“Discovery” is today's term for user-centered information searching and access. A growing number of libraries have embraced Web-scale discovery services (WSDS) featuring one-stop searching of libraries’ owned and licensed collections. Recognizing potential benefits to users of these systems, a mid-sized ARL library formed a discovery-tool committee in spring 2012 to explore selection of a WSDS in keeping with its values, vision, and institutional mission. This article explores “discovery” as it assesses WSDS performance and reports results obtained from a request to WSDS vendors to showcase the search power of their system with actual reference questions.

An Unexpected Discovery: One Library's Experience With Web-Scale Discovery Service (WSDS) Evaluation and Assessment

Web-scale discovery service systems and platforms are continuing to evolve and become more commonly adopted in academic libraries Functioning as more than next-generation catalogs due to their volume and associated Web services, they invite strategic inquiry and launch libraries into deeper questioning and continuous critical thinking concerning discovery system best practices This article explores emerging library discovery positions and discovery requirements gleaned through position postings from Autocat, Code4Lib, ERIL-L, and NGC4Lib listserv e-mails, from February 2012 through July 2014, along with a 2013 scan of Association of Research Library (ARL) staff directories’ Web sites As seen through the lens of recent discovery position postings and names of discovery positions at ARL libraries, staffing solutions suggest strategic oversight and deep understanding of discovery systems, metadata, and users This study of 36 discovery positions reveals directors or managers as comprising the highest numb

Exploring Library Discovery Positions: Are They Emerging or Converging?

Library resource discovery tools (RDTs) are the latest generation of library catalogs that enable searching across disparate databases and repositories from a single search box. Although such “Google-like” experience has been applauded as a benefit for library users, there still exist usability and accessibility problems related to the diversity of user goals, needs, and preferences. To better understand these problems, we conducted an extensive literature review and in this process, we initially grouped issues into three categories: interface, resource description, and navigation. Based on these categories, we propose adaptation as an alternative approach to enhance the usability and accessibility of RDTs. The adaptations could be conducted on three levels pertaining to categories of issues found, namely: interface, information, and navigation level. The goal of this paper is to suggest how the process of adaptation could be considered in order to mitigate usability and accessibility issues of RDT interfaces.

/pdf/a-case-for-adaptation-to-enhance-usability-and-accessibility-56qtr1m3fp.pdf

A Case for Adaptation to Enhance Usability and Accessibility of Library Resource Discovery Tools

Through the perspectives of more than 30 authors of 21 articles, this work attempts to present a balanced view of federated searching and its effects on the library world and the library user. The ...

Federated Search: Solution or Setback for Online Library Services

Web Project Management for Academic Libraries

Like many libraries, the Bridge Consortium (the shared library of Carleton College and St. Olaf College) had outgrown the existing catalog and needed to find an improved search interface for collections. Seeking something that would work with the existing Innovative Interfaces Inc.'s Millennium integrated library system, researchers explored everything from catalog enhancements provided by Innovative Interfaces to a completely separate, Web-scale discovery tool. For the past year, they worked to implement VuFind as a catalog overlay, continually customizing and enhancing it based on user feedback. At the same time, they continued to research a broader solution and recommended a discovery tool to their consortium leadership group that they believe will redefine student research at their colleges and give new shape and direction to their consortium. By thinking of discovery as more than a product and staggering their implementation, they were better able to meet their consortium's needs. This article details their evaluation process and provides reflection on the decisions made. Many libraries are considering Web-scale discovery products. As part of the process, they confront questions about open source tools, Web site redesigns, incorporating user feedback, and consortial needs. The researchers hope to contribute to these libraries' processes by outlining their process and considerations, and what they learned along the way to arrive at their current solution.

/pdf/improving-library-resource-discovery-exploring-the-2gwzi15rng.pdf

Improving Library Resource Discovery: Exploring the Possibilities of VuFind and Web Scale Discovery in a Consortial Environment

Like many libraries, the Bridge Consortium (the shared library of Carleton College and St. Olaf College) had outgrown the existing catalog and needed to find an improved search interface for collections. Seeking something that would work with the existing Innovative Interfaces Inc.'s Millennium integrated library system, researchers explored everything from catalog enhancements provided by Innovative Interfaces to a completely separate, Web-scale discovery tool. For the past year, they worked to implement VuFind as a catalog overlay, continually customizing and enhancing it based on user feedback. At the same time, they continued to research a broader solution and recommended a discovery tool to their consortium leadership group that they believe will redefine student research at their colleges and give new shape and direction to their consortium. By thinking of discovery as more than a product and staggering their implementation, they were better able to meet their consortium's needs. This article detail...

Christina Sinkler-Miller

Papers

Improving Library Resource Discovery: Exploring the Possibilities of VuFind and Web Scale Discovery in a Consortial Environment

Improving Library Resource Discovery: Exploring the Possibilities of VuFind and Web-Scale Discovery