1. Win Shih, Head of Library Systems Vivien E
Win Shih, Head of Library Systems Vivien E. Zazzau, User Ed/Reference Librarian University at Albany
Pursuing Better Search Experience: Lessons Learned from Beta-Testing EBSCO Discovery Service

2. About the University at Albany
THREE LIBRARIES  
University Library (Main)
Dewey Graduate Library
Science Library & M.E. Grenander Special Collections
 Total Staff (FTE) --145   
CAMPUS COMMUNITY
Students -- 18,000
Faculty -- 1,000
Reference Questions ('08/'09) -- 62,930

3. Binghamton University
SUNY Test Libraries
University at Albany
Binghamton University
                                 
100+ Beta-Test Libraries

4. University at Albany: Ebsco Discovery Working Group
Elaine Lasda-Bergman, Bibliographer & Reference Librarian (Committee Chair)
Win Shih, Head of Library Systems
Vivien E. Zazzau, User Education/Reference Librarian
Michael Knee, Bibliographer & Reference Librarian
Carol Anderson, Reference Librarian

5. EDS Working Group Charge
Test and evaluate the EBSCO Discovery Service:
Identify other similar discovery services
Examine features, usability & content of various services
Determine cost and library staff time to implement
Make recommendations on services to implement

6. EBSCO Discovery Services
EBSCO Product
Function
EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS)
Discovery Tool with a Preindexed, tiered search
EBSCOhost Integrated Search Service (EHIS)
Paired with EDS, it can federate information from sources not available in EDS or your library's EBSCOhost databases.
EBSCO A-Z 
Listing Service
Organizes and provides links to all
library e-resources.
EBSCO LinkSource (Link Resolver)
Designed to work with EDS, but EDS works with any link resolver.

7. EDS Beta-Testing Support
Weekly One-hour Webinars with Other Beta-Test Libraries
Listserv for Test Libraries and EBSCO Representatives
Campus Visits by EBSCO Representatives
24-hour Telephone Support  
 Online Help Documentation

8. Issues We're Exploring
EDS availability/holdings information limited to 4 fields:
1.Location       2. Call #       3. Status      4.Due Date
University at Albany needs at least two more fields:
1. Collection    2. Loan Type   

9. A Few Other Issues 1."Government Documents" classified as "Books."
2. Periodicals missing:
volume & issue info
collection ID
loan type
3. Reference books:
not identified as Ref books
listed as available, but not as "non-circulating"

10. Scope Full Metadata (EDS) Federate Initially (EhIS) E-books
Federate Initially (EhIS)
E-books
Greenwood Digital Collection
NetLibrary
Federated or Move to EBSCO Platform
EconLit, PsycINFO, Social Work Abstracts
Mostly Covered by EDS
Project MUSE, ProQuest Platinum, Sociological Abstracts

11. Customization Advanced Search Adding / Removing Resources
Custom Widgets
Meebo
RSS Feeds
Search Box Builder
Library Website
Libguides
Blackboard
Facebook
Branding
Skinnability
Colors
Toolbar
ILL Form

13. Other Features Relevancy Ranking Hide Link if Full Text
Hide Link if Full Text
RSS Feed and Alerts
Super Records
Guest Access
Multilingual Data
Result Biasing

14. Local Collections Library Catalog Institutional Repositories
Institutional Repositories
 Civil Right Digital Library, University of Georgia
Other Collections
LC Catalog
ERIC
PubMed
arXiv.org 

15. Lessons Learned Forever Beta Commitment
Commitment
Every Department has a Valuable Contribution to Make
Simple Searching Poses Complex Pedagogical Challenges
One Size Does Not Fit All
Single Target, Interface, Index
It's Important to Set Deadlines, But More Important to Be Flexible

16. Future Plan Usability Testing Loading Catalog Records
Loading Catalog Records
Marketing & Promotion
Funding
Training
Assessment

17. Thanks So Much for Your Interest!
Win Shih, Head of Library Systems
University at Albany/SUNY   Vivien E. Zazzau, User Education/Reference Librarian University at Albany/SUNY