UCF Search Service

The UCF Search Service is a publicly available web service that allows queries to made against various UCF data. Results from the Search Service are returned as JSON.

Directory Data (Teledata)

The teledata application provides directory information for UCF staff, organizations, departments and buildings.

A combined search view for staff, organizations, and departments is available, as well as individual list views for staff, organizations, departments, and buildings.

/api/v1/teledata/

The directory search view is the primary view used for retrieving directory data. This view will search staff, departments and organizations and return all results with a score value greater than 0. Note that this view does not return buildings.

Parameters

Parameter Description Allowable Values
search Required The search string. This can include multiple search words with spaces in between. Alphanumeric characters and spaces.
use Limits the results to a specific object type. staff, departments and organizations
alpha Whether all records should be pulled for staff members or only the primary (alpha) record True/False
ordering Modifies how results are ordered. (By default, results are ordered by score descending.)
  • id

    Sort by record ID, ascending

  • -id

    Sort by record ID, descending

  • score

    Sort by relevance score, ascending

  • -score

    Sort by relevance score, descending

  • sort_name

    Sort by the record's sort-friendly name, ascending

  • -sort_name

    Sort by the record's sort-friendly name, descending
limit The maximum number of records to return. Number
offset The starting position of the query in relation to the complete set of results. Number
active Limit results to only "active" records (True) or "inactive" records (False). Users should set this to True for the most accurate results. True/False

Examples

Simple Search

Returns active staff, departments and organizations that match the search term "Smith"

/api/v1/teledata/?search=Smith&active=True
Staff Search

Returns staff that match the search term "Smith"

/api/v1/teledata/?search=Smith&use=staff
Organization Search

Returns organizations that match the search term "Facilities"

/api/v1/teledata/?search=Facilities&use=organizations

Results

The directory search view returns the following fields with a successful response:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
count The total number of records returned by the query. Integer No
resultCount Alias of the count field for backwards compatibility with the previous version of the Search Service. Integer No
next The URL of the next page of results. String Yes
previous The URL of the previous page of results. String Yes
results The array of results returned. The specific schema for results is described in the table below. Array No (But can be an empty array)

Result Schema

Each result returned in results will contain the following fields:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
score The relevance score of the result, calculated based on a number of factors. Decimal (appears as a string in JSON) No
id The primary key of the result in the search service. Integer No
alpha Indicates if this is the primary record of a staff member. Boolean No
name The full name of the staff member, organization or department. String No
first_name The first name of staff records. String Yes
last_name The last name of staff records String Yes
sort_name For staff records, this field will be the name ordered last to first. Organizations and departments will have the same value as the name field. String No
email The email for staff records. String Yes
phone The phone number of the staff member, organization or department. String Yes
fax The fax number of the organization or department. String Yes
postal The postal code of the record. String Yes
job_position The position title of the staff member record. String Yes
department The department name of the staff member record. String Yes
dept_id The id of the department within the search service data. Integer Yes
organization The organization name of the staff member of department. String Yes
org_id The id of the organization within the search service data. Integer Yes
building The building name of the record. String Yes
bldg_id The id of the building within the search service data. Integer Yes
room The room number of the staff member, department of organization. String Yes
from_table The type of the record. Can be staff, departments or organizations. String No
active Designates the record as "active" or valid in the search service. Boolean No

Buildings List

/api/v1/teledata/buildings/

The building list view provides a list of building records including name and abbreviation.

Parameters

Parameter Description Allowable Values
limit The maximum number of records to return. Number
offset The starting position of the query in relation to the complete set of results. Number
ordering Modifies how results are ordered. (By default, results are ordered by id descending.)
  • id

    Sort by record ID, ascending

  • -id

    Sort by record ID, descending

  • name

    Sort by the record's name, ascending

  • -name

    Sort by the record's name, descending

Results

The building list view returns the following fields with a successful response:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
count The total number of records returned by the query. Integer No
next The URL of the next page of results. String Yes
previous The URL of the previous page of results. String Yes
results The array of results returned. The specific schema for results is described in the table below. Array No (But can be an empty array)

Result Schema

Each result returned in results will contain the following fields:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
id The primary key of the result in the search service. Integer No
name The full name of the building. String Yes
description A brief extended description of the building. String Yes
abbr The building's official abbreviated name. String Yes
import_id The building's official ID number. String Yes

Organizations List

/api/v1/teledata/organizations/

The organization list view provides a list of organization records including building and contact information.

Parameters

Parameter Description Allowable Values
limit The maximum number of records to return. Number
offset The starting position of the query in relation to the complete set of results. Number
ordering Modifies how results are ordered. (By default, results are ordered by id descending.)
  • id

    Sort by record ID, ascending

  • -id

    Sort by record ID, descending

  • name

    Sort by the record's name, ascending

  • -name

    Sort by the record's name, descending

Results

The organization list view returns the following fields with a successful response:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
count The total number of records returned by the query. Integer No
next The URL of the next page of results. String Yes
previous The URL of the previous page of results. String Yes
results The array of results returned. The specific schema for results is described in the table below. Array No (But can be an empty array)

Result Schema

Each result returned in results will contain the following fields:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
id The primary key of the result in the search service. Integer No
bldg The Building this organization is located in. See the result schema for Buildings List results for more information. Object Yes
name The full name of the organization. String Yes
room The room number for the organization within its building. String Yes
postal The postal code of the organization. String Yes
phone The phone number of the organization. String Yes
fax The fax number of the organization. String Yes
primary_comment Additional notes/details about the organization. String Yes
secondary_comment Additional notes/details about the organization. String Yes
url URL pointing to this organization's website. String Yes
last_updated When this organization's information was last refreshed in the search service. String (datetime stamp) No
import_id The organization's official ID number. String Yes
active Designates the record as "active" or valid in the search service. Boolean No

Departments List

/api/v1/teledata/departments/

The department list view provides a list of department records including building, organization and contact information.

Parameters

Parameter Description Allowable Values
limit The maximum number of records to return. Number
offset The starting position of the query in relation to the complete set of results. Number
ordering Modifies how results are ordered. (By default, results are ordered by id descending.)
  • id

    Sort by record ID, ascending

  • -id

    Sort by record ID, descending

  • name

    Sort by the record's name, ascending

  • -name

    Sort by the record's name, descending

Results

The department list view returns the following fields with a successful response:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
count The total number of records returned by the query. Integer No
next The URL of the next page of results. String Yes
previous The URL of the previous page of results. String Yes
results The array of results returned. The specific schema for results is described in the table below. Array No (But can be an empty array)

Result Schema

Each result returned in results will contain the following fields:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
id The primary key of the result in the search service. Integer No
bldg The Building this department is located in. See the result schema for Buildings List results for more information. Object Yes
org The Organization this department is grouped under. See the result schema for Organizations List results for more information. Object Yes
list_order Position this department should be ordered in when displayed in a list of departments. Integer Yes
name The full name of the department. String Yes
room The room number for the department within its building. String Yes
phone The phone number of the department. String Yes
fax The fax number of the department. String Yes
primary_comment Additional notes/details about the department. String Yes
secondary_comment Additional notes/details about the department. String Yes
last_updated When this department's information was last refreshed in the search service. String (datetime stamp) No
import_id The department's official ID number. String Yes
active Designates the record as "active" or valid in the search service. Boolean No

Staff List

/api/v1/teledata/staff/

The staff list view provides a list of staff records including department, building, and contact information.

Parameters

Parameter Description Allowable Values
limit The maximum number of records to return. Number
offset The starting position of the query in relation to the complete set of results. Number

Results

The staff list view returns the following fields with a successful response:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
count The total number of records returned by the query. Integer No
next The URL of the next page of results. String Yes
previous The URL of the previous page of results. String Yes
results The array of results returned. The specific schema for results is described in the table below. Array No (But can be an empty array)

Result Schema

Each result returned in results will contain the following fields:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
id The primary key of the result in the search service. Integer No
dept Details about the Department this staff member is part of. Links to a single Department detail view with more information about the department (detail_url). Object Yes
bldg The Building this department is located in. See the result schema for Buildings List results for more information. Object Yes
alpha Indicates if this is the primary record of a staff member. Boolean No
last_name The last name of the staff member. String Yes
suffix The staff member's name suffix. String Yes
name_title The name title of the staff member (e.g. Mr., Mrs.). String Yes
first_name The first name of the staff member. String Yes
middle The middle name of the staff member. String Yes
job_position The staff member's job position. String Yes
room The room number for the staff member within their building. String Yes
phone The phone number of the staff member. String Yes
email The staff member's full email address. String Yes
email_machine The domain of the staff member's email address. String Yes
postal The staff member's postal code. String Yes
last_updated When this staff member's information was last refreshed in the search service. String (datetime stamp) No
cellphone String Yes
import_id The staff member's imported ID number. String Yes
active Designates the record as "active" or valid in the search service. Boolean No

Degree Program Data

Documentation coming soon

Images

The images application hosts information about image assets available for use by UCF communicators.

A combined image search view allows for searching for images by tags, locations, and other information.

/api/v1/images/search/

The image search view is the primary view for retrieving image assets.

Queries for images will match against image tags, captions, and locations.

Access to Full Size Images

Images in the image search view are sourced from Tandem Vault, UCF's primary repository for photography assets. Please note that most images sourced from Tandem Vault require a Tandem Vault account to download.

Images listed in this view are intended for use only by UCF communicators; if your Tandem Vault account does not have sufficient permissions, you may still be unable to access certain photos.

Please review the UCF brand website for more information about using Tandem Vault.

Parameters

Parameter Description Allowable Values
search The search string. This can include multiple search words with spaces in between. Alphanumeric characters and spaces.
ordering Modifies the order in which results are returned. (By default, results are ordered by score descending, and their photo_taken date descending.)
  • source_created

    Sort by create date, ascending

  • -source_created

    Sort by create date, descending

  • source_modified

    Sort by modified date, ascending

  • -source_modified

    Sort by modified date, descending

  • photo_taken

    Sort by the date the photo was taken, ascending

  • -photo_taken

    Sort by the date the photo was taken, descending
limit The maximum number of records to return. Number
offset The starting position of the query in relation to the complete set of results. Number

Examples

Simple Search

Returns images that match the search term "downtown"

/api/v1/images/search/?search=downtown
Search by source_modified date (descending)

Returns images that match the search term "downtown", sorted by when they were last modified in Tandem Vault, in descending order

/api/v1/images/search/?search=downtown&ordering=-source_modified

Results

The image search view returns the following fields with a successful response:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
count The total number of records returned by the query. Integer No
next The URL of the next page of results. String Yes
previous The URL of the previous page of results. String Yes
results The array of results returned. The specific schema for results is described in the table below. Array No (But can be an empty array)

Result Schema

Each result returned in results will contain the following fields:

Field Name Description Field Type Can be null?
score The relevance score of the result. Decimal (appears as a string in JSON) No
id The primary key of the result in the search service. Integer No
filename The image filename. String No
extension The 3-4 character extension name of the image file. String No
source Where the image data is sourced from (and where it is available to download). String No
source_id The ID of the image where it is sourced from. String No
source_created Datetime when the image was originally uploaded at its source. String Yes
source_modified Datetime when the image was last modified at its source. String Yes
photo_taken Datetime when the photograph was originally taken ("DateTimeOriginal" EXIF value). String Yes
location Where the photograph was originally taken. String Yes
copyright Copyright information for the image. String Yes
contributor Name of the staff member that contributed the image at its source. String Yes
width_full The width, in pixels, of the image at its full size. Integer No
height_full The height, in pixels, of the image at its full size. Integer No
download_url Where the image can be downloaded. String Yes
thumbnail_url URL of a scaled-down thumbnail of the image. String Yes
caption A brief caption describing the image. String Yes
tags An array of tags assigned to the image. Array (of strings) No (But can be an empty array)

More Information

Data Sources

Data included in the UCF Search Service is aggregated from multiple sources, listed below:

Directory data (teledata)
Sourced from UCF Phonebook data, managed by UCF IT.
Degree program data
General program information and metadata is sourced from UCF's Academic Program Inventory Master (APIM), managed by IKM.
Catalog descriptions and links are sourced from the online UCF Catalog.
Tuition data is sourced from Student Account Services.
Program outcomes/statistics are sourced from IKM.
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code lists, titles and descriptions, as well as mappings of CIPs to Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, are sourced from IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System).
Employment projection data and careers are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Image data
Image information is sourced from UCF's Tandem Vault, managed by UCF Marketing.
Some image tags are generated dynamically using Amazon Rekognition.

Data is pulled from these sources on a regular basis, depending on the type of data. Directory data is scheduled to refresh every 12 hours; program metadata and catalog information is retrieved monthly.

Contact

The UCF Search Service is managed by UCF Web Communications.

For general questions about the Search Service, please email webcom@ucf.edu.

If you'd like to submit a bug report (e.g. an API view not loading properly, or params not working as expected), please submit a new issue in Github detailing the problem, how you encountered the problem, and expected behavior.

Reporting Inaccurate/Missing Data

Before contacting UCF Web Communications to report problems with data in the Search Service, please verify that said data is accurate at its source (see "Data Sources" above.)

If data is inaccurate in any of those sources, please contact the owners of those resources to resolve the issue.

If you've determined that the data problem is specific to the Search Service, please email webcom@ucf.edu detailing the problem.