Chapter 8: For More Information

Abstract

Web scale discovery services for libraries are services capable of searching quickly and seamlessly across a vast range of local and remote preharvested and indexed content, providing relevancy-ranked results in an intuitive interface expected by today's information seekers. The first of these services debuted in late 2007, with the majority of services reaching initial public release in 2010. This report reviews web scale discovery services tailored to the library environment and explores why libraries should take notice of these tools.

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.