Implementation of a Federated Search System in the Academic Library: Lessons Learned

2013 ◽  
pp. 83-102
Keyword(s):  
Academic Library ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Search System ◽  
Federated Search

User Search Activities within an Academic Library Gateway

2012 ◽  
pp. 153-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Mischo ◽  
Mary C. Schlembach ◽  
Joshua Bishoff ◽  
Elizabeth M. German
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Search System ◽  
Federated Search ◽  
University Of Illinois ◽  
Online Catalogs ◽  
The University ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviors ◽  
Easy Search

Academic libraries are transitioning from access systems based on federated, broadcast search technologies to Web-scale discovery systems with central, aggregated indexes. It is important to understand user information seeking behaviors, but knowledge of user searching patterns in online catalogs is incomplete and contradictory. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library has been collecting custom transaction log data from a main gateway built around the Easy Search (ES) federated search system. ES provides contextual search assistance suggestions that facilitate search reformulation and performs added title and phrase searches. An analysis of the transaction logs has revealed information on user search characteristics and search assistance usage. These findings show the importance of known-item searching, including journal, book, and article title searches. The Illinois team has been working with Web-scale discovery system vendors on a hybrid approach that incorporates search assistance and recommender elements with Web-scale aggregation and blended result displays.

First steps for a library publisher

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somaly Kim Wu ◽  
Heather McCullough
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Electronic Publishing ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Journal Publishing ◽  
Digital Scholarship ◽  
Publishing Services ◽  
Communication Policies ◽  
The University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to presents the very recent development of e-journal publishing services at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte. In 2011, the J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte created a new unit in the library, the Digital Scholarship Lab (DSL), which partners with faculty and graduate students in the use of digital and networked research tools to create, disseminate and store new knowledge. E-journal publishing and hosting are among the suite of services offered by the DSL, and we currently publish three journals (https://journals.uncc.edu/). Design/methodology/approach – This report provides an overview of the context of our library’s decision to begin publishing journals, including a discussion of our university’s becoming more research-intensive, our university system mandating increased efficiencies and sharing research with the state citizens, and the library’s own goals of raising awareness of and supporting open access. Also outlined are the technical and procedural choices made, important activities undertaken to develop, define and publicize the new services, campus response to the service and next steps. Findings – This report provides detailed accounting of how a large academic library implemented an electronic publishing service to support open access scholarship. Important activities such as marketing communication, policies development and technical/procedural activities are defined and results described. The report provides observation and lessons learned for academic libraries in development and support of electronic journals. Originality/value – Library as the publisher is a new concept. This report will be of interest to many libraries who are considering offering publishing services and to libraries that currently offer publishing services.

scholarly journals Testing an Academic Library Website for Usability with Faculty and Graduate Students

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Z. Emde ◽  
Sara E. Morris ◽  
Monica Claassen-Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Front Page ◽  
Federated Search ◽  
Library Resources ◽  
Search Tool ◽  
The University ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
New Discovery

Objectives - This usability study was developed to observe faculty and graduate students’ reactions to a recent redesign of the University of Kansas (KU) Libraries’ website. The redesign included new navigational features, introduction of a federated search tool, a quick search box on the front page, and research subject pages. The study also provided the opportunity to observe the practices of faculty and graduate students in locating and retrieving information on the Libraries’ website. Methods - Ten participants (five faculty and five graduate students) representing diverse disciplines were solicited for the study. Participants were required to access the Libraries’ website to answer a series of questions regarding new and updated features of the website. Observational analysis using Morae™ software was conducted and interviews with each participant provided details of their opinions on how these new features would influence their research and teaching activities. Results - Most of the participants either did not notice or ignored the major website changes. Links to and locations of commonly used resources (e.g. catalogue; databases; e-journals) had been changed minimally, and the faculty and graduate student participants gravitated to those familiar features to complete tasks. Prior to the study, participants had not accessed the new discovery tools; however, once previewed, responses to the tools’ utility were generally favourable. After using the federated search tool on a familiar topic, several participants noted that, when directed to databases they had not previously considered, they were able to locate citations they had missed in the past. Observers noted pitfalls in navigating the site such as inconsistent underscoring of links, ambiguous terminology, and unclear icons meant to expand subject heading lists. Unexpected searching behaviours were observed, including inconsistent and lack of conceptual understanding in searching for e-journal content. Conclusions - This study provides evidence regarding the usability of a library website with a population already familiar with library resources. It demonstrated that faculty and graduate students are not interested in experimenting with new discovery tools but are amenable to their potential value to undergraduate students. The recent trend toward minimizing content and links on websites satisfies this population, one which is already comfortable with the basic attributes of a library’s website.

scholarly journals Evolution of a Service Management Framework: Spotlight at Stanford as a Use Case

Publications ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Aster
Keyword(s):  
Web Application ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
It Services ◽  
Management Framework ◽  
Guiding Principle ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Control ◽  
Service Framework

Service management—the entirety of activities undertaken by an organization to design, plan, deliver, operate, and control information technology (IT) services offered to stakeholders—has long been applied successfully by the government and commercial sectors. In this article, service management is discussed in the context of open-source software developed in an academic library setting, by exploring the creation and growth of the Spotlight at Stanford service framework. First, service management is briefly introduced as a guiding principle and philosophy, within the Stanford Libraries context. Second, the Spotlight at Stanford software is described. Third, people who are key players in both the delivery and use of the software are discussed. Fourth, processes including goals and activities of the Spotlight at Stanford service team are reviewed. Fifth, various accomplishments are listed, including how the service team has contributed to the successful adoption and development of the web application at Stanford University. Finally, lessons learned are discussed and directions are shared for the future development of the Spotlight at Stanford service framework.

scholarly journals Book Review: So You Want to Be an Academic Library Director

2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 220
Author(s):  
Pat Hawthorne
Keyword(s):  
Academic Library ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Library Directors ◽  
Library Management ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Library Director ◽  
Director Characteristics

This volume comprises thirteen reflective essays by library leaders offering perspectives on their personal experiences and lessons learned regarding academic library management. Editor Colleen S. Harris notes in the very brief preface: “To complement the formal research on academic library director characteristics, I have recruited library directors to write essays reflecting on various aspects of their work as library directors.” Although she alludes to research studies regarding the knowledge, skills, and characteristics of successful managers and leaders, none of the chapters cite any such studies, and the book unfortunately lacks a substantive introductory chapter to complement and provide context for the essays by presenting relevant research findings. It almost seems as though the intent was to provide a more thorough introduction to this literature and the studies, but somehow that introductory chapter did not make it into the volume.

scholarly journals Diversity and Inclusion

2019 ◽  
pp. 100-118
Author(s):  
Shelly Black
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Underrepresented Groups ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Changing Demographics ◽  
Library Profession

The academic library profession has discussed the importance of diversity and inclusion, but has yet to explore their intersection with social media marketing. Given changing demographics and an increase in activism on college campuses, libraries must produce social media content that resonates with underrepresented groups. This chapter introduces strategies for effectively incorporating diversity and inclusion into social media and advice on avoiding mistakes. The author examines social media use at her library and lessons learned from a campaign that received criticism. The chapter concludes with challenges to practicing diversity in social media, including recruiting diverse staff and discrimination that emerges from new social media technologies.

scholarly journals Reengineering The Portal to Texas HistorySM

2013 ◽  
pp. 18-46
Author(s):  
Kathleen Murray ◽  
Mark Phillips ◽  
William Hicks ◽  
Neena Weng ◽  
Dreanna Belden
Keyword(s):  
Asset Management ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Review Process ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Texas History ◽  
University Of North Texas ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Growth Constraints

This case study reports the activities, findings, and lessons learned during a project that replaced the legacy Digital Asset Management (DAM) system of The Portal to Texas History? at the University of North Texas Libraries with an open source system. This unique system decouples the application development framework from the backend infrastructure, effectively relieving the development and growth constraints inherent in the legacy system. In a novel approach for an academic library, genealogists participated in the user-centered, iterative approach used to prototype, develop, and test the user interface. The resulting system promoted productivity gains by enabling programming staff to work in parallel from specialized areas of expertise. A post-project review process identified a number of lessons learned, including the importance of representing the requirements and priorities of internal and external stakeholders. The review process also informed an application development model that may be useful to other digital libraries.

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