Springer LAB: Implementing a discovery tool

Innovation@ourLibrary: beta implementation of a

unified web-scale discovery tool for library content

Jason Price, PhDHead of Collections, Claremont Colleges Library

Springer Library Advisory BoardNov. 14, 2009

What we needed

• A one-stop shop for library-wide search (300 DBs)• A comprehensive full text only search• And it must be simple – easy – fast

Pre-index vs. metasearch

JakobVoss (Orig fig to left) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meta-search-en.svg

DB1 DB2 OPAC DB3DigLib DB4

Metasearch

Primary content

Content metadata & some full text fed to databases

Pre-index search

Master index

Other primary content

User

Knowledgebase filter to locally- available content

User

Key aspects of Summon

Source: Serial Solutions Internet Librarian Summon Intro & Overview, 2009-10-27

Simplified Summon schematic

Source: Serial Solutions Internet Librarian Summon Intro & Overview, 2009-10-27

Summon content: overview

• 6,000+ publishers represented• 50,000+ journal and periodical titles• 500,000,000+ million items indexed so far• Publishers and other content providers joining

the Summon service weekly

Source: Serial Solutions Internet Librarian Summon Intro & Overview, 2009-10-27

Summon content: provider support

Source: Serial Solutions Internet Librarian Summon Intro & Overview, 2009-10-27

Summon content: breadth• Some of the world’s largest publishers

– Springer, Taylor & Francis, SAGE Publications, Nature Publishing Group

• CrossRef– DOIs for superior linking

• Society publishers– ACM, The Institute of Physics, AMA, American Institute of Physics, Optical Society of

America, American Economic Society, IET, American Institute of Physics, SIAM, ASCE, and more

• Open access content– Directory of Open Access Journals, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, and arXiv e-prints

• Major authoritative bibliographic databases– Web of Science, Econlit, Sociological Abstracts

• Government and NGO databases– GPO, Medline, ERIC, Agricola, PILOTS, TOXLINE, and OECD

Source: Serial Solutions Internet Librarian Summon Intro & Overview, 2009-10-27

Aspect Google Scholar SummonFunctionality Simple. Easy. Fast. ✔ ✔

Limit to available full text ✔

Refine results by facet - Content type, Subject, Date ✔

Mouseover for abstract/TOC ✔

Content Searches all library resources Not nearly all Almost all

Comprehensiveness ??? > 500 million records

Open access content More Some

Export

Folder/Export multiple records ✔

Format citations in common styles ✔

Export to citation manager ✔ ✔

Challenges for Summon

1. Relevance, Relevance, and Relevance

2. Content breadth, depth and transparency

3. Effect of combined full text & metadata indexing

4. Relies on openUrl to access full text content

5. Increasing discovery & use of local print resources(?)

Potential impacts of Summon

• Libraries can potentially offer an effective (better?) alternative to Google Scholar

• Some A&I only databases may be superseded– Based on cost, use & % of content indexed in Summon

• Replaces metasearch? – But not (yet) able to address predefined subject subsets—

does it need to?

• Knowledgebase accuracy becomes more important– Summon does not provide direct full text links– Accuracy of OpenUrl 1-click to full text becomes crucial

Summon beta sitesPlus (‘Early adopters’)…• Grand Valley State University• University of South Australia• Rollins College• Arizona State University• University of Huddersfield• University of Texas at San Antonio• York College of Pennsylvania• University of Missouri at Kansas City• University of Dundee• North Carolina State University• University of Adelaide• Erasmus University• University of Queensland• Florida Gulf Coast University• University of LaTrobe

Try it: http://claremont.summon.serialssolutions.com

Summon demo, discussion and Q&A

http://libraries.claremont.edulive to Claremont users Sept. 2009