A Brief Survey of University Library Systems

Azadeh Shakery

April, 26, 2007

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Surveyed Library Systems

• Top university libraries from “Nation's Largest Libraries by Volumes Held”– Harvard University– Yale University– University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign– University of California, Berkeley– University of Texas– University of California-Los Angeles – University of Michigan

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Common Search Options

• Quick Keyword Search

• Advanced Search

• Command Search

• Course Reserves

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Common Display Methods

• Browsable Lists

• Title lists

• Ranked list

• Cross-References

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Common Services

• Borrowing  – Renew Books, Find a Missing Item, Recall a Checked

Out Item

• Request  – Interlibrary Loan,  Document Delivery 

• Reference and Research Help– Research Guides, Tutorials, Subject Specialists,

Course Specific Research Guides    

• Laptop Borrowing  • Copying and Printing  

Harvard Libraries

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Search Collections• Full catalog

– Search for all types of materials• Journal titles

– Search exclusively for serials (including journals, magazines, newspapers) • Digital resources

– Electronic resources (including electronic journals, indexes to journal articles, CD-ROMs, etc) • Reserves

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Types of Search• Search

– To perform a simple keyword search or to browse lists • Expanded Search

– Allows more control over keyword search– Offers a template to help select various options

• Command search– Allows to have maximum control over your search – Use a search language that consists of three-letter commands

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Search

• Browsing lists– Allows to scroll through lists of authors, titles, call

numbers, subject headings, etc.

• Searching keywords anywhere

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Search: Browsing a List

• Allows to scroll through lists (indexes) of authors, titles, call #s , etc • Choose an index to browse (e.g., Title)• Enter the text for which you like to start browsing

(e.g., QUANTUM THEORY OF LIGHT)

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Search: Searching Keywords Anywhere

• Find all records that have the specified word or phrase almost anywhere in the record

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Expanded search• Provides an array of options to perform complex keyword searches• Search several indexes simultaneously• Limit a search by language, location, format, and/or year range• Search terms can contain Boolean operators, truncation and/or wildcard characters

Author words Title words

Title on piece Subject words Series words

Publisher Place of publication

Form/genre All numbers Call Number

… AudioBooksDigital

journals/serialsManuscripts

Mapsmixed forms

Objectsscores or visual

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Command search• Command line method of searching the HOLLIS Catalog• Useful for performing complex searches (including limits)• The parts of a command search statement are a three-letter field code, =, and a search

term • List of commands

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Working with search results

• List view• Sort (title, author, year)• Create list of items

– Add/Delete/View items– Records from multiple searches can be added to the same list

• Print/Save/Send• Create subset

– Will be treated as any result set– Can be combined with other searches or subsets

• EndNote Filter• Manage records with RefWorks• Allows authenticated users to keep records for future

– Can create folders and put records in folders

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EndNote

• A commercial reference management software package• Manages bibliographies and references• Groups citations into "libraries"• User can add a reference to the library• Automatically format the citation • Can be installed such that its functionality appears in the

Tools menu of Microsoft Word for "cite while you write" • Export citation libraries as plain text, Rich Text Format,

HTML or XML. • Has networking capabilities: files can reside on a central

server.• No multi-user capabilities for editing a single

bibliographic file

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RefWorks

• A Web-based commercial citation manager

• An application for managing references, retrieving bibliographic information, and designing texts in terms of their literature references

• Store the reference database online and share data with others

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Harvard University Library LibX

• Toolbar

• Right-Click Menu

• Embedded cues

• Autolinks

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LibX Toolbar

• Enter search words to search the HOLLIS Catalog, or switch to search Harvard's E-Journal List, E-Resources List, or Citation Linker.

• Search by multiple terms in different fields (author, title, ISBN/ISSN, etc)

• Add additional search boxes.

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LibX Right-Click Menu

• Highlight text on a web page and right-click to get the menu– Search selected text in the HOLLIS Catalog or Google Scholar. – Reload this page via Harvard Access access to Harvard's licensed e-

resources when an article is restricted on the Web– Add Selection to Search as... add the text to the search box in the toolbar

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LibX Embedded Cues

• LibX places a cue within: – Amazon – Google – Barnes & Noble – Yahoo! Search – Global Books in Print – New York Times Book Reviews

• Click on the cue to get online access to the article or to see if Harvard owns the book.

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LibX Autolinks

• LibX recognizes ISSNs, ISBNs, PubMed IDs and DOIs and turns them into autolinks that may be used to search for specific books and journals

UIUC Library

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Search Options• Quick Search

– Search by option (start of title,…)– Set limits (language, location, year of publication, format, place of

publication)• Advanced Search• Course Reserves (Search by instructor or course)

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Display Options

• Browsable heading lists

• Titles list

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Browsable Heading Lists

• Results of author or subject search:

Related names or subjects that may be useful in refining your search

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Titles List

• Results of title, keyword and call # searches

• How many of the terms appear in the record• Which fields of the record contain the term• Proximity of search terms

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Record Display Types • Full View

– Displays all available bibliographic information about each title. • Brief View

– Displays selected bibliographic information about each title • "More Like This" View

– Shows search options available to find titles similar to the one already retrieved– Find similar items by author or other name, by related title, or by subject heading

• Staff (MARC) View

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Output Options

• Print or download records

• Email records

• Store records using MyBookbag

• Store search strategies using MySearches

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MyBookbag

• Use the MyBookbag function to create and store a list of selected titles from one or more searches

• From MyBookbag you can print or email the stored information

• Up to 1000 items can be stored in MyBookbag

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My Searches (Saved Search Strategies)

• Shows a list of searches you have elected to store for future use – Can re-execute searches immediately– Can request regular reminders to re-execute

searches in the future • Remind periodically• Reminded when a specified time interval has

elapsed and new records have been added to the database since the last reminder that will meet your search criteria

University of Texas Library

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Search Options

• Browse Search

• Keyword Search

• Search Commands

• Reserves Lists

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Browse search

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Keyword search

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Command Search

UC-Berkeley

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Search Options

• Quick Search

• Advanced search

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Keyword order and closeness in Keyword Search

• Using n (near) and w (with) • To specify the order and closeness of the words

in records found. – n and near: Either word can appear first. – w and with: The first word typed must appear first. – n, near, w, or with: the words must be adjacent – A number (1 to 25) after n or w: Specify the maximum

number of words between the search words.

University of Michigan Library

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Search Options

• Basic Search

• Advanced Search

• Command Search

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Personalization Options

• Search Tools enables to personalize your environment– Create your own database lists– Save records that you find interesting for future

reference– Define your preferences for the display of results.– Provides the following options:

• My Shelf• My Databases• My e-Journals• My Saved Searches / Alerts• My Preferences

Yale University Library(very similar to UIUC library)

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Search Options

• Simple search

• Advanced search

• Course reserves

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Ranking Factors

• Uniqueness of search terms within the database

• Proximity of search terms to each other within the record 

• Number of different search terms present in a record

• Number of times a search term occurs in the record fields (e.g., subject heading field, author field, title field).

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Discussion

• How can these systems be improved?– Better ranking– Personalization– Recommendation– Grouping/Navigating results– Faceted search– …

Thank You