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 Customizable

Source: 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

BIBLIOGRAPHYVaughan, 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.

BIBLIOGRAPHYVaughan, 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.