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Summon. Holy Grail or leaky cup?. The Holy Grail. Improve the research experience Simplicity (or, hidden complexity) Complete integration of print and electronic Easy to learn ( + instruct!) Easy access to article-level resources Easy to authenticate
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Summon Holy Grail or leaky cup?
The Holy Grail • Improve the research experience • Simplicity (or, hidden complexity) • Complete integration of print and electronic • Easy to learn ( + instruct!) • Easy access to article-level resources • Easy to authenticate • Remove barriers between libraries & users • Compete more effectively with Google • Promote the use of quality-assured information • “Returning the researcher to the library” (Library Journal webcasts) • Meet expectations / stay relevant • Return on investment
An unholy mess? • Library Catalogue • Federated search • Vertical search • A&I, FT
Summon – what is it? • Web-scale discovery (unified discovery) • Google-like (speed, convenience, practices & presentation) • Sounds like WorldCat but… • Looks like vertical search but… • Single search box access to full breadth of collection • Centralised index of pre-harvested content • Built with entirely new technology • Based on extensive end-user studies • Developed with libraries and content providers • Promises to be a great leap forward • Simple idea • Google model • What took so long?
Summon – who’s involved? • Serials Solutions • Head start (content & functionality): • Discovery & management services • KnowledgeWorks, 360, Ulrich’s, RefWorks, COS, AquaBrowser, WebFeat • ProQuest • CSA, UMI, Chadwyck-Healey, Dialog, SIRS, eLibrary • Experience hosting systems • Relationships with content providers • Development team & process • Team – Microsoft, IEEE, VuFind, Google, MediaLab • Agile development • Speed & quality • began development Autumn 2008 - launched worldwide beta testing in January • Liverpool: baby steps to beta in 8 weeks > open beta within 8 weeks > live service? • Responsiveness to feedback • Weekly updates
Summon – how does it work? • The Unified Search Index • Pre-indexes everything • local data taken into Summon index • methods: FTP, OAI, USB, etc. • formats: XML (EAD), HTML, PDF, delimited ASCII, MARC, etc. • importance of good data • Data normalised to Summon schema • Relevance ranking of books and articles together • Search architecture • Apache Solr • Powerful extension of Lucene • Advanced full-text search capabilities • Optimised for high volume web traffic • Standards based open interfaces • Scalability – other search servers • Flexible and adaptable • Extensible plugin architecture • Support for dynamic faceted browsing and filtering
Summon – how does it work? • Ingesting local content • e-Resources entitlements • Client centre / SFX holdings export • Bibliographic data • FTP > MARCXML > mapped to Summon schema • local Summon server - daily update feed • check item status – API • Archival data – M2M services (SRU, Z39.50, OAI-PMH) • Institutional Repository – OAI-PMH • Interface – Ajax, css • Authentication – in front / behind? • barrier to searching…90% drop-off in use • …but Terms & Conditions • A&I providers • Summon
Summon – how does it work? • “The mega-index of content” • half a billion records • 6,000+ publishers • 50,000 + journal titles • http://www.serialssolutions.com/assets/publications/Summon-represented-titles.pdf • scores of scholarly publishers and university presses • launched in January with ProQuest, Gale, Springer, Taylor & Francis and SAGE • LexisNexis, Publishing Technology (IngentaConnect), ThomsonReuters (Web of Science), ABC-CLIO, IEEE, Emerald, Scitation, The Royal Society • ...and growing by the week • MLA International Bibliography, Ingram Digital (MyiLibrary), PsycArticles and PsycCritiques, M.E. Sharpe, Knovel, IBIS, RMIT, Hart, Allen & Unwin • Create a movement of publishers and aggregators • Critical mass • Discovery or obscurity?
Quick & simple 0 – 4.3 million in 2 seconds!
Results display - books Item status check - incl. multiple copies
Refining results • Full-text filter • Scholarship filter • “Mega-index”
Refining results Extent of collections at a glance
Other features • Times cited • Other significant resources • Web of Science – others? • usage-based recommendations / bX Recommender? • “Did you mean?” suggestions • British vs. American spelling differences • Mobile app (for iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Palm or Windows Mobile) • Auto download • Full-text • Open API • pre-selected search targets in departmental web pages • course management software modules
In summation • Feedback • Usage stats? • Summon & informal mechanisms • University – unanimous approval • Library staff – curbing enthusiasm • Performance • Speed & simplicity - vast improvement • Consistent results, clearly displayed • Relevant results • Book rankings / newspaper noise • Simple, obvious starting point • Still value native interfaces...for how long? • Content, tailored indexes • Summon has the superior search engine – more thorough? • De-duplication • Powerful results management
In summation • Coverage • Breadth and depth but... • Effectively represent academic libraries in UK? • US site: • 99% of top 100 downloaded titles • 100% of top 50 JSTOR titles • 100% of their top 50 titles from OCLC databases • Law, Science Direct (Ingenta metadata?), EBSCO • Much more useful than federated search • Content is critical • ...or what happens about unharvestable content • Will federated search ever go away? • Coverage • Greater transparency of what’s being searched • how do I know what’s there, from where?
In summation • Access to full-text • Summon / SFX interoperability • Cannot use date to resolve (but ArticleLinker does) • Newspaper articles • SFX cannot link into CSA • STM workaround - Scopus and Pubmed • Arts and Social Sciences? • Two-character first names (eg. Chinese name Li) • SFX inserts full stops > searches for L.I. > search fails! • Dead ends - dissertations and patents • Neither SFX nor ArticleLinker seems to work – where next? • Access to native interfaces • Subject access still required? • Summon ‘Recommender’? • which resources the most / best results come from • link to native interfaces
In summation • Alternatives - none available but... • EBSCO Discovery Service (by end of 2009?) • Unified + federated search • Scaled-up version of their existing search engine • Demo? / facets? • “7 times as many 3rd party content partners as any other discovery service” • subscription agent - established relationships with publishers • aggregated full-text database products are larger than ProQuest’s • less embargoed content • Ex Libris – Primo Central • Unified + federated search • Content providers? • Deep Web Technologies (fed & unified) • Battle for supremacy