User-Centered Evaluation of a Discovery Layer System with Google Scholar

Zhang, Tao

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-39253-5_34

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…There are few studies specifically comparing the search performance of web-scale discovery services with each other, or with Google Scholar. Of those, most base their evaluation of search performance on a very small sample of searches (e.g., Timpson & Sansom, 2011;Zhang, 2013). The studies below represent more extensive attempts to compare the search performance of these products.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Summon, EBSCO Discovery Service, and Google Scholar: A Comparison of Search Performance Using User Queries

Ciccone¹,

Vickery²

2015

EBLIP

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Objectives -To evaluate and compare the results produced by Summon and EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) for the types of searches typically performed by library users at North Carolina State University. Also, to compare the performance of these products to Google Scholar for the same types of searches.Methods -A study was conducted to compare the search performance of two web-scale discovery services: ProQuest's Summon and EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS). The performance of these services was also compared to Google Scholar. A sample of 183 actual user searches, randomly selected from the NCSU Libraries' 2013 Summon search logs, was used for the study. For each query, searches were performed in Summon, EDS, and Google Scholar. The results of known-item searches were compared for retrieval of the known item, and the top ten results of topical searches were compared for the number of relevant results. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2015, 10.1 35Results -There was no significant difference in the results between Summon and EDS for either known-item or topical searches. There was also no significant difference between the performance of the two discovery services and Google Scholar for known-item searches. However, Google Scholar outperformed both discovery services for topical searches.Conclusions -There was no significant difference in the relevance of search results between Summon and EDS. Thus, any decision to purchase one of those products over the other should be based upon other considerations (e.g., technical issues, cost, customer service, or user interface).

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Summon, EBSCO Discovery Service, and Google Scholar: A Comparison of Search Performance Using User Queries

Ciccone¹,

Vickery²

2015

EBLIP

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“…Focusing on users' assessments, Tao Zhang discovered in 2013 that the relevancy of search results found via Ex Libris's Primo discovery tool was comparable to the relevancy of those discovered via Google Scholar, but that Primo received significantly lower preference and usability ratings. 36 With the exception of Zhang's study, no other comparison of Google or Google Scholar with library resources has focused on assessing what students find. This study is unique in that it is a side-by-side comparison of the sources undergraduates found via Google and a library (federated) search tool.…”

Section: Comparing Google and Library Search Toolsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Google vs. the Library (Part III): Assessing the Quality of Sources Found by Undergraduates

Georgas¹

2015

pla

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This study assesses and compares the quality of sources found by undergraduate students when doing research using both Google and a library (federated) search tool. Thirty undergraduates were asked to find four sources (one book, two articles, and one additional source of their choosing) related to a selected research topic. Students used both Google and a federated search (resource discovery) tool to find material they believed to be relevant. Each source was evaluated for topic relevance, authority, appropriateness, and date, and assigned a total quality score. Results showed that the books found via Google were slightly higher quality than those uncovered via the federated search tool. The articles and additional sources students found via the federated search tool were slightly to moderately higher quality, respectively, than those discovered via Google.

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“…Such library search software is typically referred to as a discovery layer. Researchers have observed that GS provides more or equally salient search results as other proprietary systems such as Ex Libris Primo and Summon (Zhang, 2013; Namei and Young, 2015).…”

Section: Google Scholar Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

OhioLINK librarians and Google Scholar over time: a longitudinal analysis of attitudes and uses

Luftig

Plungis

2020

RSR

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Purpose This study aims to focus on how librarians use and promote Google Scholar (GS) within their library instruction sessions. This study also examines how Google Scholar and the Google Scholar discovery layer, library links, is promoted on library websites. This information is then analyzed across the three date ranges. Design/methodology/approach This study provides a longitudinal analysis of the opinions and uses of Google Scholar by the Ohio consortium of libraries, OhioLINK. This study uses survey data that was collected in 2007, 2014 and 2019 via the OhioLINK Listserv and builds off of co-author’s previous study (2008), which examined the attitudes of OhioLINK librarians as it related to Google Scholar. Findings The results of this research suggested that there were significant changes in use and opinions of Google Scholar between 2007 and 2014 with more normalization of uses and opinions occurring between 2014 and 2019. Research limitations/implications Respondents were not asked for the type of library where they work or to identify their position within their libraries, which necessarily limits the conclusions that can be drawn from the survey responses. In retrospect, limiting the sample to instruction librarians or faculty librarians might have yielded more meaningful results. Additionally, this project did not evaluate the uses and opinions of librarians using GS at the reference desk. By providing this information, it would be easier to truly glean the uses and opinions of librarians with regard to GS. Practical implications This research will assist librarians contextualize how one of the most popular research resources has been used and promoted by those within the field and how those opinions have changed over time. This study will provide context into how Google Scholar became one of the most popular research tools and how attitudes of this unprecedented, and controversial, resource came to be accepted by librarians over the past 15 years. Social implications This study will help librarians better contextualize how other librarians use and promote Google Scholar. Furthermore, it demonstrates how a controversial information research tool became accepted by those in the field over time. Originality/value According to the authors’ knowledge, this research is the only study to provide a longitudinal analysis of the librarian opinions of Google Scholar. It targeted the same audience in identical surveys in a way no other Google Scholar research has done. It builds off of the co-author’s (2008) work, which is a well-cited study regarding librarian attitudes of Google Scholar. This research was done on the 15th year anniversary of Google Scholar.

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User-Centered Evaluation of a Discovery Layer System with Google Scholar

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Summon, EBSCO Discovery Service, and Google Scholar: A Comparison of Search Performance Using User Queries

Summon, EBSCO Discovery Service, and Google Scholar: A Comparison of Search Performance Using User Queries

Google vs. the Library (Part III): Assessing the Quality of Sources Found by Undergraduates

OhioLINK librarians and Google Scholar over time: a longitudinal analysis of attitudes and uses

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