G. Discovery and User Experience

Transcription

1 G. Discovery and User Experience G.1. Discovery We envision a single discovery solution that enables discovery of resources, regardless of format or resource type, in local or consortial collections and beyond. This discovery solution could be a component of the integrated library system or an independent offering designed solely for discovery. The discovery solution will enable institutions and individual users to customize the search experience by controlling for preferred formats and locations, including the local institution s collection, locations within the local collection, or any resources that can be accessed or obtained by members of the consortium. The discovery solution will search across disparate resource silos, integrate the search results, and present them to the user through an intuitive interface. Ex Libris Overview: Ex Libris unified discovery solution, Primo, is designed to support the needs of students, faculty and researchers by unifying access across print, electronic, and digital resources, regardless of format or location, in a single, intuitive search interface. Further, Primo enables libraries and librarians to add value to the discovery environment through an array of customization options that mine the system s flexible architecture. Individual end users also enjoy extensive control of the discovery experience through search preferences including personalized ranking, the scope of the search (consortium, institution, specific collections or types of resources), extensive patron empowerment capabilities available when Primo is used with Alma, RSS, alerts, and more. Through Primo s strong consortium support, each Alliance member can leverage its trusted relationship with its users to deliver the most appropriate and relevant information. Alliance members can not only each have their own Primo user interface ( view ) with local branding, but also specify other site specific parameters such as field order, labels, facet locations and much more. In addition to the consortium wide Unified Discovery View, each member view can have its own CSS and interface element layout set. This structure enables Primo to present de duplicated holdings and collections from Alma and also ranked holdings in the results by owning location (per view) and availability. Integration with Alma, links to local systems and user interfaces, and configuration preferences are defined for each Alliance member. Similarly, each member can define the collections (shared or institutional) which will be exposed to the local campus community. The diagram below illustrates these concepts: 297

2 The Alliance can also define the following high level types of configuration profiles for each member: Users Views Facets (type, order, sorting) Fields Labels Pre search limits Scopes Sort options Delivery policy IP ranges For each member, multiple libraries can be represented, including physical locations and resources (books, CDs, maps, etc.), and more. Primo includes the Primo Central Index for fast and easy access to commercial and open access content from primary and secondary publishers and aggregators. Results are based on the fulltext, abstracts and metadata for articles, books, newspaper articles and more. Primo presents results from shared consortium resources and local member resources as well as from the central index, in a single merged list, sorted by relevance Standard Primo capabilities include faceted browsing, title grouping (FRBRization of results), tags and reviews, Did You Mean search suggestions, article recommendations, and the ability 298

3 to define alerts and RSS feeds, as well as simple and advanced search interfaces. All search interfaces are fully customizable. Primo, like other Ex Libris solutions, is built upon an Open Platform, allowing clients to extend the system for interoperability with third party applications, plug ins and custom code. Primo will provide the Alliance with the user driven patron empowerment capabilities that are demanded by students, faculty and researchers. Through extensive integration with Alma, end users can place and cancel requests, renew items, and manage their patron accounts. Primo supports next generation user services such as patron driven acquisitions, smart fulfillment, digitization on demand, and more, through its unique, advanced integration with Alma. By using Alma and Primo as a single unified solution, the Alliance will benefit from end to end capabilities and cost savings from day one. G.1.1 Describe how your solution will provide library users with an intuitive interface that searches disparate resource silos (e.g., local returnable and/or digital collections, vendor supplied electronic resources, manuscripts and archival material, etc.); enables users to create searches in their own words; retrieves relevant items available to them regardless of format or physical location; and displays, organizes, and limits search results in an understandable manner. Ex Libris: Primo is a unified solution for the discovery and delivery of the full spectrum of library materials print, electronic, and digital regardless of format and location. Primo supports the ability to harvest resources from Alma as well as diverse range of library selected data sources including other digital repositories, LibGuides and more. Through a unified, intuitive interface, end users can discover and request items from the Alma Member Zone (local institutional holdings, digital collections, etc.); items from the Alma Collaborative Zone (shared, consortium wide resources) as well as access commercial and open access resources through Primo s central index. Primo harvests metadata and full text where applicable from each source, generating normalized, indexed information that can be quickly and efficiently accessed by end users. Primo performs the following processes as part of the harvesting operation: Intelligent harvesting of raw data from a variety of standard and library defined metadata schemas Metadata normalization Metadata enrichment based on proprietary algorithms and external information De duplication and title grouping Primo serves researchers of every skill level by providing two search interfaces: a simple keyword search, and an advanced search. The configuration of both interfaces can be defined 299

4 by each Alliance member including how many pre search limiters to offer, what types of limiters, which sorting options to offer, and more. Below are selected screenshots that illustrate how Primo searches all resources the library offers, and displays the results in an easy to understand manner. Immediately below, the simple search interface as defined at Iowa State University, with three limiters available: Northwestern University designed a simple keyword search, with no limiters: 300

5 The University of Kansas simple search includes options to limit the search to a range of library defined scopes: Everything, Everything Local, KU ScholarWorks (DSpace), just articles, and more. In addition, the ability to expose Course Reserves information through Primo is provided in the second tab. 301

6 Below, a result set display from Vanderbilt University, showing a merged result set that includes books, journals and articles. Note the options to refine results by full text online, peerreviewed journals, cited articles, and items currently available in the library. Note also an example of Primo s title grouping (FRBR) capabilities as seen in the link, There are 3 versions of this item with the first result. From the brief record display in a result set, the user can take advantage of several librarydefined options to learn more about an item (such as location, availability, summary holdings, etc.), retrieve the full text, review or tag an item, request a hold, and more. 302

7 The screenshot below displays the information available from a record in the brief result set: when the user clicks the details link, a new window opens directly in the results list, displaying a host of additional information about the item. Note that all of the fields in the brief results and the full record are library defined: G.1.2 Describe how your solution will enable users to control the scope of or refine the search by criteria such as availability, location, creation or publication date, format, and version or resource type. Ex Libris: Users may control and refine their searches either before the search begins, or after they see the results. Pre search: Primo offers numerous search limiters; libraries decide which they want to offer, and in which type of search (simple v. advanced). Options include collection, location, material type, language, publication date, online items only, and any metadata in the Primo Normalized XML record (title, author, subject, etc.). Users also may limit their searches to library defined scopes such as books only, articles and databases only, course reserves, or library defined subject categories. Post search: Primo provides the ability to refine a search by a number of parameters, such as peer reviewed, full text online, available in the library, and other library defined limiters. Facets also provide a convenient for users to explore search refinements. Default facet options include resource type, language, creator, topic, genre, classification, creation date, format, file size and collection. Libraries also can define their own facets. 303

8 Below, part of a result screen, showing the refinements and some facets: 304

9 When results are refined by facets, all selected facets display in the results, and the user may selectively remove facets to change the result set. In June of this year, multi select facet capabilities will be introduced. Below are several examples to illustrate these enhanced capabilities. Primo results, with the ability to select multiple facet values from each facet category via the More options and multiple selection link Multi facet selection options 305

10 Primo results displaying several selected facets G.1.3 Describe how your solution will facilitate both known item searches and open ended searches (including authors, titles, subject terms, or other identifying information) using an intuitive interface. Ex Libris: Primo facilitates known item searches in a number of ways. To begin with, searchers may limit their searches as described immediately above, by library defined parameters. Also, Primo s relevancy ranking configuration ( boosting ) allows the library to boost some items ahead of others, on a per field basis, increasing the likelihood that a search for a specific title or author will be close to the top of the result set. Ranking is based on the metadata and full text, and Primo provides the ability to manipulate the relevancy ranking algorithm by defining field level boosting factors, as follows: Setting the importance of specific fields for boosting purposes; Boosting documents in publishing by use of normalization rules. A number is placed in the boost field in the Primo Normalized XML record, and the ranking algorithm relates to this number when defining the item s rank. The boost field may push the item up or down in the ranking in varying degrees, depending on the value that populates it. The boost field can be populated by normalization rules based on data in the source record (only for local); 306

11 Boosting by synonyms Typically a record that contains a synonym to the searched term should be ranked below a similar record that contains the searched term. The degree to which the record that contains the synonym should be pushed down is configurable; and Boosting local collections vs. Primo Central remote content. Primo s keyword search delivers relevant results even with an open ended search, thanks again to relevancy ranking and indexing. Below, a search for general term Nature reveals the journal title Nature and specifically, the online version as the second result: Expanding the Locations link for the 2 nd result reveals that the print version of Nature has been grouped together with the online version of the journal 307

12 A search for a known article title reveals even more exact results, with the expected title variability in muscle dysmorphia symptoms at the top of the result set. Also shown here is an example of Primo s article recommendation capabilities. 308

13 Primo also makes it easy for end users to find resources based upon author. End users can use Primo s author index to pre limit the search to terms found within the author fields of the Primo normalized record. Alternatively, end users can leverage Primo s author facet to narrow results. This capability is illustrated below with the author search of Ernest Hemingway. G.1.4 Describe how your solution will facilitate expert searching features for researchers who require more control in formulating search statements and handling results. Ex Libris: Primo allows advanced searchers to input their own Boolean search statement in the search bar: 309

14 Primo provides a guided Boolean search interface; the limiters are library defined: Also, last year Ex Libris initiated a relevance ranking project designed to enrich and optimize Primo s original relevance ranking algorithms. The Ex Libris team recommended that ranking factors include a measure of the scholarly significance of materials as well as knowledge of the particular user s background and information needs. The project resulted in our ScholarRank ranking method. ScholarRank calculates the relevance of items to a specific query and to a specific user s information need. To determine the position of an item on a result list, the Primo ScholarRank technology takes into account the following three elements: The degree to which the item matches the query A score representing the item s scholarly value (calculated from factors that are unrelated to the query) Information about the user and the user research need at the specific point in time The match between a query and an item is calculated according to information retrieval (IR) methods that have been adapted to the structure of the specific type of information (metadata, abstract, or full text). For example, not only do the proximity and order of the query terms in a result record have an impact on the ranking, but also the field in which the query terms appear; if the terms appear in an item s title, the item is likely to be more relevant to the user than an item for which the query words appear only in the full text. The ScholarRank value score is similar to Google s PageRank, adapted to the scholarly domain: the score represents an evaluation of an item s academic significance regardless of the degree to which the item matches the query. To calculate the value score, the Primo ScholarRank technology relies on usage metrics derived from the Ex Libris bx article recommender database and other data, such as the item s citation information. The goal of the work invested in the Primo relevance ranking algorithms is to enable academic users to find the exact scholarly materials that they need and do that quickly. By shortening the time that it takes users to find materials, Primo improves user productivity, draws more traffic to the library site, and helps achieve optimal use of library collections. Research and development work on ScholarRank is an ongoing effort, and Ex Libris will continue to introduce enhancements. Future directions include additional methods of personalizing relevance ranking 310

15 and more features drawn from relationships between researchers, authors, and scholarly materials. G.1.5 Describe how your solution recommends subjects or other terminology, alternate titles, spelling corrections, and other ways to help user identify and use alternate search strategies. Ex Libris: Because Primo offers exceptional and unique ranking technology, most institutions elect to provide a simple search experience as the default option and enable users to limit the scope of their search through a variety of facets. Libraries can create custom search boxes with predefined scopes and can also present users with persistent links to pre defined searches. Ex Libris has also established agreements with JSTOR and Credo Reference to permit Primo customers to present users with library branded search boxes in their respective platform interfaces. Below is an example of the collection facet at Boston University: 311

16 Subject based suggested new searches provide a similar capability: Below, examples of topic and call number facets: 312

17 Primo enables the institution to define one or more scopes to provide access to all or discrete subsets of its local collections. A scope determines the domain of the search. A scope might restrict the search by location (for example, by campus), by collection (for example, Art in the Christian Tradition ), or by other parameters determined by the institution. An institution may define multiple scopes and enable them for use by all users or by specific user groups. See this example, from Vanderbilt University: 313

18 Below, an example from the Brigham Young University, of subject guide searching: Primo offers the user several options to rectify unsuccessful searches: Alternative spelling for, e.g., British and American variations or commonly misspelled words Did You Mean? search suggestions Search suggestions, based on the use of synonyms A Did You Mean? search suggestion is displayed below: 314

19 A more sophisticated Did You Mean suggestion based upon synonyms: Note that the library may define the threshold that invokes the Did You Mean function; the library also may decide whether to invoke this function for all results, only for locally held items, or only for remote resources. 315

20 G.1.6 Describe how your solution manages and enables users to locate course reserve materials. Ex Libris: Course reserves may be defined as a search scope and searched separately from other library materials. See this example from New York University, where they have also added instructions about how to search for course reserve items: 316

21 A search for the term architecture results in a faceted list of the courses and number of items available in each. When the user clicks on the course name/number, the items display: G.1.7 What supplemental and contextual information will your solution provide about items such as book covers, tables of content, indexes, reviews, and other content previews that enrich the user s understanding of the nature and content of items and collections? Ex Libris: Search results in Primo can be displayed with (among other enrichments): A link to Google Book Search Book covers from Amazon, Google Book Search, Syndetics Solutions, Baker & Taylor and other sources Links to tables of contents, abstracts, and other information from Amazon, Syndetics Solutions, OCLC WorldCat and other sources G.2 User/System Interaction We envision a shared solution that provides an intuitive interface for users to obtain or access resources available to them at their own institutions or other institutions within the consortium. This solution will provide users with easy to understand tools for using system features to request, obtain, and access resources. 317

22 G.2.1 Describe how your solution will enable users to discover the availability, status, and location of specific resources. Ex Libris: Primo delivers availability status for print, electronic and digital items in both the brief and detailed views. Primo offers unique integration with Alma, and leverages Alma s advanced Smart Fulfillment capabilities to present real time availability information and advise end users about the best method to access resources accounting for user entitlements, library preferences and time to delivery. Availability elements (such as the call number, item status, location) are library defined. Primo also provides real time availability adaptors for use with a variety of ILS systems, including Millennium. The III Millennium adaptor utilizes the MAJAX Javascript API provided by Innovative Interfaces, Inc. Link to online full text Availability/Location indicator, also notifying the patron that 2 versions are available The process of making Alma inventory available to end user discovery tools comprises two stages: Publishing by Alma Harvesting by Primo The process of publishing is based on publishing profiles, depending on the publishing target. Alma supports two types of publishing processes: Full Publishing publishing of complete inventory according to publishing profile configuration Incremental Publishing: publishing subset of records that were added, deleted or changed since Previous publishing, based on a log which tracks the Alma Metadata Management System (MMS) and inventory changes 318

23 Records can be suppressed from publishing; this may take place on different levels: Title (via the MMS) record Holdings record Location Following is an example of suppression at the title level, as seen in Alma: Data may be enriched during publishing: To include non preferred terms (in addition to the preferred) in the published record in order to broaden the discovery options To add a title linked to a course reading list that will also be published with course information Where relationships between records exists, the relationships are also published The published information includes: BIB record Enrichments Linked course information Non preferred terms Relationships Physical inventory availability: Each library/location is reported separately Availability indicator: o Available o Not Available 319

24 o Check Holdings this is relevant when it is an issue or multi volume monograph (some may be available and some not, or when No items exist) Delivery is achieved in Primo using the View It and Get It tabs. View It Tab The View It Tab provides access to electronic resources or digital resources. Where a single resource exists, access is supplied directly to the resource itself (e.g. full text). Where multiple resources exist, they are listed for the user to select one. Brief ebook record in Primo In Alma 320

25 Get It Tab The Get It Tab provides access to library mediated services: Available on the shelf Available for request Currently out Available on the shelf Primo provides the end user with a list of holdings that are on open shelves. If the user is signed in, the exact terms of use are displayed. If the user is not signed in, a general indication of whether the items are for circulation is displayed as an option library can integrate map applications to show locations of the material in the library. 321

26 Available for request Primo provides end users with a list of holdings that are available but which are in a closed area of the library, or items on open shelves which are able to be requested by authenticated users based on the library s fulfillment policies. Currently Checked Out Primo provides the authenticated end user with a list of items that are not available (on loan, hold shelf, etc.). Primo provides access to other library mediated services, for authenticated users: Digitization Resource Sharing Will directly link to resource sharing system where system supplies integration points 322

27 All Holdings Primo provides the end user with a list of all holdings from all types of locations (open and closed). It displays summary holdings information where relevant. This service is supplied regardless of whether the user is signed in or not. Alma Primo integration also supports the ability to request serials or multi volume monographs. The end user is requested to select the relevant information (enumeration/chronology). The end user can filter the list of issues by selecting year/volume. Alma Primo integration also supports display logic rules, which are rules used to set the relationships among services, including: Ability to control the order the services Ability to hide certain services based on the existence of others (e.g. do not display ILL service if there is local availability on shelf). Ability to customize labels G.2.2 How will your solution enable users to borrow or request tangible items from their own institution s collections, from other institutions in the consortium, or from other libraries outside the consortium? Ex Libris: Primo s robust consortium architecture enables, in a single shared environment, each Alliance member to present its own holdings in a prioritized fashion (if desired) over the holding of other members, permitting the fast and intuitive identification of items to borrow or request. A Unified Discovery View is utilized to provide a consortium wide view of collections across all members. For example, the Tri University Group (TUG) is a consortium in Ontario, Canada; it comprises the University of Guelph, University of Waterloo and Wilfred Laurier University. In the screen shown below, the title, Denying the source: the crisis of First Nations water rights is held by all three members. The holdings from the University of Guelph are presented first, but the title is currently checked out. A student can see that it is currently available from Laurier University and can place a request through Primo for the item to be delivered to the local library. 323

28 Below, we see the same title, but from the perspective of a Wilfred Laurier University student. 324

29 Another potential option is illustrated by the Michiana Library Consortium. This consortium includes the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary s, Holy Cross and Bethel College. Below, we see the option to search only the ND Campus retrieving only local holdings for Notre Dame: 325

30 Similarly, this can be seen from the perspective of a Saint Mary s College user: 326

31 In both examples, patrons are free to place requests dependent on library defined policies. Resource sharing in Alma Resource Sharing Requests is the general Alma term for all forms of inventory sharing among institutions. These forms include sharing formats known also as Interlibrary Loan, (Direct) Consortial Borrowing or Reciprocal Borrowing. All forms of Resource Sharing involve a patron of one institution receiving fulfillment services from another institution. Alma supports different models for resource sharing: A mediatory system that serves as broker between the requesting institution and the responding institution (e.g., ILLiad). Alma reflects the request for the purpose of managing the internal library processes needed for the fulfillment. Bridging the gap between Alma and the external Resource Sharing System may be done by using standards such as NCIP/ISO ILL based integration of the systems. External resource sharing systems Alma currently supports are: BorrowDirect (D2D) ILLiad OCLC Navigator Native management Planned in the Alma roadmap for late 2012 and 2013, in this model Alma can manage resource sharing requests as the owner of the requests. Alma can send resource sharing requests to peer resource sharing partners, which may be: A resource sharing net A one stop supplier A peer institution Alma manages potential suppliers for a specific resource sharing request, based on the institution s defined list of resource sharing partners and the existence of holdings at the target partner. Alma manages the resource sharing request lifecycle, which includes: Outgoing requests send request to supplier, Receive rejection from supplier or Receive material from supplier, Return material to supplier Incoming requests Send material to requester and receive material back from requester Alma manages Resource Sharing communications using different protocols, such as: ISO ILL protocol (ISO 10160\ISO \ISO ) NCIP British library ART Manual communication SLNP protocol DanZIG 327

32 From the end user perspective, there is no difference between a regular resource request and a resource sharing request; however, from the system and staff user perspective these two type of requests involve different workflows and costs. Alma can transform one type into the other, based on the situation and institutional policies. G.2.3 Currently, each institution within the consortium manages its own electronic resources and frequently these resources are not available to users at other institutions. Similarly, items in digital repositories maybe subject to access restrictions imposed by the creator or the holding institution. How will your solution clearly expose the resources a user has the right to access and connect users with the appropriate electronic or digital resource? How might this experience differ if a user is on or off campus? Ex Libris: In a consortial Primo environment, each library will have its own set of configuration preferences that ensure that each library can maintain and administer its own data sources within the system. This extends to managing and restricting access to electronic resources to the authorized members of the campus community. Similarly, digital objects may also have restrictions for search, delivery and display. In fact, all local collections (of any type) may be defined as available to anyone, restricted for search/display, as well as restricted for delivery using Primo scopes. Scopes can be institutional, location or collection based. At the simplest level, access can be based upon known IP range as well as upon more granular authorization characteristics including institutional and group affiliation. For users off campus, Primo integrates with EZProxy and a range of other popular proxy servers. In addition to institutions acquiring their own electronic resources, Alma will support the consortial acquisition of electronic resources (as mentioned earlier, this is planned for 2013). When electronic resources are activated for the different institutions/libraries, the inventory of each institution/library is updated with a copy of the electronic resource, indicating that it is available for this institution library. When the inventory is published to the discovery tool, it includes all electronic resources which are available for this institution/library. Similarly, electronic resources acquired by an institution can be activated for other institutions (based on the license agreement, of course). As with the consortial acquisition example, the other institution(s) inventory will be updated with a copy of the electronic resource, which in turn will be published to the discovery tool. For digital resources, Alma manages access rights according to IP (covering the on/off campus). G.2.4 Describe how your solution will enable users to access their own accounts in order to view, renew, and track requested or checked out tangible items from local or consortial library collections. 328

33 Ex Libris: Integration between Alma and Primo also handles the presentation of the end user account details in Primo. The information displayed is current (in real time) and includes loans, requests, fines and fees, blocks and messages to the user and an option for the end user to change her/his personal settings. Following is an example of a list of active loans, including the ability to renew loans (all or selected loans): Following is the list of open requests which also includes the ability to cancel a request: An example of a message from the library to the end user: For requesting physical resources see our response regarding the Get It Tab in G

34 G.2.5 How will your solution enable users to create and save, print, share, or export single items or lists of items to citation management, word processing or other productivity software? Ex Libris: Primo s patron personalization features provide patrons with the ability to Save ( Send to ) items to a personal e Shelf as well as third party applications such as Connotea, del.icio.us, RefWorks, and EndNote Web. The library can develop and add its own plug ins to send records to other similar services. For example, below is a plug in that Northwestern University developed to enable their endusers to push records from Primo into Blackboard. In Primo version 4, planned for release in June of this year, end users will have the option to export records in RIS format. The benefit of this new development is a smooth interaction with desktop applications for reference management tools such as EndNote, RefWorks, RefMan, Citavi, etc. An example of several standard Send to options in Primo 330

35 G.2.6 Describe the help available to users from within your solution s interface. How will you respond to users who contact you directly for assistance? Ex Libris: Primo is delivered with customizable Help files that end users may access from the search interfaces. Ex Libris provides assistance to our customer s designated staff, but not to end users. We do make available, on our Documentation Portal, a document called Online Enduser Help, which can be downloaded from the portal and used for this purpose. G.2.7 Describe how your solution might enable users to set and receive alerts and notifications about the status of specific items or categories of items available to them through an intuitive interface. Ex Libris: Users can save search queries and create alerts and RSS feeds in Primo, as seen in the screen shots below. Creating an alert or RSS feed based upon a users search results 331

36 Below is the patron view of saved queries, alerts and RSS feeds: G.2.8 Describe how users might interact with the solution through tagging, recommending, or writing reviews of resources. Ex Libris: Primo enables social computing features, such as tagging, rating, and reviews, thus enabling users to share their expertise and experience with other community members and beyond. To add a tag or a review, the user simply clicks the Reviews & Tags tab in a brief result: Primo version 4, planned for release in June of this year, will allow libraries to further integrate with 3 rd party systems such as Facebook, by integrating the Like button throughout the interface and on every results page. This will allow students to integrate their library searches into their news feed for other students to see. The integration option is configurable per library view. In addition, Primo version 4 will herald the release of personalized ranking, allowing users to tailor their results based upon the user s academic degree and discipline. This is supported by a 332

37 pop up screen appearing at the sign in stage. The information, if provided, is kept as part of the user profile and can be updated by the user. Example of Facebook Like button integrated into Primo results Example of Liked items appearing in user s Facebook feed 333

38 Another distinguishing capability that institutions using Primo can offer their end users is scholarly article recommendations. Primo integrates article recommendations from the Ex Libris bx recommender service directly into the end user interface, providing even more value to your end users. The display opens directly in the Primo result set: 334

39 Thanks to a recent agreement between Ex Libris and Elsevier, joint clients can view scholarly article recommendations in the Scopus and ScienceDirect platforms. 335

40 Primo also integrates the Ex Libris Hot Articles service, which provides end users with the most commonly used articles in a given topic, based on real usage data from millions of researchers across journals, publishers and platforms. Below, an example of Hot Articles results in the Primo user interface: 336

41 Hot Articles can also be displayed outside of Primo, included for example in LibGuides or other library webpages, subject guides, etc., as seen below: Hot Articles displayed in the Chemistry LibGuide at the University of Iowa G.3 Interface Design and Integration We envision a shared solution whose end user interface should be Section 508 compliant, accessible from multiple devices, and subject to periodic, structured evaluation. The solution also should allow libraries and individual library users to integrate external systems and services such as electronic resource vendors, web content management systems, learning management systems, and chat reference. G.3.1 Describe how your solution will be accessible (Section 508 compliant) to users with disabilities. Ex Libris: The accessibility of the Primo interface for end users has been validated by several rounds of usability studies. The Primo version 3 user interface was designed to comply with leading international accessibility and industry standards: The W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, level "Double A" Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d). We are currently testing the Primo version 4 interfaces against these guidelines. 337

42 With respect to Alma, Ex Libris worked with its large customer base, which includes a number of major National Libraries, to ensure that its software complies with accessibility standards. Ex Libris makes extra efforts to comply with web accessibility regulations. Alma (like other Ex Libris products, such as Rosetta), has been developed in line with Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines. Examples of Alma s compliance include the options of applying a high contrast level of the display, adjusting the luminosity level of the display, and the options for applying alternatives to non accessible methods, such as JavaScript or AJAX components. The application is also compatible with screen readers for visually impaired users G.3.2 With the current proliferation of browsers and devices, the user experience should be platform agnostic so that it works regardless of mode of access. Describe how your end user interface will meet those user needs. Ex Libris: Primo is supported on all of the commonly used browsers today: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome. With each Primo update or enhancement, our development team tests the system on each browser to ensure compliance. Primo is delivered with a browser based mobile device interface that can be used with a variety of providers and hardware. Because the mobile interface is browser based, end users can employ a wide range of mobile device platforms (iosx, Android, BB, Symbian based phones with Java browsers) to interact with the Primo environment. Examples of the Primo mobile interface at Brigham Young University and the University of Iowa 338

43 Primo enables customers to utilize a single view for both desktop and mobile use by leveraging a single CSS to resize the display and present different display options, based upon the form factor of the device used. This reduces the cost to maintain the system and interfaces for a range of disparate mobile platforms. The library can fully customize this standard view as well as create other custom views as necessary. With respect to Alma, the application supports all leading browsers, including Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox. As a web based solution, Alma can be viewed from any browser based device that supports these browsers and the resolution accepted by Alma. G.3.3 How is user feedback obtained and used to drive system/interface changes? What is your release cycle for system fixes, changes, etc.? Ex Libris: Ex Libris gathers feedback from our customers primarily through our user groups. ELUNA, the Ex Libris Users of North America, is the group for users of all Ex Libris products. ELUNA facilitates communication between product users and Ex Libris, and represents user needs to Ex Libris. ELUNA meets once a year at or near a customer site, and it maintains a number of product specific listservs as well as a web site. ELUNA s stated goals are to: Serve as an educational group for users of Ex Libris products. Facilitate communication between product users and Ex Libris; especially, represent user needs to Ex Libris by: o Providing feedback on general company directions. o Assisting the company in identifying needed major enhancements to existing products and new products. o Setting priorities for the company s product enhancements. o Assisting the company in setting general priorities for meeting other user needs. o Working with the company on the development of functional and technical specifications for both small and large scale development; reviewing, testing, and providing feedback on development work. Facilitate communication among users of Ex Libris products and provide educational opportunities for users of Ex Libris products by: Organizing user conferences. Maintaining e mail discussion lists for the entire membership and appropriate subsets of the membership. Maintaining a Web site for the organization. Providing a means for sharing locally developed documentation and reports. Providing forums for sharing best practices, e.g., workshops presented by users. Facilitating formation of interest groups for users that share similar concerns. 339

44 The following features were added to the upcoming new release (4) as a result of requests from our customers: I) End users may select multiple facet values. Check boxes have been added to the facets display, so that when a user clicks on a check box, Primo displays a pop up with all the facet values visible and the ability to include or exclude multiple facet values. II) The Facebook Like button lets users share content with their friends via Facebook. When the user clicks the Like button, a story appears in the user's friends' Facebook News Feed with a link back to Primo. The Facebook Like button is added to every result on the brief results page. It will be visible only when the end user hovers over the results. The link in the user s Facebook News Feed will be to the Primo full display. III) Search by user defined date range was added (in the previous version, the date range search option pre defined). The date range search has the following options: 1. A date range of years or complete dates 2. Open ended dates if the user enters only a from date Primo will search for records from the date specified and later. E.g.: From Open start date if the user only enters a to date Primo will search for all records earlier and including the specified date, such as: To Specific date for a specific date the user should enter the same date in both the from and to fields. E.g: From 1990 to BCE dates. A BCE date should be indicated by a minus sign. E.g: From 89 to 100 IV) As described earlier, export records in RIS format In version 4, end users have the option to export records in RIS format. The benefit of this new development is a smooth interaction with desktop applications for reference management tools such as EndNote, RefWorks, RefMan, Citavi, etc. V) Customizable fields for hyperlink search, giving the end users the option of using a specific relevant record as a starting point for further, related records. End users may click on author names or subjects from the full display to perform a new search for those values as new fieldspecific query terms. In Primo version 4 libraries can customize an additional ten fields of their own choice for hyperlink search, for example series title, call numbers etc. The feature was developed for Version 4 but was downgraded to Version and released then. VI) Add Page to E Shelf The purpose of this enhancement is to enable end users to save an entire results page to their e Shelf. VII) Enable sign in directly from record In Primo Version 3, an unauthenticated user had to use the default Sign in link from the Primo top menu. This would re execute the search, and the user could potentially lose the record in focus. This has now been changed so that a user wishing to request a record can sign in directly from the desired record. After signing in, the 340

45 user will stay on the record in focus and can perform the hold request action. This feature was developed for Version 4 but was downgraded to Version and released then. Major new Primo releases are schedule to occur approximately every 18 months. In between, we release minor upgrades and enhancements as needed. We are evaluating the transition to Agile development for Primo in 2013; this will result in our releasing periodic updates 3 4 times a year. As previously noted, Alma has been developed in close collaboration with our development partners. Prior to beginning development, we conducted focus groups with over sixty institutions. Alma Early adopters participate in ongoing sessions and provide feedback on Alma development. Moving forward,, we plan to offer a platform through which Alma customers will be able to post feature requests and review, score or add new ideas as an open, collaborative product enhancement channel. Because Alma is a SaaS solution, Ex Libris can deliver enhancements continually. As described in section E.1.3, Alma will be updated monthly, primarily with bug fixes and minor enhancements, as well as periodic releases (approximately three times a year) that will include major enhancements and features. These updates will be released centrally to all customers at once, an approach that allows us to respond quickly to customers requests. G.3.4 Describe how you will approach evaluating and improving the usability of your solution. Ex Libris: As the end user interface, allowing for the discovery and delivery of the full breadth of resources the library has to offer, Primo was designed from day one around the end user. Primo was developed in collaboration with customers (a small number of early adopters and a broader charter group) from the field, who helped us to evaluate every change in the user interface. We have continued to hone and improve the usability during the five years in which Primo has been in production as the main entry point for some of the most distinguished and heavily used research libraries around the globe. Our customers, many of whom utilize sophisticated usability labs including eye tracking and mouse movement recording equipment, have performed rounds of tests, either independently or in collaboration with us, and have shared their findings. We also get specific input through the customers product working group (the North American user group and the worldwide one) with whom we have monthly calls, as well as through our CRM. We encourage customers to contact our product management and support teams with further suggestions for improvement. We have used input from usability studies, feedback from the customer community and our own testing, to continuously improve the usability of our solution. This feedback resulted in a major UI revamp for Primo version

46 Some aspects of Primo s usability aspects are straightforward, such as the efficient location of different buttons. Others evolve from industry standards, like making sure that Primo is usable not only to people who have slight difficulty in operating the mouse accurately, and not just to those using screen readers. Another and perhaps more important aspect of accessibility concerns the user s natural workflows. For example, we have discovered that users do not like to log in if they can avoid it, so we have single sign in with a variety of systems, and the ability for customers to develop their own SSO plug ins. We also offer the user as many tasks as possible that do not require sign in. Also, users can make a request without leaving the Primo results page, because we found that users do not opening new windows or switching to a different user interface. Another layer of the feedback cycle is the usage itself. We research usage patterns and draw conclusions from big data collected in our usage logs regarding the way users use our software. For privacy reasons, we do not save data associated with a specific user, not even one way encrypted, unless explicitly requested by the library. We continue to improve the Primo user interface based on feedback from customers, and to run usability studies from time to time. We see this as an ongoing effort. G.3.5 Describe how your solution will enable interoperability with local online reference services, social networks, external subject guides, and other electronic services for communication between library users and staff. Ex Libris: As described earlier, the upcoming release of Primo version 4 will allow libraries to further integrate with third party systems such as Facebook, by integrating the Like button throughout the interface and on every results page. Primo is an open system that allows libraries to extend its use with a number of third party systems such as virtual reference, course management software, and more. Also, Primo is an XML based application with a fully documented API to enable those institutions with the expertise to create completely custom interfaces utilizing for example platforms such as JSP, PHP, DHTML and JAVA. This API facilitates the customization of Primo and enables customers to develop code extensions that can be shared with other members of the Primo community. The APIs include XML services, SOAP web services, our Software Development Kit, and more. Additional development tools are released in tandem with the functionality included in each new version of Primo. 342

47 The Primo Software Development Kit (SDK) includes: Interfaces ranging from UI configuration with programmatic logic for non technical users to performance oriented programmatic interfaces for seasoned programmers Extensive documentation, including examples for using the interfaces The EL Commons collaboration platform on which users can share their code extensions with the community Code re use policies In addition, Ex Libris offers the EL Commons, a collaborative Web based platform that allows community members to upload software components that they have written and that they wish to share. These software components are available to all other community members in a well defined, unified format; library developers can select a component, download it, and adapt it to their needs. Furthermore, developers can embark on collaborative projects in which pieces of code written at various institutions fit into bigger projects that serve the community as a whole. Brigham Young University has created their own user interface for Primo by building a PHP driven front end that relies completely on the Primo APIs. The example below shows a brief results page at BYU: 343

48 Northwestern University is another site that is currently using the e shelf APIs to push information to their campus LMS (Blackboard). Both institutions have shared their solutions with the Primo community by adding their code to EL Commons, the Ex Libris developers community website. G.3.6 Describe the branding and customization options that will be available to libraries at the local level, including capabilities for setting default options. Ex Libris: Primo provides flexible options for libraries to reflect local institutional branding, user interface layout and customization as well as a range of local preferences all within a shared environment. Each Alliance member can define one or more views, each with unique settings for look and feel, search/result defaults, and facets.. In addition, specific departments or programs in an institution to deliver branded user interface and customized functionality. A consortium wide Unified Discovery View is also provided Other customization options include: The ability to manipulate Primo s relevancy ranking algorithm by defining field level boosting factors. The ability to determine how results from local collections are blended with results from Primo s central index The ability to boost results by institution The ability to customize facet types, order, and the order of the facets values within a facet group. In addition to default facet types, customers may add custom facets. The ability to customize record normalization and mapping rules 344

49 The ability to define sort options based on any field in the Primo Normalized XML record (PNX) including, by default, sorting on Author and Title, as well as library customized local fields. The ability to add code to the user interface (i.e., jquery) Some of our customers have made very few customizations, while others have truly taken advantage of Primo s many options to brand the interfaces as their own. See the differences here: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, embedding the Primo search bar into their homepage 345

50 Brigham Young University s search interface, displaying four search scopes Boston College s search interface 346

51 Within a consortium, member institutions can take advantage of Primo s Views capabilities. each with unique settings for look and feel, layouts, defaults, scopes, tabs, and facets. These Views can be used by different member institutions in a consortium or within shared systems, or by specific departments in an institution to deliver branded user interface and customized functionality. Each Primo Institution can have one or more Views Each View can have its own layout and CSS Views are composed of tiles Search tile has one or more tabs o Tabs offer users a way to focus on specific materials o Each tab has one or more search scopes G.4 APIs and User Contributed Data We envision a shared solution that enables and encourages local development from a robust community of users. The solution will also value and take measures to preserve user created data. G.4.1 APIs (application programming interfaces) frequently are used by individuals and institutions to fill gaps where local service demands are not met by the solution or provider. Describe the APIs you make available to users of your solution. What are your use policies for the API? Ex Libris: Please refer to our response to G.3.5 above for information about the Primo API. Alma provides extensibility and integration via methods such as, but not limited to: APIs and Web services, as well as software plug ins and adapters. As Alma is an open platform, we expose integration interfaces across different areas and workflows, allowing libraries to extend their range of services, as illustrated in the diagram below. 347

52 Alma Open Platform Direction Alma provides API functions that conform to the Ex Libris Open Platform strategy. The APIs are provided as Web Services through a standard Alma SSL port. Each API is described by a Web Services Description Language (WSDL). To achieve higher compatibility among different development platforms, the input and output variables all use the primitive string type. In some cases, the input or output variable primitive strings are actually a well formed XML structure which is documented in an additional XSD file. Alma also comes with a Java software development kit (SDK) which provides easy access to the web service and helps to more quickly generate the appropriate Java code. To maintain a highly secure environment, use of the Alma API is controlled by authentication and the standard Alma roles mechanism, described in our response in section E.5. Exposing the API to any third party software requires the definition of a user in Alma and the assignment of the role associated with the API. The user identification and passwords are sent as parameters to the API, and are used to validate that the caller is allowed to use the API. As part of Alma s development, and consistent with our policy of working closely with our customers, we have prioritized the development of our integration interfaces to meet the needs of our development partners and early adopters. To date, the following APIs have been released: Get Patron Information Get information about a patron such as name, , phone, address etc. Update Patron Information Update information about a patron such as name, , phone, address etc. Get Patron Summary Get a summary of the patron s number of loans, fines, requests etc. 348

53 Get Patron Loans Get a list of all patron s loans including all details Get Patron Fines Get a list of all patron s fines including all details Get Patron Requests Get a list of all patron s requests including all details Cancel Request Cancel a specific request Get Course Information Get information about a specific course Get Full Text indicator Query if a specific title has available full text Get Full Text URL Get a target full text URL for a specific title Get Availability Get availability indication for a specific title (on shelf, due date, loanable etc.) APIs are continuously added to Alma based on the needs of our client community. In addition, Ex Libris makes available to its customers EL Commons, a collaborative Web based platform that provides the infrastructure for a wiki that is defined and administered by the Ex Libris user groups. EL Commons includes the CodeShare zone, an area that was designed in collaboration with a focus group of customer developers; it is open to all Ex Libris customers and thus provides support for the sharing of customer developed extensions. G.4.2 Describe your company s policies on backing up, recovering, and purging user supplied data. For example, how might you handle a user who has accidentally deleted a resource list created in your solution? One who no longer wants information they contributed to be available through the solution? Ex Libris: Please note that end users cannot contribute data directly into Primo, with the exception of user reviews and tags. Also, Primo does not hold any user data beyond what is in the user s e shelf, such as saved queries, defined alerts and RSS feeds, etc. 349

54 H Additional product or service information (information not used to score proposals) Proposers are welcome, but not required, to provide information about related products and services. Ex Libris: Alma s Capabilities for the Management of Digital Collections As a unified solution, Alma is designed to manage, in addition to electronic and print resources, a broad range of digital collections. Alma can facilitate the management of digital content in a unified manner, providing additional value to the Alliance. Because this capability is a core element of Alma s design and is inclusive with our solution, the following discussion elaborates on this functionality. Note that this capability is included in our proposal pricing. Digital content managed in Alma utilizes the same unified workflows as other resource types, also leveraging the same consistent user interface while providing extended functionality to accommodate the special needs of digital collections. For example, Alma supports the ability to define workflows for various deposit processes (theses submissions, the submission of faculty papers, research data, etc.). The deposit workflow process ( Material Flow ) is based upon rules and can accommodate different scenarios based upon material type, producer and other factors. Authorized staff can view deposited materials that are waiting to be approved and processed and can move them to the next step in the workflow, assign them to another user, reject or revalidate them. The submission process can also include the following elements: OCR of the document Generation of thumbnails Generation of technical metadata (using JHOVE for example) Virus checking Libraries can take advantage of Alma s cloud storage for digital collections and also leverage the ability to have restricted collections reside in on premise storage systems. For digital collections stored on premise, Alma can manage descriptive metadata, location agnostic URI s, and workflow integration. 350

55 Alma also supports digitization on demand workflows, coordinating the activities of staff across library organization units. A patron initiated digitization request triggers an alert and a pick slip at a specific digitization location. A staff member can report a copyright clearance status. The full process is shown in the image below. All digital content is assigned access rights that can range from full public access to restricted search and delivery. Actual access rights for digital content can be maintained separately from discovery publishing decisions. Alma s flexible access right controls can be defined for each item, and according to the user s rights. Alma s digital inventory model comes preservation ready via support for the PREMIS model. Each intellectual entity in the inventory is associated with descriptive metadata from Alma s Metadata Management System (MMS), and contains one or more representations, which are themselves made up of one or more files. This allows libraries to manage their digital resources in a way that prepares them for the preservation planning, risk analysis and complete preservation control provided by Rosetta. Rosetta Digital Preservation for Long Term Access As a Center of Excellence (COE), Ex Libris is also proposing that the Alliance deploy Rosetta, a unique digital preservation solution designed to provide long term access to digitized and born digital collections. A Rosetta based digital preservation center would not only align with the strategic directions of the Alliance, providing immediate value and unique services to its members, but would also facilitate the generation of additional revenue for the Alliance 351

56 through new preservation services offered to non members. Rosetta pricing is not included in our proposal, but we would be happy to provide a price proposal upon request. Designed in collaboration with the National Library of New Zealand and reviewed by an international peer group of recognized leaders and innovators, Rosetta enables institutions to preserve and provide access to the collections in their care, now and in the future. Rosetta was recently selected by a consortium in Belgium (the LIBIS network) which provides services to more than 30 institutions. Here is what Jo Rademakers, Head of Library Automation at LIBIS, said about their reason for choosing Rosetta: In Rosetta, Ex Libris offers the only solution on the market today that is scalable and supports end to end long term preservation for any type of format. With the increasing importance of long term preservation, it was crucial for us to find a solution that not only integrates with our existing suite of products but also provides us with the full range of preservation services. Rosetta delivers all of this. In addition, the consortial support enables us to offer long term preservation as a service to libraries, archives, and museums, thus sparing them the trouble of managing hardware and applications. Rosetta offers the Alliance a preservation system that is: Scalable: Built on a distributed architecture that can support multiple, flexible configurations, the system can scale up to manage digital collections of any size. By separating the permanent and working repositories, the system offers the security and redundancy required to ensure safe and secure collections. This flexibility will provide the Alliance with the ability to expand Rosetta to meet the needs of the consortium s and non members growing digital collections under preservation control. 352

57 Scalability diagram Beyond the benefit of scalability, the architecture provides the Alliance with a system that offers redundancy and has no single point of failure. Expandable: Ex Libris Rosetta supports the functional needs of institutions that receive vast numbers of digital items on an ongoing basis. Batch loads, staging areas, and multiple deposit hierarchies enable users to manage the ingestion of new material efficiently and effectively in either a centralized or distributed environment. Flexible and Open: Easy setup options allow institutions to configure the system to support their unique requirements and adhere to the guidelines of their governing bodies. Rosetta s open architecture combined with a rule based workflow engine will enable the Alliance to enhance the system with plug in tools and applications in addition to those offered with the system. Such tools support the following tasks and activities: Submission: A set of APIs and a software development kit (SDK) enable institutions to create unique submission applications that support integration with existing institutional applications and can be seamlessly integrated with Rosetta. Characterization: External third party tools such as JHOVE, DROID, and virus check applications are embedded in Rosetta to ensure that information in the system is viable and not damaged. New tools can be added as they emerge or evolve. Enrichment: Managed by a workflow engine, the rule based ingest solution allows institutions to embed a wide variety of tools that add information to the AIPs stored in the system for example, tools that convert file formats such as AVI to MP3. External metadata 353

58 management systems (such as an ILS catalog or an archival system) can be additional sources of metadata enrichment. Dissemination: The dissemination SDK is a set of tools that enables Rosetta to be integrated easily with local systems for digital rights management, e commerce, and discovery. Standards based: Based on the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model and conforming to trustworthy digital repository (TDR) requirements, the system provides institutions with the infrastructure and technology needed to preserve and facilitate access to the digital collections under their guardianship. In conformance with the OAIS model, Rosetta consists of the following modules: Ingest, Working Area, Permanent Repository, Operational Repository, Management, Delivery, Publishing, and Preservation. Rosetta functional modules Accessible: Preserved digital entities are delivered via viewers that are compatible with the constantly evolving format types and are supplied as part of the system and third party applications. With built in integration capabilities, the system can accept delivery requests from discovery and delivery applications such as the Ex Libris Primo solution while ensuring that item level access rights are enforced. 354

59 Delivery Module: Screenshot of a delivered image file Delivery Module: Screenshot of a delivered PDF file Rosetta s flexible data model will enable the Alliance to ingest, manage and preserve documents of any type. Rosetta fully implements the PREMIS standard, storing information about intellectual entities, representations, files and bit streams (one to many relationship between each of the level). Each Rosetta intellectual entity is an Archival Information Package (AIP) and is stored in a METS container containing logical descriptive metadata, administrative metadata (access rights, provenance, technical and source metadata), physical and logical structure maps and file sections. 355