Next Generation Library Interfaces

Transcription

1 ALCTS Midwinter Symposium Breaking Down the Silos: Planning for Discovery in Library 2.0 Next Generation Library Interfaces Overview of concepts and an brief tour of commercial and open source products Marshall Breeding Director for Innovative Technologies and Research Vanderbilt University staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/breeding

2 Abstract Marshall Breeding will present an overview of commercial and open source options for next generation library catalogs

3 Troubling statistic Where do you typically begin your search for information on a particular topic? College Students Response: 89% Search engines (Google 62%) 2% Library Web Site (total respondents -> > 1%) 2% Online Database 1% 1% Online News 1% Online bookstores 0% Instant Messaging / Online Chat OCLC. Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005) p

4 Usage + / - from 2005 to % +30% -10% +14% +19% The unfortunate exception is the use of library Web sites; usage has dropped from 2005 to Source: Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our Networked World. OCLC 2007

5 Crowded Landscape of Information Providers on the Web Lots of non-library Web destinations deliver content to library patrons Google Scholar Amazon.com Wikipedia Ask.com Do Library Web sites and catalogs meet the information needs of our users? Do they attract their interest?

6 The Competition

7

8 The best Library OPAC?

9 Better?

10 Demand for compelling library interfaces Urgent need for libraries to offer interfaces their users will like to use Move into the current millennium Powerful search capabilities in tune with how the Web works today Meet user expectations set by other Web destination

11 Inadequacy of ILS OPACs Online Catalog modules provided with an ILS subject to broad criticism as failing to meet expectations of growing segments of library patrons. Not great at delivering electronic content Complex text-based interfaces Relatively weak keyword search engines Lack of good relevancy sorting Narrow scope of content

12 Disjointed approach to information and service delivery Silos Prevail Books: Library OPAC (ILS module) Articles: Aggregated content products, e-journal e collections OpenURL linking services E-journal finding aids (Often managed by link resolver) Local digital collections ETDs,, photos, rich media collections Metasearch engines All searched separately

13 Change underway Widespread dissatisfaction with most of the current OPACs.. Many efforts toward next-generation catalogs and interfaces. Movement among libraries to break out of the current mold of library catalogs and offer new interfaces better suited to the expectations of library users. Decoupling of the front-end interface from the back-end library automation system. Eventual redesign of the ILS to be better suited for current library collections of digital and print content

14 Next-Generation Interfaces: Scope and Concepts

15 Working toward a new generation of library interfaces Redefinition of the library catalog Traditional notions of the library catalog questioned Better information delivery tools More powerful search capabilities More elegant presentation

16 Redefining the catalog More comprehensive information discovery environments It s s no longer enough to provide a catalog limited to print resources Digital resources cannot be an afterthought Systems designed for e-content e only are also problematic Forcing users to use different interfaces depending on type of content becoming less tenable Libraries working toward consolidated user environments that give equal footing to digital and print resources

17 Comprehensive Discovery Service Current distributed query model of federated search model not adequate Expanded scope of search through harvested content Consolidated search services based on metadata and data gathered in advance (like OAI-PMH) Problems of scale diminished Problems of cooperation persist Federated search currently operates as a plug-in component of next-gen interfaces.

18 Web 2.0 Flavorings Strategic infrastructure + Web 2.0 A more social and collaborative approach Web Tools and technology that foster collaboration Integrated blogs, wiki, tagging, social bookmarking, user rating, user reviews Avoid Web 2.0 information silos

19 Web 2.0 supporting technologies Web services XML APIs AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and XML) Relevancy-based search engines Social networking tools and concepts

20 The Ideal Scope for Next Gen Library Interfaces Attempt to collapse silos or draw appropriately from each silo Unified user experience A single point of entry into all the content and services offered by the library Print + Electronic Local + Remote Locally created Content User contributed content?

21 Next Generation Discovery Platforms: Functions and Features

22 Interface Features / User Experience Simple point of entry Optional advanced search Relevancy ranked results Facets for narrowing and navigation Query enhancement spell check, etc Suggested related results / recommendation service Enriched visual and textual content Single Sign-on

23 Relevancy Ranking Based on advanced search engines specifically designed for relevancy Endeca, Lucene, etc Web users expect relevancy ordered results The good stuff should be listed first Users tend not to delve deep into a result list Good relevancy requires a sophisticated approach, including objective matching criteria supplemented by popularity and relatedness factors.

24 New Paradigm for search and navigation Let users drill down through the result set incrementally narrowing the field Faceted Browsing Drill-down vs up-front Boolean or Advanced Search gives the users clues about the number of hits in each sub topic Ability to explore collections without a priori knowledge Visual search tools Navigational Bread crumbs Select / deselect facets

25 Query / Result Enhancement Did you mean? and other features to avoid No results found Validated Spell check Automatic inclusion of authorized and related terms More like this recommendation service Make the query and the response to it better than the query provided

26 Appropriate organizational structures LCSH vs FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) Full MARC vs Dublin Core or MODS, or unstructured data Discipline-specific specific thesauri or ontologies tags

27 Enriched content Rich visual information: book jacket images, rating scores, etc. Syndetic Solutions ICE ($$$$) Amazon Web Service (AWS) Recent changes in term of use seem to preclude use by libraries Google Book Search API Released March 13, 2008 Liberal terms of use No open content approach (yet)

28 Personalization / Single Sign-on Customized content and service options based on personal preference and profile of user Persistent sign-on horizontal and vertical Seamless navigation in and out of appropriate sub-systems systems ILL / ILS patron requests, federated search, proxy services Credentials follow as user navigates among Web site components ILS / Interlibrary Loan / proxy services / shopping cart / etc Carry sign-on into and out of institutional resources Ability to select and save content; initiate requests; customize preferences, etc.

29 Deep search Entering post-metadata search era Increasing opportunities to search the full contents Google Library Print, Google Publisher, Open Content Alliance, Microsoft Live Book Search, etc. High-quality metadata will improve search precision Commercial search providers already offer search inside the book Comprehensive full text search for books beginning to emerge Not currently available through library search environments Deep search highly improved by high-quality metadata See: Systems Librarian, May 2008 Beyond the current generation of next-generation interfaces: deeper search

30 Beyond Discovery to Fulfillment / Delivery Fulfillment oriented Search -> > select -> > view Delivery/Fulfillment much harder than discovery Back-end complexity should be as seamless as possible to the user Offer services for digital and print content

31 Library-specific Features Appropriate relevance factors Objective keyword ranking + Library weightings Circulation frequency, OCLC holdings, scholarly content Results grouping (FRBR) Collection focused (vs( sales-driven)

32 Enterprise Integration Ability to deliver content and services through non-library applications Campus portal solutions Courseware Social networking environments Search portals / Feed aggregators

33 Interoperability Decoupled interface implies data synchronization Mass export of catalog data Hooks back into the ILS for holdings and patron services Real-time availability

34 Architecture and Standards Need to have an standard approach for connecting new generation interfaces with ILS and other repositories Proprietary and ad hoc methods currently prevail Digital Library Federation ILS-Discovery Interface Group Time to start thinking about a new generation of ILS better suited for current library collections and missions.

35 Smart and Sophisticated Much more difficult than old gen OPACS Not a dumbed-down down approach Wed library specific requirements and expectations with e-commerce e technologies

36 Great Benefit, Great cost? A whole new level of expense to the library to achieve needed automation results Patron interface was previously expected to be part of ILS Cost of ILS OPAC module very modest relative to new discovery products Can the library community bear the cost? Can the library community afford not to move forward?

37 Can we afford a slow Transition? Deployment of older OPACs widespread We re very early in the adoption cycle Libraries tend to cycle to new technologies at a slow pace Time on the Web moves quickly!

38 Open Source opportunity? Commercial traditionally licensed solutions appeared ahead of open source alternatives Time-to to-market a critical factor Open Source products starting to gain traction

39 New-Gen Library Interfaces Current Commercial and Open Source Products

40 Endeca Guided Navigation Technology platform optimized for faceted browsing of large collections Widely used in e-commerce e arena No library-specific product Toolkit of components that can be integrated $$$$

41 Endeca Library Examples North Carolina State University McMaster University libcat.mcmaster.ca/ Phoenix Public Library Florida Center for Library Automation

42 Endeca Screen shots

43 Endeca 1

44 Endeca 2

45 Endeca 3

46 Endeca 4

47 Endeca 5

48 AquaBrowser Library One of the earliest library catalog replacement products Developed by Medialab Solutions in Amsterdam Originally distributed by TLC in the US, Canada, etc Now owed by R.R. Bowker, part of CIG Distributed to academic libraries by Serial Solutions Faceted Navigation Cloud of associations

49 AquaBrowser examples Queens Borough Public Library Oklahoma State University boss.library.okstate.edu/ University of Chicago lens.lib.uchicago.edu/

50 LibraryThing for Libraries Not a full next-gen interface Provides a way to add tagging to existing interfaces Deal with social tagging critical mass problem Now distributed exclusively by R.R. Bowker

51 Ex Libris Primo Discovery and Delivery platform for academic libraries Provides access to local and remote resources Supports diverse content in local index Integrated federated search component for remote content not loaded into local index (MetaLib) Integrated Link resolution (SFX)

52 Primo Examples Vanderbilt University University of Minnesota bweb/action/search.do?vid=twincities University of Iowa

53 Primo screen shots

54 Primo 1

55 Primo 2

56 Primo 3

57 Primo 4

58 Primo 5

59 Primo 6

60 Primo 7

61 Encore from Innovative Interfaces Designed for academic, public and special libraries Single search box Tag cloud Encore Web services API

62 Encore examples Nashville Public Library Scottsdale Public Library Yale University Lillian Goldman Law Library

63 Encore screen shots

64 Encore1

65 Encore2

66 Encore3

67 Encore4

68 Encore5

69 OCLC Worldcat Local OCLC WorldCat customized for local library catalog Relies on hooks into ILS for local services Tied to library holdings set in WorldCat

70 Worldcat local examples University of Washington Libraries University of California Melvyl Catalog

71 The Library Corporation LS2 Indigo announced at ALA Midwinter Jan 2008 Now branded as the LS2 Pac First module of new ILS from TLC Based on Lucene / SOLR First ILS company involved in promoting new interface technologies Initially based its strategy on AquaBrowser and Endeca

72 LS2 Examples Shenandoah County Library First production site