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Innovative Uses of Metasearch:

Integration of Metasearch with Other Services

David LindahlDirector of Digital Library Initiativesdlindahl@library.rochester.edu

Jeff SuszczynskiSenior Web Developerjsuszczynski@library.rochester.edu

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Design Process

End Users• Administration• Researcher• Library Staff• Undergraduate• Faculty• Graduate Student

Stakeholders• Reference Librarian• Software Engineer• Anthropologist• Usability Team• Visual Designer• Programmer• Bibliographer• Interaction Designer• Administration

Successful web design requires an understanding of users anda process that assigns roles and responsibities to stakeholders.

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Understand your users

• User Research– Work practice study

– Participatory Design

Students Faculty

Tools

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Issues: Metasearch users must…

• Choose a database or subject

• Follow long click-paths

• Get stuck at dead-ends

• Resubmit their searches mid-session

• Navigate results that are not organized, precise or comprehensive

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Finding Article Pathways

• By database

• By subject

• By keyword

• By course

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Issue

Users must “choose a database or subject” to get

good results from appropriate databases.

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Course Webpages

• Course Webpages– Replaces course reserves system

– Able to include relevant library resources on the pages

– Connect students to their librarian

• Integrated metasearch with our course webpages system

• “Choose a database or subject” issue is solved.

• Video

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Issues

Users must:

“follow long click-paths"“get stuck at dead-ends”

“resubmit their searches mid-session”

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GUF: Getting Users to Full-text

• Title links on results screen lead to either:– Full-text (best)

– Print-holdings information with map (2nd best)

– Pre-filled interlibrary loan request form (worst)

• Issues Addressed:– Follow long click-paths

– Get stuck at dead-ends

– Resubmit search mid-session

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How GUF Works

• Try to get to full-text:– Improve metadata transfer

– Pre-fetch pages

– Follow link trails

– Try another source on error

• If full-text fails, try to get to print:– Check local holdings

– Group editions to find a “good-enough” copy

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How GUF Uses Other Services

• Web services API to OpenURL resolver (and its knowledgebase)

• Print journal holdings database• OCLC xISBN service

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Issue

Users must “navigate results that are not organized, precise or comprehensive”

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Navigating Results

How to solve this?– FRBR-like metadata

– Provide results that are grouped by their relationships

– Offer ability to manipulate result set

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Innovative Uses of Metasearch:

Integration of Metasearch with Other Services

David LindahlDirector of Digital Library Initiativesdlindahl@library.rochester.edu

Jeff SuszczynskiSenior Web Developerjsuszczynski@library.rochester.edu