Discoverability In Digital Repositories

While most discoverability evaluation studies in the Library and Information Science field discuss the intersection of discovery layers and library systems, this book looks specifically at digital repositories, examining discoverability from the lenses of system structure, user searches, and external discovery avenues. Discoverability, the ease with which information can be found by a user, is the cornerstone of all successful digital information platforms. Yet, most digital repository practitioners and researchers lack a holistic and comprehensive understanding of how and where discoverability happens. This book brings together current understandings of user needs and behaviors and poses them alongside a deeper examination of digital repositories around the theme of discoverability. It examines discoverability in digital repositories from both user and system perspectives by exploring how users access content (including their search patterns and habits, need for digital content, effects of outreach, or integration with Wikipedia and other web-based tools) and how systems support or prevent discoverability through the structure or quality of metadata, system interfaces, exposure to search engines or lack thereof, and integration with library discovery tools. Discoverability in Digital Repositories will be particularly useful to digital repository managers, practitioners, and researchers, metadata librarians, systems librarians, and user studies, usability and user experience librarians. Additionally, and perhaps most prominently, this book is composed with the emerging practitioner in mind. Instructors and students in Library and Information Science and Information Management programs will benefit from this book that specifically addresses discoverability in digital repository systems and services.

Examines the issues of reference context and discoverability in school, public, and academic libraries, as well as within the reference publishing community.

This book shows you how to harness the power of linked data and web-scale discovery systems to manage and link widely varied content across your library collection. Libraries are increasingly using web-scale discovery systems to help clients find a wide assortment of library materials, including books, journal articles, special collections, archival collections, videos, music and open access collections. Depending on the library material catalogued, the discovery system might need to negotiate different metadata standards, such as AACR, RDA, RAD, FOAF, VRA Core, METS, MODS, RDF and more. In Managing Metadata in Web-Scale Discovery Systems, editor Louise Spiteri and a range of international experts show you how to: - maximize the effectiveness of web-scale discovery systems - provide a smooth and seamless discovery experience to your users - help users conduct searches that yield relevant results - manage the sheer volume of items to which you can provide access, so your users can actually find what they need - maintain shared records that reflect the needs, languages, and identities of culturally and ethnically varied communities - manage metadata both within, across, and outside, library discovery tools by converting your library metadata to linked open data that all systems can access - manage user generated metadata from external services such as Goodreads and LibraryThing - mine user generated metadata to better serve your users in areas such as collection development or readers’ advisory. The book will be essential reading for cataloguers, technical services and systems librarians and library and information science students studying modules on metadata, cataloguing, systems design, data management, and digital libraries. The book will also be of interest to those managing metadata in archives, museums and other cultural heritage institutions.

Discovery is central to academic activities at all levels and is a major focus for libraries and museums. Of all the parts of modern library provision, discovery services are the most clearly affected by developments in IT, from databases to search engines to linked data to machine learning. It is crucial to the relationship between libraries and their communities. This book will help its readers learn how to adapt in a fast changing area to continue to provide a high level of service. Resource Discovery for the Twenty-First Century Library contains a range of contributions analysing the ways in which libraries are tackling the challenges facing them in discovery in the (post)-Google era. Chapters are written by experts, both global and local – describing specific areas of discovery and local implementations and ideas. The book will help with enhancing discovery both inbound – making locally held resources globally discoverable, and outbound – making global resources locally discoverable, in ways which are relevant to your user community. Content covered includes: · a survey of what resource discovery is today · case studies from around the world of interesting approaches to discovery · analysis of how users approach discovery · how to understand and make the best use of Internet search engines · using limited resources to help users find collections · linked open data and discovery · the future of discovery. This book will be useful for subject librarians and others who give direct support to library users, digital library technicians, managers, staff with responsibility for managing electronic resources, metadata and discovery specialists, trainers and user education specialists. It will also be of use to curators and others who give direct support to researchers, managers of digitisation and cataloguing products, IT staff, trainers and user education specialists.

Presents critical research on the digitization of data and how this shift has impacted knowledge discovery, storage, and retrieval. This publication explores several emerging trends and concepts essential to electronic discovery, such as library portals, responsive websites, and federated search technology.

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.

Web-Scale Discovery Services: Principles, Applications, Discovery Tools and Development Hypotheses summarizes and presents the state-of-the-art in WSDS. The title promotes a middle-way between finding the best tool for each particular need and the search for the most reliable systems. The title identifies basic theoretical problems and offers practical solutions for librarians. The volume offers a summary of ideas from around the world, giving a new perspective that is backed up by strong theory. Offering a vision for libraries, this book also allows archivists, museum specialists, computer scientists, commercial operators and interested users to deepen their culture and information literacy. The great number of information sources now available and the changing habits of web users has led to the development of Web Scale Discovery Services (WSDS). The goal of these systems and techniques is to make catalogues, databases, institutional repositories, Open Access archives and other databases searchable and discoverable through a single point of access. The diffusion of systems and connections between data disseminated by libraries and published by other institutions poses a challenge to understanding discovery in the modern library. Lays out the state-of-the-art in WSDS for contemporary libraries and institutions Presents an innovative take on information retrieval and digital document management Grounds thinking on a bibliographic basis, combining academic, practical and commercial aspects Offers a perspective on how WSDS and discovery tools are seen and used internationally Provides a version of culture and information literacy of relevance to a broad-range of cultural specialists