discovery tools: the tales of implementation at two historically black colleges and universities...
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DISCOVERY TOOLS: THE TALES OF IMPLEMENTATION AT TWO
HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (HBCUS)
Netta CoxSerials Librarian, North Carolina A&T State University
Iyanna SimsSystems Librarian, North Carolina A&T State University
Shaundra WalkerHead of Reference, Fort Valley State University
ALA Annual Conference Saturday, June 25, 2011
WHAT IS A DISCOVERY TOOL?
New Technology
Single Point of Entry
Pre-harvested
Centralized Index
Vendor neutral
Relevancy
Robust Features
CustomizableSource: Definition synthesized from the literature. See bibliography.
DISCOVERY TOOL OPTIONS
EBSCO Discovery
Service
Encore Synergy
Primo
Summon
WorldCat Local
Blacklight
LibraryFind
Scriblio
SOPAC
VuFind
Proprietary Open Source
COMMONALITIES Single point of entry for all library
information
Enriched web interface
Faceted navigation
Simple keyword search
Relevancy
BRAINSTORMING…
What should I consider when choosing and implementing a discovery tool?
NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY
HBCU, Public Land-Grant Institution
Enrollment: 10,000
Library Staff: 50
Library Collection:
Over 700,000 volumes of print and audiovisual
materials
Over 150,000 electronic books
Over 160,000 print and electronic journals and
serials
Approximately 300 databases
MOTIVATION
Rich collection of print and audiovisual
resources
Expeditious growth of electronic resources
Digitized archival material and developing an
Institutional Repository
Desire to meet user expectations
Federated Search
Funding
THE PROCESS Formed a committee
Representation from each department – Public
Service, Technical Service, and Systems
Researched commercial and open-source
platforms
Developed an evaluation matrix
Vendor visits
Discussed pros and cons in relation to library
environment
THE MATRIX
THE REALITIES No perfect solution
Functionality
Coverage
Timeline
Realistic
Flexible
Bells and whistles may come with a cost
GOING FORWARD Complete configuration process
Internal testing
Train Staff
Revise instruction curriculum
Integration
Harvest IR data
Increased visibility and usage of resources
Embrace the platform as a living organism
LESSONS LEARNED Understand your library needs and wants
Have questions for vendors and ask for
demonstration of live instances of platform
Make no assumptions
Resource Analysis
Network with other libraries
FORT VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1895
1890 Land Grant Institution
One of Three Public HBCU’s in Georgia
Member of the 35-Member University System
of Georgia (USG)Consortium
Enrollment of 3400
One of the fastest growing schools in the
USG system
ABOUT FVSU LIBRARIES Three Branches
Main Library (Hunt) Curriculum Materials Center Warner Robins Center (Graduate and Adult
Education) Print Collections
150,000+ Volumes 600 Active Print Serials Titles Small AV Collection
Electronic Resources Over 100 Databases (mostly shared via GALILEO) Ebooks (NetLibrary, Ebrary, IEEE) Moving Print Serials to Electronic Serials
THE CONSORTIA CHALLENGE
Participant in GALILEO Public, private, K-12, technical and college and
university members Shared platform, varied resources Cost-sharing for electronic resource purchasing Shared Proxy Server and OpenURL Link Resolver
Member of the GALILEO Interconnected Libraries (GIL) ExLibris Voyager ILS Union Catalog Reciprocal Book Borrowing Service (GIL Express)
MOTIVATION Influx of New Resources
Better Return on Investment
Frustration with Federated Searching
Information Literacy Challenges
Multiple, Changing Platforms
Puzzled Students
The “50 Minute” Session
NEEDS/DESIRES
High Coverage of Scholarly Resources
Easy Updates
Simple Interface
Extendibility
Affordability and Sustainability
THE SELECTION PROCESS
Evaluated Three Major Tools
Vendor Presentations
Coverage Analysis
Selected Final Tool
IMPLEMENTATION Started in January 2011
Three Phases
Adding E-Resources to the Client Center
Exporting MARC Records from the catalog
Setting Up Nightly Cron Job
Testing, Testing, Testing!
SOFT LAUNCH March 2011
Added Search Box to Homepage
Introduced in ENG 1101 and ENG 1102
Response
Overwhelmingly positive, professors and
students
More time spent on searching than teaching in
information literacy sessions
LESSONS LEARNED Managing Electronic Resources
Need for new workflows
Impact on Instruction
Customizing the OpenURL Link Resolver page
Teaching the importance of good search
statements
Impact on Collection Development
Purchasing more electronic resources
Availability in Summon
LOOKING AHEAD Information Literacy
Focus on 1000 and 2000 level courses
Revised Information Literacy Tutorial
E-Resources
Moving Print Serial Subscriptions to Electronic
Considering MARC Record Updates for Electronic Journals
Considering adding MARC Records for non-indexed
collections
Considering MARC Records for E-book Collections
Considering More E-Books
Adding Open Access Collections
Adding Institutional Repositories
WAYS WE’VE USED SUMMON
LibGuides Added to Search Drop Down Box along with other
search types (catalog, Ask-A-Librarian, e-journals, etc.)
Created search boxes for specific collections (i.e. videos, special collections, etc.)
LibAnswers Embedded search boxes in Ask-A-Librarian
answers BlackBoard
Created learning objects
DEMONSTRATION
Q&A DISCUSSION
RESOURCES
Grand Valley State University Library Labs http://gvsulib.com/labs/custom_summon/ Helpful tool for creating Summon search boxes
LibGuides Summon Resources http://
help.springshare.com/content.php?pid=90986&sid=1053606#3190055
More help for creating Summon search boxes Summon API
http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/help/api/ Summon Community Wiki
http://community.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.php/Main_Page
Another great resource for Summon users
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Vaughan, J. (2011). Chapter 1: Web Scale Discovery What and Why?. Library Technology Reports, 47(1), 5-11. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.
Vaughan, J. (2011). Chapter 2: OCLC WorldCat Local. Library Technology Reports, 47(1), 12-21. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.
Vaughan, J. (2011). Chapter 3: Serials Solutions Summon. Library Technology Reports, 47(1), 22-29. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.
Vaughan, J. (2011). Chapter 4: Ebsco Discovery Services. Library Technology Reports, 47(1), 30-38. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.
Vaughan, J. (2011). Chapter 5: Ex Libris Primo Central. Library Technology Reports, 47(1), 39-47. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Vaughan, J. (2011). Chapter 6: Differentiators and A Final Note. Library Technology Reports, 47(1), 48-53. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Vaughan, J. (2011). Chapter 7: Questions to Consider. Library Technology Reports, 47(1), 54-59. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Vaughan, J. (2011). Chapter 8: For More Information. Library Technology Reports, 47(1), 60-61. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Way, D. (2010). The Impact of Web-scale Discovery on the Use of a Library Collection. Serials Review, 36(4), 214-220. doi:10.1016/j.serrev.2010.07.002
Yang, Sharon Q, Kurt Wagner, (2010) Evaluating and comparing discovery tools: how close are we towards next
generation catalog?, Library Hi Tech, 28 (4), 690 – 709.