information – Sites, and the Program links are listed at the bottom of the page under the section Agency Background – Programs at…

How to view a Site level record (without viewing the Program level)

  1. All data entered in the Site level will appear when viewing either the Agency or Program level record the Site is connected to, but it can be helpful to view a Site level record by itself if you wish to see all the Programs offered by a specific Site.
  2. When viewing an Agency level record (by following the steps above), click the name of a Site under the section Location Information – Sites
  3. You are now viewing the Site level record, which shows you details from the Agency level, as well as the selected Site
  4. Notice after the selected Site has loaded, it’s name is now highlighted
  5. Also notice at the bottom of the page under the section Agency Background – Programs at…, any Programs offered at this Site appear with a asterisks (*)

How to view a Program level record (and a Site level record when viewing a Program)

  1. Most organizations use the Program level record to provide referrals to help seekers, so this is where most of the unique service delivery information is stored.
  2. When viewing an Agency or Site level record (by following the steps above), click the name of a Program under the section Agency Background – Programs at…
  3. You are now viewing the Program level record, and if the Program has one or more Sites connected to it, a Site will be selected by default. When viewing the Program level record, you’ll see details about the Program as well as the selected Site.
  4. If the Program is offered at more than one Site, all Sites offering the Program will appear under the section Location Information – Sites; click the name of another Site and you’ll see the different information entered for the selected Site.

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