Lists, Catalogs and Portals: Models and Tools for E-Resource Access

1. Lists, Catalogs and Portals: Models and Tools for E-Resource Access Karen Calhoun, Associate University Librarian for Technical Services, Cornell University Library LLNE Spring Meeting April 30, 2004

2. What’s the Problem? • What does the library “hold”? • Multiple places to look • Confusing • Poor leverage of investment in aggregations • High labor costs • Less than optimal service Calhoun, LLNE

3. What Do Users Want? • Faculty and students do more work and study away from campus • Loyal to the library, but library is only one element in complex information structure • Print still important, but almost half of undergraduates say they rely exclusively or almost exclusively on electronic materials • Seamless linking from one information object to another is expected Calhoun, LLNE

4. Methods and tools Web-accessible lists New role for catalogs Portals Reference linking (OpenURL) E-resource management systems Objectives Unite print, digital and e-collections Integrate access to all library resources Simplify digital and e-resource management (lower costs AND improve service) Toward a New Library Information Space Calhoun, LLNE

5. What’s An Aggregation? • Collection of publications in electronic form • Differ in size, content • “Vanilla” • “Tutti fruitti surprise” Calhoun, LLNE

6. Types of Aggregators • Hosting service for publishers • Databases of full text (and citations/abstracts) • Gateways Business Source Premier Calhoun, LLNE

7. Why Are They Here To Stay? • One selection, one contract, many titles • Same scripting and security requirements • One interface, many titles • Library users WANT THEM Calhoun, LLNE

8. Levels of Access • Web-accessible lists • Browsing • Searching • Both • Online catalog • Portals • Reference linking Calhoun, LLNE

9. Web-accessible Lists: Homegrown, Serials Solutions+ example

10. Another Web-accessible list: Database-driven, Serials Solutions+ example Calhoun, LLNE

11. Another Web-accessible list: Serials Solutions straight up Calhoun, LLNE

12. Online Catalog Access: Single Record Technique

13. Online Catalog Access: Separate Record Technique Calhoun, LLNE

14. What’s a Portal? • A tool for “organized knowledge discovery” • LCPAIG: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/lcpaig/PortalFunctionalitiesList4PublicComment1st7-22-03.html#portalsfunctionalities Calhoun, LLNE

15. The Dream: A Unifying System Model Unified Web Interface (“Google-like”) Authentication layer Portal: an Integrating System Other Libraries Catalogs Local Library Catalog Digital Collections Licensed Databases Other (e.g.,DSpace) Many diverse, separate interfaces

16. What’s a Portal (Continued) • Help users easily discover what resources are available • Help users discover what resources are most useful for their topics • Provide parallel searching of multiple resources at the same time • Integrate and manage search results • Link search results to full text • Authenticate and authorize or block user access Calhoun, LLNE

17. EXISTING: “FIND DATABASES” & “FIND E-JOURNALS” Search e-Reference metadata Go to database from search results Browse by subject Authenticate users for restricted resources Search for e-journal titles PLUS: “FIND ARTICLES” Search at article level Simultaneous search across multiple databases Reference linking Cornell’s Portal Implementation: Part Migration, Part New Functionality Calhoun, LLNE

18. Article Level Federated Searching - 1 Calhoun, LLNE

19. Article Level Federated Searching - 2 Calhoun, LLNE

20. Article Level Federated Searching - 3 Calhoun, LLNE

21. Article Level Federated Searching - 4 Calhoun, LLNE

22. Reference Linking • Major domain for innovation • Users expect fully linked information environment • Partnerships between content providers, database producers, and library system vendors • Catalog represents one element of the interlinked environment Calhoun, LLNE

23. Reference Linking - 1 Calhoun, LLNE

24. Reference Linking - 2 Calhoun, LLNE

25. Reference Linking - 3 Calhoun, LLNE

26. Reference Linking - 4 Calhoun, LLNE

27. Reference Linking - 5 Calhoun, LLNE

28. OpenURL <URL>http://128.84.158.87:8888/lfp/LinkFinderPlus/Display?&aulast=Przyblyski&atitle= Revolution+at+a+Standstill%3A+Photography+and+the+Paris+Commune+of+1871&title=Yale+French+Studies&volume=101&issn=0044-0078&spage=54&date=2001&pages=54-78&stitle=YFS</URL> Calhoun, LLNE

29. Open Linking & Link Resolvers • A link resolver accepts metadata (an OpenURL) from a source and presents links based on logic and business rules administered locally • It knows what the user has access to • Relies on “knowledge base” Calhoun, LLNE

30. Open Linking & Link Resolvers Full Text Open linking introduces a “resolver” into the linking process Link Source Link Resolver OPAC Metadata Link Link OpenURL standardizes this part of the communication ILL

31. Federated search: what’s missing • Response time comparatively slow • Practical limits to number of databases that can be: • Configured for searching • Searched at once • Incomplete search results (also due to practical limits) • Lack of control over what is returned in search result sets • Order of search results displays not as useful as they should be • Other limitations on what can (or can’t) be displayed Calhoun, LLNE

32. Limitations of Reference Linking • No link resolver and library doesn’t have access to full text of journal • Have link resolver, but knowledge base is incorrect or out of date • Inconsistent metadata within a database and across databases • Bad metadata • Varied application of citation standards; non-use of citation standards • Library has full text for journal but not the volume/issue the user wants • Full text availability lags behind citation availability • No alternative to “get full text” presented • And on and on Calhoun, LLNE

33. Summary: Pros and Cons of 4 Levels of Access

34. What Do We Need to Do? • Figure it out together: collaborate with selectors, acquisitions staff, reference staff, information technology staff • Share the work with other libraries and other organizations • Seek creative solutions; be nimble • Libraries and librarians cannot win if they do not play Calhoun, LLNE

35. Riding the Strawberry Roan He says this here's one pony that's never been rode,And the man that gets on him is bound to get throwed.I got all het up and I asked what he'd payTo ride this old nag for a couple of days.Well, he offered me ten, and I says, "I'm your man,For the bronc isn't living that I couldn't fan."He says, "Get your saddle, I'll give you the chance."So we hopped in his buckboard and rode to his ranch. Calhoun, LLNE

36. Blake, Miriam and Frances Knudson. 2002. Metadata and reference linking. LCATS 26 (3): 219-230. Breeding, Marshall. 2004. The many facets of managing electronic resources. Computers in libraries 24 (1): 25- Calhoun, Karen and Bill Kara. 2000. Aggregation or aggravation? Optimizing access to full text journals. ALCTS Newsletter Online 11 (1). Calhoun, Karen. 2004. E-journal access using the catalog, federated search, and reference linking systems. Background paper for CONSER Summit. http://www.loc.gov/acq/conser/catalog-fedsearch-openURL.html Coombs, Karen A. 2004. Reaching the CROSSROADS of two lists for periodical holdings. Computers in libraries 24 (1): 14- Degon, John and Liz Maisey. 2003. Linking to full text: using Serials Solutions. Conference presentation. http://www.nelinet.net/edserv/conf/cataloging/serials/assumpt.ppt Friedlander, Amy. 2002. Dimensions and use of the scholarly information environment: introduction to a data set assembled by the Digital Library Federation and Outsell Inc. http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub110/contents.html Meagher, Elizabeth S. and Christopher Brown. 2004. Gold Rush: integrated access to aggregated journal text through the OPAC. LRTS 48 (1): 69-76. Bibliography