Discovery Tools & Fangirling

Discovery Tools: Current Issues and Trends

Marshal Breeding

I was very excited about attending this presentation because during my studies at San Jose State University - I read many of Breeding’s articles and papers for my various technology courses - including the many and the most recent Library System Reports.

So, I am “fangirling”  a little bit.

Breeding opened the presentation with a survey of the evolution of catalogs system from card catalogs to future trends. The presentation went into depth about the different structures of information for discovery services (i.e  a public catalog) as well as a balance with resource management (i.e. cataloging features):

Most common format

The discussion of these models was interesting and in depth - I feel fairly comfortable the terminology and ideals presented with the different formats of searching and indexing.  

Closer to a library catalog

A custom format

Most of the presentation was a discussion of academic libraries, but the public libraries were addressed eventually in summary:

1. Public Libraries are heavy on printed materials as Academic Libraries are not.
2. Public Catalog is much more comprehensive than academic.
3. Databases are used with public libraries, but not as heavily as academic libraries.

However, the current phases of concern are the following:

1. Transition of MARC records to linked data (very contraversal)
2. eBooks transition in the Public Library
1. How to better manage and access for increasing of eBooks in a thriving environment of print materials (blend print/streaming/downloadable) and emphasis the “brand of the library.”
2. Overdrive app and integrating it into the library experience.
3. Soften the disconnect between and catalog.

My Takeaways
Libraries need to understand and be exposed to technology in order to utilize what is the best for their library in terms of interfaces and infrastructures. This was a very dense session, but I firmly believe that taking these tool will aid in both design and user experience.