DISCOVERY INTERFACES

If all the big kids are doing it, why can’t I?

Jonathan Jacobsen

Andornot Consulting

Presentation Outline• Why Learn About Discovery Interfaces?

• What is a Discovery Interface?

• Live Demonstrations

• Selecting a Discovery Interface

• Implementing a Discovery Interface

About Andornot Consulting

• 6 librarians / web developers / technology experts / software developers

• www.andornot.com/blog

• twitter.com/andornot

Why are we giving this presentation?• “If all the big kids are doing it,

why can’t I?”

• Discovery interfaces are widespread on the web

• Increasingly popular in academic and public libraries

• Slow to spread to special libraries (and archives, museums and other cultural institutions)

• All organizations must keep up with changing technologies to remain relevant and usable

• Discovery interfaces are one approach

What is a Discovery Interface?• A web 2.0, next-generation interface to any data: library

catalogue, archival collection, museum collection, ecommerce store

• Encourages serendipitous discovery, rather than pre-determined search

• Can bring multiple resources together into a single, unified index and search interface

• Let’s look at some examples

What is a Discovery Interface?

What is a Discovery Interface?

What is a Discovery Interface?

What is a Discovery Interface?

What is a Discovery Interface?

What is a Discovery Interface?

What is a Discovery Interface?

What is a Discovery Interface?

What is a Discovery Interface?

Facets

What is a Discovery Interface?

Facets

What is a Discovery Interface?

Social Media Sharing

What is a Discovery Interface?

Facets

What is a Discovery Interface?

Facets

Typos corrected

What is a Discovery Interface?

Facets

Related Items

Reviews

What is a Discovery Interface?

Related Items

What is a Discovery Interface?

Ratings and Reviews

Additional Content

What is a Discovery Interface?

Typos corrected

What is a Discovery Interface?

Facets

Ratings and Reviews

Relevant Results

What is a Discovery Interface?

Related Items

Reviews

What is a Discovery Interface?• Common Features

• Typos and mis-spellings corrected

• Relevancy-ranked search results

• Facets for easy browsing and narrowing of results

• Related items

• Ratings, reviews and other user-contributed or third-party content

• Social media sharing (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

What is a Discovery Interface?• Other Common Features

• Save searches and records

• Export to RefWorks, XML, text, MARC (!)

• Subscribe to RSS feeds

• Book covers

• Links to Google Books, Hathi Trust, and other additional content providers

• Mobile-friendly interface

• Connection to ILS for real-time info (e.g. loan status, placing holds, etc.)

• Crawl URLs and index PDFs and other linked content

What is a Discovery Interface?

• Why so many commercial websites?

• Pioneers in web application usability

• Libraries can take advantage of this R&D

Library Discovery Interfaces

Search Discover

Library Discovery Interfaces

Library Discovery Interfaces

What goes in a Discovery Interface?

• Your local catalogue

• Specialized, locally managed data

• Metadata AND full-text

• Journal articles and other scholarly resources

• All data accessible through a single index and search interface

What are some available systems?

What are some available systems?

What are some available systems?• Andornot Discovery Interface (AnDI)

• Uses Apache Solr search engine and Dublin Core metadata

What are some available systems?Discovery System Reported Installations

Primo 914

AquaBrowser 250

Encore 326

LS2 PAC 236

Summon 407

WorldCat Local 1,578

SirsiDynix Enterprise 251

Civica Sorcer 39

Axiell Arena 76

Chamo 51

VuFind 90+

Sources:• Automation Marketplace 2012: The Complete Survey Data. March 29, 2012 By The Digital Shift

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/03/ils/automation-marketplace-2012-the-complete-survey-data/#discovery • http://vufind.org/wiki/installation_status

Demonstrations• AquaBrowser

• BiblioCommons

• Summon

• VuFind

What about Federated Search?

Discovery Interface Federated Search

Your Website

Local Search Index

Data Source

Data Source

Data Source

Your Website

Web Service

Web Service

Web Service

What about Federated Search?• Hybrid

Your Website

Local Search Index

Data Source

Data Source

Data Source

Web Service

Implementation• So you think you want a discovery interface?

• Choosing a system

• Implementing a system

System Evaluation Checklist

System Evaluation Checklist• Does it have core features?

• Facets

• Spelling corrections

• Relevancy-ranking

System Evaluation Checklist• Does it have additional features?

• Save searches and records

• Export to RefWorks, XML, text, MARC (!)

• Subscribe to RSS feeds

• Book covers

• Links to Google Books, Hathi Trust, and other additional content providers

• Mobile-friendly interface

• Connection to ILS for real-time info (e.g. loan status, placing holds, etc.)

System Evaluation Checklist

• How does it handle data import and real-time data retrieval?

• Does it include data from other sources (e.g. journal articles)? Which ones?

System Evaluation Checklist

• Configurability and customization options

• Tools and skills required

System Evaluation Checklist• How do you incorporate it into your existing website?

XIn a frame?

XAs a new web application, but with only your logo?

As a new web application, but with the same branding?

Replacing your existing website altogether?

System Evaluation Checklist

• Do your users like the interface?

• Is staff or user training needed?

System Evaluation Checklist

• Effort to implement• Total staff time (hours /

days)

• Spread out over how many days / weeks / months?

System Evaluation Checklist

• Costs:• Software purchase or license

• Configuration and customization

• Maintenance and support

• Additional features

• Future upgrades

• Hardware and other infrastructure costs

System Evaluation Checklist• Hosted (SaaS) vs local installation

• Hosted in Canada?

System Evaluation Checklist• System requirements (for non-hosted)

• Windows Server or Linux

• Often based on anticipated data storage requirements and simultaneous users

System Evaluation Checklist

https://sites.google.com/site/urd2comparison/home/comparison

Implementation Plan

• You’ve chosen a system! Now what?

Implementation Plan• Local installation or hosted?

• Local IT support available?

Implementation Plan• Determine appropriate content to index

• What system is content in?

• Can it be exported? Can the discovery interface import it or fetch it?

• Can data movement be automated and hands-off?

• How often will you update the Discovery Interface?

Source Export Format Frequency and Method

ILS MARC Automated Nightly Export

In-house Publications Database

XML Manual Monthly Export

Externally Hosted Article Database

OAI Automated Weekly Fetch

Implementation Plan• Create a “metadata crosswalk”

MARC Dublin Core

245a title

100a, 700a creator

655 Genre – Form type

XML Output Dublin Core

Combine <title> and <subtitle> title

Take 4 digit year only from <publication_date>

date

Implementation Plan• What condition is the data in?

• e.g.

• Does it have suitable facets?

• Have authority files been used?

Implementation Plan

Common bibliographic facets:

• Author

• Subject

• Series

• Genre

• Geographic region

• Time period

• Publication date

• Audience

• Material type

Implementation Plan

• Material Types:• Serial

• Journal

• Periodical

• Magazine

Implementation Plan

• Interface configuration or customization

Implementation Plan• Embed search in existing library website / home page

• or replace altogether with new system

• e.g.• https://ercb.andornot.com/ vs

• http://www.library.yorku.ca/

Implementation Plan

Implementation Plan

Implementation Plan• Final activities:

• Trial import

• Usability testing with select users

• Training

• Launch !

In Conclusion• Why Learn About Discovery Interfaces?

• What is a Discovery Interface?

• Live Demonstrations

• Selecting a Discovery Interface

• Implementing a Discovery Interface

• Andornot can help!

Thank You

Further Reading• “The Ins and Outs of Evaluating Web-Scale Discovery Services” by Athena Hoeppner. Computers

In Libraries. April 2012. http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/apr12/Hoeppner-Web-Scale-Discovery-Services.shtml

• “Automation Marketplace 2012: The Complete Survey Data” The Digital Shift. March 29, 2012. http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/03/ils/automation-marketplace-2012-the-complete-survey-data/

• “Discovery Layers in Law Libraries” by Valeri Craigle. AALL Spectrum. December 2011. http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Publications/spectrum/Vol-16/No-3/discovery-layers.pdf

• “Discovering What Works: Librarians Compare Discovery Interface Experiences” Library Journal. December 7, 2011. http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2011/12/reference/discovering-what-works-librarians-compare-discovery-interface-experiences/

• “The Next Generation of Discovery” By Judy Luther & Maureen C. Kelly. Mar 15, 2011. Library Journal. http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/ljinprintcurrentissue/889250-403/the_next_generation_of_discovery.html.csp

• “Designing the Samurai sword: using facets to support agile, highly-effective information management” by Jennifer Smith. 1st June 2011. http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/manage/64295

• VuFind usage five times that of "classic catalogue" http://www.miskatonic.org/2010/12/17/vufind-usage-fives-times-classic-catalogue

• “Designing for Faceted Search” By Stephanie Lemieux, Earley and Associates (originally published in KM World, March 2009.) http://www.uie.com/articles/faceted_search/