The document discusses discovery tools and the Lebanese American University (LAU) Libraries' experience with various discovery services over time, including Federated Search Engine (Zportal), WorldCat Local, EBSCO Discovery Service, Summon, and Google Scholar. It outlines key criteria to consider when selecting a discovery tool, such as content, search capabilities, cost and fit. The document also examines challenges faced and barriers to implementing discovery services, as well as tips and factors for making a choice. LAU Libraries are currently using a link resolver and individual databases while awaiting a "perfect solution" that meets all needs.

1. Discover or no Discover?
That is the question
by Houeida Kammourié-Charara
& Omar Farhoud
Lebanese American University
2013 AMICAL-OCLC Forum
The Challenges of Discovery Services
RNL, Beirut, 8-9 March, 2013

2. What is a Discovery tool?
• Discovery is “modeled on the Google-style
approach of building and then searching a
unified index of available resources, instead of
searching each resource individually” (Luther,
& Kelly, 2011).
• In academic libraries, discovery tools such as
EBSCO Discovery Service; Summon, Primo,
WorldCat Local, etc. provide unified (or
central) indexes of the library licensed
materials in addition to the locally held
content, i.e., the library catalog.
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3. March 8, 2013 2013 AMICAL-OCLC Forum on The Challenges of Discovery Services
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4. What to consider when subscribing?
Luther and Kelly listed the following criteria:
• Content: Scope, depth, richness of metadata, updates,
local content, etc.
• Search: Interface, relevancy, customization, navigation
tools, incorporation of existing access tools, support of
new trends, i.e. mobile and social networking
• Fit: easy to implement, compatibility, vendor
responsiveness and customer support.
• Cost: New, Replace other tools and justification in light
of libraries’ goals and objectives.
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5. Our Experience
• 2005 Federated Search Engine (Zportal)
• 2009 LinkOut
• 2010 WoldCat Local Trial
• 2011 EDS Trial
• 2012 Zportal cancellation
• 2012 360 Link Resolver
• 2013 Google Scholar
• 2013 SUMMON Trial
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6. ZPortal
• No Arabic support
• Security: It involves the opening of some
ports outside the university firewalls
• End-user overwhelmed with # of hits
• Continuous maintenance and update
• Unable to cover all licensed databases
• Unable to use each database’s features
and capabilities to the maximum
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7. PupMed linking via Linkout
We use PubMed LinkOut tool to link our medical content.
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8. WorldCat Local
• Our catalog records are available
• Barrier: No real time records
• Configuration done by vendor
http://lau.worldcat.org
• WorldCat Local has dominated usability studies
of discovery tools published to date (Fagan et al,
2012).
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9. A reclamation project is
currently in progress to
update all our OCLC
holdings.
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10. EBSCO Discovery Services
• Configuration done by vendor
• Difficult to maintain (back to Zportal)
problems)
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11. SUMMON
• We are using the core of SUMMON to locate our
journals and to link our resources.
• We opted not to go with the complete solution
for technical and budgetary reasons.
We just opted to:
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12. 360 Link Resolver
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13. This is
misleading
to our users
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14. Google Scholar
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17. Linking via ProQuest Central (SUMMON?)
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18. Challenges
Fagan et al, had several concerns, we
selected the following:
• To differentiate between source types in
the integrated results sets.
• To limit large results sets effectively.
• To understand the scope of the tool.
• To keep important differences between
disciplinary searching and discipline-
specific strategies or limits.
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19. • According to Breeding none of the discovery services
can really live up to the expectation of users -in
having a single search box to find content from all
library resources- mainly for libraries with large
numbers of electronic subscriptions.
• “One of the most important areas of development
will be to close the gaps on content not yet available
in discovery” (Breeding, 2012).
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20. Future Challenges
• To retrieve results objectively (without bias to
one publisher over another).
• To keep pace with innovations such as mobile
readers and Patron-driven acquisitions.
• To situate the discovery tool and specialized
tools within libraries web presence.
• To connect to institutional repositories.
• To prepare users to work with the large
numbers of results returned by discovery
tools.
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21. Current Barriers
• Currently our library catalog records are not
discoverable.
• We need to have our MARC records uploaded on real
time basis i.e., add-update-delete.
• Common problem for all discovery services, the link
between our ILS and discovery tools is not operational
yet, mainly the circulation integration.
• Accuracy of Linking:
– Discrepancies in linking items, whereby different levels are
available: Article level and Journal level, etc.
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22. Our Choice
• Using Link Resolver to identify LAU
Libraries resources:
– 360 Link (SerialsSolutions)
– Aggregators Platforms
– PubMed (LinkOut)
– Google Scholar
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23. Tips
Laurel Tarulli gave the following tips in her blog
about choosing a discovery tool:
• Look at what your competitors are doing.
• Contact other libraries.
• Don’t be afraid to speak with colleagues at
other libraries about their experiences and
opinions.
http://laureltarulli.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/choosing-a-discovery-tool/
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24. Conclusion
• LAU Libraries are not against discovery tools,
rather awaiting “the perfect solution”
• “If Google addresses questions of content
coverage in Google Scholar, or introduces other
game-changing innovations, will Google
Scholar become a serious competitor that
dramatically alters the market?”
Let’s wait and see
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25. References
Breeding, M. (2012). Looking forward to the next generation of discovery services. Computers in
Libraries, 32(2), 28-31. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/926951810?accountid=27870
Fagan, J. C., Mandernach, M., Nelson, C. S., Paulo, J. R., & Saunders, G. (2012). Usability test
results for a discovery tool in an academic library. Information Technology and Libraries
(Online), 31(1), 83-112. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1022274255?accountid=27870
Jody, C. F., Mandernach, M., Carl, S. N., Jonathan, R. P., & Saunders, G. (2012). Usability test
results for a discovery tool in an academic library. Information Technology and Libraries
(Online), 31(1), 83-112. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1022274255?accountid=27870
Luther, J., & Maureen, C. K. (2011). The next generation of discovery. Library Journal, 136(5), 66-
n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/855474467?accountid=27870
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