Evaluating and comparing discovery tools: how close are we towards next generation catalog?

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and compare open source and proprietary discovery tools and find out how much discovery tools have achieved towards becoming the next generation catalog. Design/methodology/approach-The paper summarizes characteristics of the next generation catalog into a checklist of 12 features. This list was checked against each of seven open source and ten proprietary discovery tools to determine if those features were present or absent in those tools. Findings-Discovery tools have many next generation catalog features, but only a few can be called real next generation catalogs. Federated searching and relevancy based on circulation statistics are the two areas that both open source and proprietary discovery tools are missing. Open source discovery tools seem to be bolder and more innovative than proprietary tools in embracing advanced features of the next generation catalog. Vendors of discovery tools may need to quicken their steps in catching up. Originality/value-It is the first evaluation and comparison of open source and proprietary discovery tools on a large scale. It will provide information as to exactly where discovery tools stand in light of the much desired next generation catalog.

Still Desperately Seeking Citations: Undergraduate Research in the Age of Web-Scale Discovery

“…It is noteworthy that because discovery tools are relatively recent, most of the published literature compares or evaluates products (Rowe, 2010;Yang & Wagner, 2010;Luther & Kelly, 2011;Gallaway & Hines, 2012;Hoeppner, 2012;Vaughan, 2012;Asher et al 2013) or describes implementation or usability studies at individual institutions (Gross and Sheriden, 2011;Howard and Wiebrands, 2011;Williams and Foster, 2011;Comeaux, 2012;Fagan et al 2012;Kaufmann et al 2012;Kornblau et al 2012;Fyn et al 2013). Several specifically discuss librarians' reaction to discovery tools (Buck & Mellinger, 2011;Howard & Wiebrands, 2011;Boyer & Besaw, 2012) and how students use them (Meadow & Meadow, 2012;Mussell & Croft, 2013).…”

“…Wikoff (2011) refers to commercial discovery products as "MetaPortals [which] try to be everything to everyone and a portal to all, like federated search on steroids," but adds "the concept is terrific, but these products are still in their infancy" (p. 24). (Yang &Wagner, 2010). Google Scholar may also be considered a major web-scale discovery tool (Asher et al 2013), but it does not cover all library sources or publishers and provides very few limiting or refining options.…”

Discovering User Behavior: Applying Usage Statistics to Shape Frontline Services

“…Discovery services are libraries' latest attempt to offer a "Google-like" search experience of library resources (Durante & Wang, 2012;Cassidy et al, 2014;Vaughan, 2011). These tools tend to be more popular with users, especially undergraduates, than traditional library search tools (Ballard, 2011;Rose-Wiles & Hofmann, 2012;Yang & Wagner, 2010).…”

Applying Hierarchical Task Analysis Method to Discovery Layer Evaluation

“…reviews), (10) RSS feeds to allow users to follow top circulating books or topic related updates in the library catalogue, (11) Links to social networking sites to allow users to share their resources, (12) Stable URL's that can be easily copied, pasted and shared. [11] They used this list to evaluate seven open source and ten proprietary discovery layers, revealing how only a few of them can be considered true 'next generation catalogs' supporting the users' needs that are common on the Web. All of the tools included in their study missed precision in retrieving relevant search results, e.g.…”

“…New tools, termed as "discovery," "discovery tools," [2][10] "discovery layers'" or "next generation catalogs," [11] have become increasingly popular and have provided the hope of eliminating some of the issues with traditional federated search. Generally, they are third party interfaces that use pre--indexing to provide speedy discovery of relevant materials across millions of records of local library collections, from books and articles, to databases and digital archives.…”