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OPAC & Federated Search. September 2007 Meeting Purpose: reach a final decision regarding the Aquabrowser product and/or define next steps for this topic. Why Change (from last meeting). Existing deficiencies of significant impact Unable to search multiple database resources
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OPAC & Federated Search September 2007 Meeting Purpose: reach a final decision regarding the Aquabrowser product and/or define next steps for this topic
Why Change (from last meeting) • Existing deficiencies of significant impact • Unable to search multiple database resources • Unable to easily search and use the existing database resources and the catalog • Lack of basic customer friendly functionality • no spell check • no relevancy ranking • confusing and ineffective search mechanism (avoid the huh factor) ????????????
Effort Scope – general comments • RSS feeds will be available for the catalog • A search feature for the databases will available on MyLibrary • PACS At branch locations will display coolview • Decisions will be finalized for A-Z and Marc records • Google can be used to search the District catalog • Spell check will be functional (may need more detailed definition) • Faceted searching will be in place • Federated search of 50 district databases will be operational • Relevancy ranking will be applied for searches • Customer reviews??? (in this release)
REFRESHER • Aquabrowser is the leader in alternative OPAC solutions • Did address our the top identified deficiencies • Group • saw value in Aquabrowser but struggled with how to present a return on investment and how to justify cost • wanted FORMAL written response from Aquabrowser to questions • Had some reservations about customer acceptance
What Options Are there Again? • Next OPAC upgrade with Horizon • When the upgrade will occur (vendor is saying end of this year) • Endecca (not really an option) • Resold by TLC • 3 installs • 3-5 times the cost of Aquabrowser and requiring 5 programmers for a year+ to implement • Primo • Has one installation (two months ago there were none)
Questions for AB • Are there completed installations for Horizon? • Yes • How many installations are in place? • 164 (of which 102 are live) • Are there customers with Webfeat express completely installed? • Yes • How many Webfeat express installations are completed? • King County is the is the first although there are about 6 in total for all AB/Webfeat versions. • Any Horizon and Webfeat installations completed • Not yet
Vendor Information • Number of employees: 20 • Number of installations in queue: 40 installs in process • When was the first AB version released: 2000 • Releases are generally annual • Wouldn’t share company revenue information but aid annual library journal survey in April of each year includes this.
Installation Questions • Can discover animation be hidden? Yes • Can discover be moved to the right? Yes • What training assistance is available? • 2 hours of web training for staff • Onsite training can be purchased for $1,200/day min two days+expenses (so say $4k total) • Top two ‘hitches’ to be aware of • Library be prepared to answer a number of profiling decisions • Library staff will need to output MARC records • Support is 24x7, 7 days a week at no additional charge
Team Comments From Last Meeting • Everyone generally liked the interface but was concerned about patron reactions • Did discuss they can use the classic view • Should it be the default view (will additional click be an annoyance) • May require clean up in the catalog for a clean mind map • Have spell check but didn’t see it working as expected in any installations • Did see improved search results • Although it integrated the database search, patrons still would be required to log in in order to get them
Options • Move forward with AB and Webfeat to have available for new libraries • Hold and revisit in summer 2008 to reassess options • Where’s PRIMO at • OPAC upgrade (symphony) from Sirsi • Status of Aquabrowser • Endecca and others that might be new • Encore (III) – no known installs at this time • Move forward with just the federated search implementation (Webfeat or serial solutions) • QUESTIONS??? – what is needed to make decision