Where users’ find the answer: discovery layers versus databases

Evelhoch, Zebulin

doi:10.1080/1941126x.2018.1521092

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…For one, the lower percentage speaks to the increased effort or knowledge required of users to find and search within a database compared to the ease of locating the library discovery layer. Libraries rely on discovery layers to direct users to database content, and research has generally found that fewer users go directly to individual databases to search (Evelhoch, 2016;Evelhoch, 2018;Way, 2010).…”

Section: Proactive Chat Within Databases Increases Chat Initiationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Origin of Queries: Where Chat Reference Questions Begin

Dempsey¹,

Warner

Lux

et al. 2022

Internet Reference Services Quarterly

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Academic libraries providing chat reference services have a range of options for where and how library users can engage with chat providers. These entry points can be static or proactively invite users into the service. The study compares the URLs from which users entered chat reference at three large public research libraries the United States. The URLs show where users were when they sought assistance with library tasks. This exploratory investigation is important for extending knowledge of user help-seeking behavior and how chat service configuration may impact use. Data are variables related to chat interactions (n=19,839

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Section: Proactive Chat Within Databases Increases Chat Initiationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Origin of Queries: Where Chat Reference Questions Begin

Dempsey¹,

Warner

Lux

et al. 2022

Internet Reference Services Quarterly

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show abstract

“…Evelhoch and Zebulin analyzed two years of usage data from both Primo and a selection of subject databases, concluding that users have difficulty finding relevant sources in Primo or they are not available. 11 Based on users' judgments, Lee and Chung, determined that EBSCO Discovery Service was less effective than a set of education and library subject databases in terms of source relevance. 12 Another study illustrated that while students preferred discovery environments, the articles they selected from the subject (indexing and abstracting) databases were more authoritative.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Framework for Measuring Relevancy in Discovery Environments

Galbreath

Merrill

Johnson

2021

ITAL

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Discovery environments are ubiquitous in academic libraries but studying their effectiveness and use in an academic environment has mostly centered around user satisfaction, experience, and task analysis. This study aims to create a quantitative, reproducible framework to test the relevancy of results and the overall success of Washington State University’s discovery environment (Primo by Ex Libris). Within this framework, the authors use bibliographic citations from student research papers submitted as part of a required university class as the proxy for relevancy. In the context of this study, the researchers created a testing model that includes: (1) a process to produce machine-generated keywords from a corpus of research papers to compare against a set of human-created keywords, (2) a machine process to query a discovery environment to produce search result lists to compare against citation lists, and (3) four metrics to measure the comparative success of different search strategies and the relevancy of the results. This framework is used to move beyond a sentiment or task-based analysis to measure if materials cited in student papers appear in the results list of a production discovery environment. While this initial test of the framework produced fewer matches between researcher-generated search results and student bibliography sources than expected, the authors note that faceted searches represent a greater success rate when compared to open-ended searches. Future work will include comparative (A/B) testing of commonly deployed discovery layer configurations and limiters to measure the impact of local decisions on discovery layer efficacy as well as noting where in the results list a citation match occurs.

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“…Because of these factors, discovery services should supply metrics that conform to the COUNTER Guidelines [10]. Evelhoch noted that in the three years following a discovery layer implementation at a university with a FTE (Full Time Equivalent) of 12,000, statistics on specific journal and database platforms declined while at the same time the discovery layer showed an increase in usage [11]. COUNTER-conforming metrics can provide content providers with additional usage information and demonstrate that only licensed users are getting access to their content.…”

Section: Metrics and Reportingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The open discovery initiative & promoting transparency in discovery

Morse

Varnum

2021

ISU

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NISO recently updated the Open Discovery Initiative Recommended Practice (https://www.niso.org/publications/rp-19-2020-odi), which outlines best practices for working with library discovery services. It defines ways for libraries to assess the level of content provider participation; streamlines the process by which libraries, content providers and discovery service providers work together; defines models for “fair” linking; and suggests usage statistics that should be collected for libraries and for content providers. The recommendations in this document, created by members of the Open Discovery Initiative Standing Committee, enable libraries, discovery service providers, and content providers to work together to the full extent of their abilities - providing the most effective and rich experience to end users.

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Where users’ find the answer: discovery layers versus databases

Cited by 3 publications

References 26 publications

On the Origin of Queries: Where Chat Reference Questions Begin

On the Origin of Queries: Where Chat Reference Questions Begin

Framework for Measuring Relevancy in Discovery Environments

The open discovery initiative & promoting transparency in discovery

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