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The Use of an Academic Library's Discovery Layer

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The Use of an Academic Library's Discovery Layer INSTG099 MA Dissertation The use of an academic library’s discovery layer: an ethnographic approach Elizabeth Atkinson September 2013 Word count: 14,776 Supervised by Anne Welsh Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of MA in Library and Information Studies, Department of Information Studies, University College London. Declaration I have read and understood the College and Departmental statements and guidelines concerning plagiarism. I declare that this submission is entirely my own original work. Wherever published, unpublished, printed, electronic or other information sources have been used as a contribution or component of this work, these are explicitly, clearly and individually acknowledged by appropriate use of quotation marks, citations, references and statements in the text. INSTG099 Dissertation Elizabeth Atkinson i Acknowledgements I would like to thank Andrew Preater for giving permission for this research to be carried out at Senate House Library and providing support during the preparation and implementation of this research; Victoria Wilson for giving permission for me to access her dissertation, which she is currently preparing for publication in article form, and to build upon it; and my supervisor Anne Welsh for her advice and encouragement throughout this dissertation. INSTG099 Dissertation Elizabeth Atkinson ii Abstract For several years commentators have asserted that libraries’ traditional OPACs (Online Public Access Catalogues) are failing to meet user expectations. In recent years many academic libraries have implemented discovery layers, systems designed to address the issues of traditional OPACs by allowing e-resources which are not in the library’s catalogue to be searched alongside records in the library’s catalogue and offering a range of features, such as a simple ‘Google-like’ search box, faceted browsing, a “Did you mean…?” feature, suggested alternative searches, user contributions and a more visually appealing interface. Research into how users are using discovery layers for their own research needs is limited. This dissertation investigates how users at Senate House Library are using the discovery layer Encore and which features they find useful. An ethnographic method including observation and interviews is employed to provide an in-depth insight into users’ search experiences. The main findings are that users almost universally start a search using a basic search box, rather than immediately going to advanced search. In contrast to some previous research, several users employed a thorough search approach, carefully evaluating results and looking through multiple pages of results. The idea of location is important to users at Senate House Library. The physical location of search results is not always clear to users who sometimes find a resource in Encore they wish to access only to discover the location it is in is not one to which they have access or is not one to which they wish to travel. Facets are generally found to be useful, but may not be noticed or understood. Content information such as summaries and tables of content are very important to some users. Other features were rarely mentioned or used. Recommendations for further research into the use of Encore at Senate House Library are provided. INSTG099 Dissertation Elizabeth Atkinson iii Contents Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................... i Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Aims and objectives ................................................................................................... 4 2 Literature Review ............................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Search options ........................................................................................................... 5 2.3 Refining the search .................................................................................................... 6 2.4 Extending the search.................................................................................................. 7 2.5 Selecting appropriate items ....................................................................................... 9 2.6 Obtaining items ........................................................................................................ 11 2.7 User contributions ................................................................................................... 11 2.8 Saving and exporting ................................................................................................ 12 3 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Research design ....................................................................................................... 14 3.2 Familiarisation of researcher with the field setting ................................................. 15 3.3 Recruitment of participants ..................................................................................... 15 3.4 Data collection ......................................................................................................... 18 3.5 Data analysis ............................................................................................................ 20 3.6 Ethical considerations .............................................................................................. 21 3.7 Limitations ............................................................................................................... 21 4 Findings and Discussion ................................................................................................... 23 4.1 Search formulation .................................................................................................. 23 4.2 Refining the search .................................................................................................. 28 4.3 Extending the search................................................................................................ 33 4.4 Selecting appropriate items ..................................................................................... 37 4.5 Obtaining items ........................................................................................................ 39 4.6 Other features .......................................................................................................... 40 4.7 Overall experience ................................................................................................... 41 5 Conclusions and recommendations ................................................................................. 43 6 Select Bibliography........................................................................................................... 47 INSTG099 Dissertation Elizabeth Atkinson iv 7 Appendices ....................................................................................................................... 53 7.1 Appendix A: Illustrations of the Encore interface .................................................... 53 7.2 Appendix B: Fieldnotes ............................................................................................ 58 7.3 Appendix C: Demographic questionnaire results .................................................. 113 7.4 Appendix D: Historic collections survey results ..................................................... 114 7.5 Appendix E: Research diary.................................................................................... 114 7.6 Appendix F: Signed information and consent forms ............................................. 125 Appendix F not included INSTG099 Elizabeth Atkinson 1 1 Introduction 1.1 Background By the mid-2000s libraries had started implementing a new type of OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue), with a range of features designed to improve the search experience for the user. These OPACs were often referred to as next-generation catalogues. In his 2007 Library Technology Report Marshall Breeding outlined the features which, in his opinion, were expected of next-generation catalogues (Breeding 2007b). These features were: • A state-of-the-art web interface in terms of appearance and navigation • Enriched content, including cover art images, tables of content, summaries and expert reviews • Faceted navigation • Keyword searching • Relevancy ranking • A “Did you mean…?” feature offering alternative spellings • Recommendations for other content • User contributions • RSS feeds for new items and relevant items in other environments, such as a class page in a virtual learning environment Another problem with traditional OPACs was that they only provided access to items in libraries’ catalogues, and not to journal articles and other resources provided by libraries’ subscriptions to electronic resources. An initial attempt to address this problem was the implementation of federated
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