Book description
Web scale discovery services are a tool with major potential to
transform the nature of library systems. These services are capable of
searching quickly and seamlessly across a vast range of local and remote
content and providing relevancy-ranked results in the type of intuitive
interface that today's information seekers expect. This report describes
in detail the content, interface, and functionality of web scale
discovery services developed by four major library vendors: OCLC,
Serials Solutions, Ebsco, and Ex Libris. Each of these services is
evolving rapidly, indicative of their open framework design and an
ongoing expansion of indexed content as additional publisher and
aggregator agreements are brokered. Although many similarities among the
services are apparent, this report also outlines some observed
differences, though these differences are becoming hazy as each vendor
adds new functions, features, and content. To help individual libraries
evaluate which service will best meet the needs of the library and its
community, this report provides detailed evaluation questions and
concludes with a section providing additional background information on
each service. Jason Vaughan is the director of library technologies at
the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). In this capacity, he serves
as a senior administrator and provides overall leadership for three
units within the UNLV University Libraries: Digital Collections, Library
Systems, and Web and Application Development. Vaughan earned his MLS and
BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previous
positions at UNLV include Head of Library Systems and Information
Systems Librarian. He has published extensively on library and library
technology topics, including library automation, digitization, planning,
and policy. To date Vaughan has served as coauthor and investigator on
three funded LSTA grants and has most recently focused on delivering web
scale discovery talks at the local, state, and national levels.
