BC Integration of Systems and Resources MetaLib at Boston College Theresa Lyman Digital Resources Reference Librarian Boston College Libraries NELA Annual Conference - October 2003

Boston College u User Population 9,000 undergrad 4,700 graduate 820 faculty u BC Library Facts 8 libraries/centers Staff: 200 FTEs Electronic resources acquisitions budget – $1.3 million (23%) BC

Where to Find Library Resources u Library Catalog (ALEPH) Includes aggregator e-journals (Serial Solutions MARC records) u Web pages Online Databases (A-Z & by Subject) Electronic Journals List (Serials Solutions) Research Guides Course Pages more... BC

Why we need a portal? u Growth of e-resources Huge cost and large # of resources to manage – 300 databases and more than 18,000 e-journals u Access/Management challenges Too many places to look for information User wants relevant resources Provide instruction to the user BC

Why We Chose MetaLib u Existing positive relationship with Ex Libris u Saw opportunity to influence development & willing to experiment u Mission - Libraries as technology leader on campus u Creation of Digital Resources position in Reference BC

What is MetaLib u Gateway / Search Engine Allows cross-searching of multiple databases Based on protocols (Z39.50, XML, HTTP) Customizable by user, to a certain degree Includes SFX – reference linking b/t databases Includes e-journal lists from SFX BC

What is SFX u Reference linking system based on OpenURL Uses metadata from search results to offer user connections to appropriate services Most frequently links to Full Text BC’s SFX is called Works with many subscription databases and within MetaLib BC

Implementation Timeline July 2001 – MetaLib/SFX installed Nov 2001 – SFX live Jan 2002 – MetaLib v1 live Aug 2003 – renamed SFX “Find It” Aug 2003 – MetaLib v2 live BC

What we put into MetaLib 300+ databases, web sites, library catalogs 100 cross-searchable in MetaLib, including: u BC ALEPH catalogs u Bowker u CSA u EBSCO u Gale InfoTrac u Grove u Library Catalogs u Ingenta u ISI u OCLC u Ovid u ProQuest u RLG u SilverPlatter u Wilson u more…… BC

Integrate systems & resources u Cross searching (vendor and local databases) u Databases & e-journals in 1 place u Reference linking with SFX u Customization - alerts, e-Shelf, history u Incorporate services (citation management, ILL, Ref 24/7, etc) u Use MetaLib to generate web pages u Deep linking from outside MetaLib BC

How students do research u Want to jump right into searching u Don’t want to have to locate resources u Love Google – simple, allows advanced searching for those who want it u Don’t distinguish between e-journals & databases Look for articles in the Library Catalog BC

Benefits of MetaLib u Great for quick searches, saves time u Discovery tool (exposes students to resources they might never use) u Customization, save searches, alerts.. u SFX easy way to point students to full- text and holdings u Use management interfaces to manage e-resources BC

Challenges of MetaLib u Instruction When to use and when not to How to use – locate resources before searching Not all resources are searchable Don’t want or realize customization features u Searching Search and display options limited Lack of relevancy ranking Lack of standards used by vendors u Advanced users want more customization u SFX - expectation full-text is always available BC

MetaLib Statistics u Statistics available with v. 2 (Aug 2003) u Quick Search – most popular by far Known item & keywords (titles, authors) “New York Times and Skywest” “course reserves” u Locating resources is confusing “matrix AND Type=Newspaper” “television impact on people AND Type=Article Database” BC

Future Developments Continue integration of resources Add Citation Linker & SFX to BC Catalog Add resources to MetaLib (including free) More use of MetaLib deep-linking (research guides and WebCT) u Outside of BC NISO MetaSearch Initiative – development of standards Work with Ex Libris on interface enhancements: quick searching by subject, single-sign on, etc. BC

Comments u More resources OpenURL aware and allow some kind of metasearching u Librarians should be aware of these technologies when talking with vendors u Users want the convenience of linked collections and Google-like searching u Users want services within context (make ILL requests from the catalog or database) u BC is a work in progress BC

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