about the Search & Discovery Solutions Task Force
task force charge
Reporting jointly to the Public Services and Collections committees of the University Libraries, the Search and Discovery Solutions Task Force will review existing and potential federated searching solutions for the University Libraries’ web site. The Task Force will recommend future directions, including possible changes to current products and/or possible additions of new products, to improve the search and discovery experiences of library users and to increase the visibility of the resources available from the Libraries’ Catalog, commercial databases, E-books, and locally-produced assets such as the institutional repository, EAD, UBdigit, etc.The final report of the Task Force is due June 30, 2009.
TASKS:
- Perform an environmental scan of the existing and potential commercial and
open source solutions to provide users with federated searching. Major products
to evaluate include, but are not limited to:
— EbscoHost: Integrated Search
— ExLibris: MetaSearch, Primo
— Gale: PowerSearch
— Google Scholar
— Serials Solutions: 360Search, AquaBrowser, Summon, WebFeat
— XC
- Select standard evaluative criteria related to the organization, user, and technical requirements, and apply them to each selected product. Evaluation criteria include, but are not limited to: user interface, results display, searching levels (basic/advanced), cost, usability, ease of customization, vendor stability and responsiveness, maintenance requirements, technical support, access provided to products currently purchased or created by the UB Libraries, authentication features, pricing models, and ability to work with link resolvers.
- Request the purchase of resources required to inform this process.
- Arrange trial subscriptions, webinars, and/or vendor visits for selected products. Work with other Libraries’ task forces and teams to implement usability testing by students and faculty, and incorporate the results of those tests into final recommendations.
- By June 30, 2009, provide a prioritized list of recommended products to the Collections & Public Services committees and make relevant evaluative information available on the staffWEB.
RESOURCES:
- Mark Ludwig – participant on SUNY Federated Searching Task Force (2008)
- Federated Search Blog
- Federated Search Report and Tool Kit (available for purchase)
RELATED COMMITTEES:
membership
- View the current membership roster
Content provider: Nancy Babb
Comments: lib-staffweb@buffalo.edu
Last update:
16 March, 2009