This is a very useful article...I’ve included a link to it on the ‘discovery’ page (http://helibtech.com/Discovery ) of SCONUL’s Higher Education Library Technology (HELibTech) wiki. This also includes information on which (UK) institutions are using which products... (and btw a whole load of other stuff on library technologies in Higher Education).
I also made a brief foray into the area of discovery services—with a slightly different slant-- in a short piece I did for CILIP (UK Library Association) in December.
http://www.kenchadconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/platforms_CILIP_Gazette_2December2010.pdf
This comments on some correlations between use of resources and student academic success--and the new discovery services purport to increase use. There is also an interesting report (Jan 2011) by the UK's RIN (Research Information Network) that shows a correlation between an institution's research success and e-journal use: 'E-journals: their use, value and impact - final report'
http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-research/e-journals-their-use-value-and-impact
Ken
CEO, Ken Chad Consulting Ltd
Tel +44 (0)7788 727 845. Email: ken_at_kenchadconsulting.com www.kenchadconsulting.com
Skype: kenchadconsulting Twitter: @KenChad
Open Library Systems Specifications: http://libtechrfp.wikispaces.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of B.G. Sloan
Sent: 16 March 2011 16:24
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: [NGC4LIB] The next generation of discovery tools (new LJ article)
"The challenge for academic libraries, caught in the seismic shift from print to electronic resources, is to offer an experience that has the simplicity of Google—which users expect—while searching the library’s rich digital and print collections—which users need. Increasingly, they are turning to a new generation of search tools, called discovery, for help."
See: http://bit.ly/g9KqiX
Bernie Sloan
Received on Fri Mar 18 2011 - 12:08:17 EDT