Five Months with WorldCat Local – Jennifer Ward
Five Months with WorldCat Local: The University of Washington Libraries Experience
Jennifer Ward
Finding Time (YouTube video)
What does it search?
- 3 catalogs
- Holdings in WorldCat
4 article databases
- PubMed
- ERIC
- GPO
- ArticleFirst
What doesn’t search?
- Some serials
- Certain Special Collections records
- Records for on-order in process titles
- Licensed third party record sets
Why test WorldCat Local?
- Research shows that most users prefere simple and direct search mechanisms and become overwhelmed with multiple choices
- Make our quality resources convenient for users to find and get
- Get into the users space, users using Google Desktop. Get in with the Googles and Microsofts
- Syndication of resources to other user environments
- Our users have lives and we are not the center of it!!!
- Users satisfice
It is all about the user
Overwhelmed by choices, they tend to select the first thing that seems to do well enough Having found something that works, they will only give it up for something demonstratively better or easier
Too many silos!!!
Silos not connected and don’t show people who to get from one silo to another.
Users hit too many dead ends
Yet another interface and another step
Request items at a location that is convient to them – Delivery Silos confusing for users
For our users to go from the catalog to ILL is difficult and confusing
Streamlined, integrated searching of UW Libraries catalog, Summit, OCLC WorldCat holdings
Fewer clicks to find and obtain information
Integrates the three separate request/delivery systems
Next steps should always be clear to the user. So that they don’t get lost
Results displayed in the following order:
- UW catalog
- Summit (consortial catalog)
- WorldCat
- shows all holdings in your area
Citation export
Integrates with ILLiad for ILL
Journals link to electronic holdings and print holdings
Article citations link to check for fulltext
Huge impacts WorldCat local implementation had on borrowing
both consortial borrowing and ILL
Issues with data from multiple sources
FRBR – bringing together manifestations of a work under one records, not perfect
Local and consortial borrowing policies not properly aligned
Lost of some functionality that was local (hours, library locations, etc)