1. Primo Primer / MetaLib+ for Mere Mortals
Paul Aloisio, Systems Librarian |
Laura Morse, Manager of Library Systems Projects |
Hank Sway, Systems Librarian |
Office for Information Systems
ABCD-Library Working Group – April 17, 2012

2. (One aspect of) the Search and Discovery Problem
2 catalogs of print and electronic materials
100’s of individual databases
Many too subject-specific in this era of cross-disciplinary research
1000’s(+) of individual journal websites
Google..
Wikipedia..
Too many places for library users to search!
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

3. Solution, Phase 1: Federated / Meta-search
Cross-search of multiple independent databases in a single discovery interface
Remember Dogpile?
Harvard’s implementation: E-Research (MetaLib by Ex Libris)
Cons: slow, user still required to select resources to search
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

4. Solution, Phase 2: Mega-aggregate Indexes and Next-gen Discovery
Single index of a vast body of scholarly content from a variety of publishers and content providers
Results retrievable from a single search
More akin to Google Scholar
Separation of discovery and fulfillment
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

5. Mega-aggregate indexes and next-gen discovery interfaces, a gross oversimplification
Next gen interface
Examples:
Primo
Summon
WorldCat Local
EBSCO Discovery
Open source
Vendor aggregated index (articles, etc.)
Not to scale
Primo Central index
Summon index
Other local data
(sometimes)
OPAC
Catalog data
(sometimes)
EBSCO Discovery index
WorldCat Local index
Vendor aggregated index (articles, etc.)
ILS
EBSCOhost data
Elsevier data; FirstSearch data
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

6. Definition: Ex Libris Group
A leading company in the library automation services marketplace
Creator of many products currently in use at Harvard, including the ALEPH integrated library system
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

7. Definition: Primo Central Index
Ex Libris’ “... mega-aggregation of hundreds of millions of scholarly e-resources of global and regional importance. These include journal articles, e-books, reviews, legal documents and more that are harvested from primary and secondary publishers and aggregators, and from open-access repositories.”
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

8. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Definition: Primo
A discovery framework that allows users to import data (encoded in MARC, EAD, etc.) for indexing and display purposes (like HOLLIS)
NOT the service Harvard has implemented
“Primo® is a one-stop solution for the discovery and delivery of local and remote resources, such as books, journal articles, and digital objects.”
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

9. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Definition: MetaLib+
A hosted Primo SaaS environment with access to the Primo Central Index
Harvard DOES have a full implementation of this service
“MetaLib+ is a cloud-based Primo service for electronic material discovery, providing instant access to the Primo Central Index with its vast coverage of scholarly content.”
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

10. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Definition: MetaLib
Federated / meta-search across multiple independent databases
Also a resource finder/locator
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

11. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Definition: SFX
Ex Libris’ OpenURL Link Resolver or “Citation Linker”
The purple Find Harvard button
Bridge between a known citation and its online location(s)
Related article recommender service (bX)
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

12. PCI/MetaLib+ : A Few Advantages
Speed!
Relevancy Ranking
Improved search refinements/facets and filtering
Integrated recommendations
My Research
Direct export to RefWorks/EndNote
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

13. PCI/MetaLib+ : A Few Oddities
Creation Date facet
Interface usability: open questions
Lack of “single record view”
Does not play well with Zotero (Firefox extension / citation management tool)
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

14. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
What is in PCI again?
Descriptive data about traditional stuff
Journal articles, Books, Newspapers
Less traditional (a.k.a. interesting) stuff
News broadcast transcripts, maps, data sets, video, images, theses
Some hard to find stuff
Government reports, discussion papers, trial transcripts, oral histories, diaries
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

15. What are you really searching in PCI?
It depends on the provider and collection
Some material has the full text indexed
Other material only has brief descriptive data
Other material may include abstracts and subject heading data
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

16. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Examples
ACM Digital library
Full Text and Subject headings
JSTOR
Subject headings only
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

17. Types of searches - comparison
Looking for a specific Article
Homogenization of a class of nonlinear eigenvalue problems Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Section A Mathematics / Volume Issue 01 - pp
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

18. Primo Central Index - duplicates
Found 3 copies of the article
Differences in descriptions – including who the lead author was!
Cambrige University Press (publisher):
Baffico, L ; Conca, C ; Rajesh, M
Web of Science
Ingenta
Rajesh, M.
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

19. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Google Scholar
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

20. Google Scholar – removed duplicates
Collapsed versions of Article
Provided citation analysis – who cited this
Link to Full Text
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

21. What about a broad search?
Search for Blood Cancer
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

22. Primo Central Index - relevant
Returned result with ‘blood cancer’
Seems pretty relevant
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

23. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Google Scholar
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

24. Google Scholar – not as relevant
Looked for both terms, blood and cancer, but not the phrase
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

25. MetaLib Quick Search – less relevant
MetaLib search results are presented by year
Relevance feature is disabled in Harvard’s implementation
There are also a limited number of records to do ranking on
193 records retrieved in MetaLib vs. 1 million+ in PCI vs. 2 million+ in Google Scholar
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

26. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Which to use?
Google Scholar
Good for finding a known article
Primo Central Index
Broadest types of materials
MetaLib
Good links to native databases
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

27. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
NISO
What is NISO, anyway?
National Information Standards Organization
a non-profit association accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
identifies, develops, maintains, and publishes technical standards to manage information
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

28. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
NISO, continued
NISO standards apply both traditional and new technologies to the full range of information-related needs, including retrieval, re-purposing, storage, metadata, and preservation.
Trivia Time!
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

29. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
NISO, continued
ANSI/NISO Z39.50
Information Retrieval : Application Service Definition & Protocol Specification
ANSI/NISO Z39.93
The Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) Protocol
ANSI/NISO Z39.9
International Standard Serial Numbering (ISSN)
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

30. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
NISO Initiatives
What is not working and how does that affect stakeholders?
Does this relate to other existing efforts? Is a shift in one/more of them required or is a new effort needed?
Who will benefit from the deliverables?
Who needs to participate?
What does the initiative need to do; what does it NOT need to do
How can uptake of the deliverable be encouraged?
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

31. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
NISO Deliverables
Standard
Recommended Practice
OpenURL
Balance: no single interest category constitutes a majority of the membership / voting pool / working group: producer, user, general interest
Consensus: respond to all comments and make efforts to resolve negative votes, even if proposal is approved
Open process: allowing members and the community to have confidence in NISO standards.
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

32. NISO Open Discovery Initiative
Current discovery services are primarily based upon indexes derived from journals, ebooks and other electronic information of a scholarly nature
The content comes from a range of information providers and products--commercial, open access, institutional, etc.
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

33. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
NISO ODI Goals
Define standards and/or best practices for the new generation of library discovery services that are based on indexed search
Establish a more standard set of practices for the ways that content is represented in discovery services and for the interactions between the creators of these services and the information providers whose resources they represent.
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

34. Balance of Constituents
Libraries
Publishers
Service Providers
Anya Arnold, Orbis Cascade Alliance Sara Brownmiller, University of Oregon
Marshall Breeding, Vanderbilt University Jamene Brooks-Kieffer, Kansas State University
Laura Morse, Harvard University
Lucy Harrison, College Center for Library Automation (D2D liaison/observer)
Ken Varnum, University of Michigan
Lettie Conrad, SAGE Publications Beth LaPensee, ITHAKA/JSTOR/Portico Jeff Lang, Thomson Reuters
Linda Beebe, American Psychological Association Aaron Wood, Alexander Street Press
Jenny Walker, Ex Libris Group John Law, Serials Solutions Michael Gorrell, EBSCO Information Services
David Lindahl, University of Rochester (XC)
Jeff Penka, OCLC (D2D liaison/observer)
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

35. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Project Outline
Identify stakeholders’ needs & requirements
Create recommendations & tools to streamline process
Provide effective means of assessment
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

36. Specific Deliverables
Standard vocabulary
NISO Recommended Practice:
Data format & transfer
Communicating content rights
Levels of indexing, content availability
Linking to content
Usage statistics
Evaluate compliance
Plan to disseminate this information to stakeholders
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

37. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Timeline
Milestone
Target Date
Status
Appointment of working group
December 2011
Approval of charge and initial work plan
March 2012
Agreement on process and tools
June 2012
Completion of information gathering
October 2012
Completion of initial draft
January 2013
Completion of final draft
May 2013
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

38. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Next steps
Summer-Fall 2012:
Determine processes & tools
Gather information from stakeholders
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

39. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Connect with ODI
Project website:
Interest group mailing list:
ODI:
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

40. Slide Acknowledgement
Much appreciation to Nettie Legace (NISO), Jamene Brooks-Kieffer (Kansas State University), and John Law (Serials Solutions) for sharing the slides NISO and ODI from ER&L!
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

41. Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012
Questions/Comments?
Primo Primer | ABCD-Library | 4/17/2012

42. Thank you. Paul Aloisio, Systems Librarian | paul_aloisio@harvard.edu
Laura Morse, Manager of Library Systems Projects |
Hank Sway, Systems Librarian |
Office for Information Systems
ABCD-Library Working Group – April 17, 2012