Checklist: Project Management & Communication Determine who will be managing the project Should a task force or other ad hoc group be formed to direct the project? Identify where the buck stops for final decision Create a communication plan Who will be responsible for communicating information regarding the discovery tool to internal stakeholders? Who will be responsible for communicating information regarding the discovery tool to external stakeholders? How often will information be communicated to internal and external stakeholders? Create project-level documentation Create timeline document / Gantt chart to provide overview of project. Share with the entire library organization Determine where documentation related to the project will be kept, and who will have access to it. Develop a Discovery Tool (DT) Disaster Plan in case the tool is down. (Appendix A) Review the plan with public services, the webmaster, and other major stakeholders. Who is the DT In Case of Emergency contact?
Checklist: Cataloging Compare catalog search with DT search When you perform similar searches in the catalog / discovery tool, do you get about the same number of results? Why? How does the discovery tool map MARC fields to the discovery tool s fields? (Appendix B) How well does the discovery tool integrate non-print resources into search results? Review catalog record display in DT display Do records display the same fields in native and discovery interfaces? How do the other title fields search / display in the discovery interface? If you have multiple libraries do the locations appear as a single location or multiple locations within the discovery interface record? Which icons will be used in the discovery tool for various formats of materials? Do your catalog locations make sense for your discovery tool facets? (Appendix C) What collections in your library have specific searching or linking needs? Examples: music, special collections, online videos, government documents Will there be links from the native catalog interface to the discovery tool? Will there be links from the discovery tool to the native catalog interface? Decide what local / catalog records to include Are there catalog records you want to suppress before exporting them to the discovery tool? (recent orders, missing items, reserve items) Are there other datasets you want to add to your catalog records before you upload them? (e.g. journal aggregator holdings) Do you do batch uploads / deletions in your catalog? If so, can you update the discovery tool immediately after a major change? How often will you update the records in the discovery tool?
Checklist: Cataloging cont. Test Upload and Update process Discuss with the vendor who will check to be sure all record updates are made. Count the items uploaded and compare with the items that show in the discovery tool. Ask the vendor what the possible reasons would be for items not to be imported (e.g. duplicate id numbers) and what kind of notification system is in place for reporting such errors. Who will do the comparative testing between catalog and discovery tool searching and display? How will issues be reported and tracked? Review scope and function of catalog and DT Your catalog may be growing into a different role and its name may or may not be appropriate. Review the main catalog interface in light of the new discovery tool
Checklist: Marketing the Discovery Tool Determine whether there will be a soft launch to the tool and/or a large marketing campaign Create a branding scheme for the discovery tool (Appendix D) Determine a name Choose a color scheme Specify style elements Determine the person(s) who will market this product to users Develop a timeline for marketing messages to be released Determine what resources they will need in order to market the DT Create marketing messages Create marketing message for students Create marketing message for faculty Create marketing message for staff
Checklist: Access Services & Interlibrary Loan Review accounts & pathways between systems Will it confuse patrons that their library accounts and course reserves won t be part of the discovery tool? If it does confuse them, how will this be remedied? If catalog accounts are not integrated into the discovery tool, determine the best pathway for users from the discovery tool to catalog functions such as renew, request, etc., and check into what technical issues may exist How will requests coming from the discovery tool appear in the interlibrary loan system? Develop training for access services Review DT with Interlibrary Loan staff Develop training / tutorials for staff who may be asked questions about library accounts in the context of the discovery tool What FAQs might need to be written about the discovery tool? How do I renew a book through the DT? Can I request and ILL through the DT? Do course reserves appear in the DT?
Checklist: Instruction Have a philosophical discussion regarding whether the discovery tool should be promoted more as the one-stop shop or as the first stop in the research process Is the discovery tool more appropriate for upper level students or lower level students? What advantages and disadvantages does the discovery tool have for students? How will the discovery tool be explained to faculty so that it can be integrated into assignments? Training Instruction Librarians on the DT Identify who instruction librarians should contact if they have questions about how to complete specific searches in the discovery tool. Develop training session for instruction librarians Schedule training session for instruction librarians Conduct a training session for instruction librarians Teaching the DT to users Develop accurate messages that explain the strengths and weaknesses of the discovery tool. Develop clear messages about what a discovery tool search does and does not include for librarians to use during instruction sessions. Develop training materials / handouts for instruction librarians to use with patrons Create a video/explanation about the purpose of the discovery tool (link to this resource from library Web site) (example of webpage: Appendix E) Review the timeline for discovery tool implementation and new releases of the discovery tool content and features against the instruction schedule
Checklist: Reference & Information Services Discuss how the discovery tool will work with other library resources. How will databases be integrated in the discovery tool? Which databases will be added to the discovery tool? How do records from these databases display? Will it be clear to library patrons which resources are part of the DT? How does the DT link to other library resources? Will there be links on every page? Will it be intuitive how to travel back to the library web page from the DT? What pathways are possible from the discovery tool to subject guides, chat reference, and other databases? Will the DT allow for a federated searching widget to be added to the results screen? Will your library enable that? Which databases should be included? What training resources will be needed for those fielding reference questions about the discovery tool? Will these be tutorials, handouts for the service points, a webpage with all the relevant information FAQs? What FAQs might need to be written about the discovery tool? What s the difference between the library catalog and the discovery tool? Why is THIS item in the library catalog and not the discovery tool? (or vice versa) How can I make permanent links to discovery tool searches? How do I do THIS type of search in the discovery tool that I used to do in the catalog? Determine who will create the help files/tutorials/handouts Determine who will maintain/update the help files/tutorials/handouts
Checklist: Web Site and the Discovery Tool Technical aspects of DT Identify the technical options for integrating the discovery tool search box on the web site: vendor widget? Home-grown widget? iframe? code? Consider whether there is a technical way you can allow users to integrate the discovery tool into their web sites, course management systems, etc. If so, determine where on the web site you will offer this code. DT and the website Determine whether the new search box will be placed in parallel with the catalog and other resources on the website. (Appendix F) Determine whether the discovery tool will appear as a consistent site element (i.e. in the header or footer? In a separate search box widget?) How much pre-searching/limiting should be done before entering the discovery interface? (like the search box on our homepage) Will there be an entry box on the library home page that allows you to prelimit your searches to just books or just articles? (Appendix G) Create FAQs about the discovery tools? Determine who will collect FAQs for the DT Determine who will create the FAQs for the website related to the DT. Determine which library units and stakeholders need to be consulted about website placement for the discovery tool.
Checklist: Feedback & Assessment Plan for feedback about the discovery tool Decide who will receive feedback from the public and respond Decide who will receive feedback from staff and respond (this may mean an extended conversation) Will there be a feedback button / link in the discovery tool? What will it say and look like? Usability checklist Use assessment measures to create/brainstorm items for future user studies or usability tests Identify reports and metrics that would be helpful for evaluating the adoption and use of the discovery tool (Appendix H) Be sure systems are set up to collect data. Ask the vendor how searches within the discovery tool might affect the overall database statistical reports from the vendor for databases included in the discovery tool? Identify who will collect data, analyze data, and prepare reports Identify a place to store assessment data, reports, and presentations. (Appendix I)
Checklist: Product Improvement Bug Testing & Troubleshooting Do not assume that any of the features work. Have your best troubleshooter test every single feature of that discovery tool This same list will have to be re-tested with each enhancement of the product. Make sure you have a dedicated bug tester. This will require significant time and the person needs to be able to take detailed notes. Will the library keep a bug list / enhancement request list for staff? for the public? (Appendix J) How can the public / staff report bugs? How do the results from the discovery tool integrate library catalog results? Does the DT preferentially list more articles or books? Vendor Communications Ask the vendor how they will communicate about updates to the library. Identify who in the library will test the updates that the vendor announces to be sure they work as expected (This person should also update the library about the efficacy of new updates). Identify who in the library will communicate with the vendor about problem areas. Identify who will monitor ongoing developments in the discovery tool market.
Appendix A: Disaster Plan
Appendix B: Cataloging field comparison
Appendix C: Comparing catalog and discovery tool record
Appendix D: Branding the DT At JMU after some discussion the Research Roadmap Task Force settled on the name Quick Search for the discovery tool. Branding also includes a magnifying glass. This same branding occurs within the Discovery Tool. On library home page: Within the discovery tool:
Appendix E: Tutorials Screenshot Screenshot of the tutorials ---->
Appendix F: Location of DT on Library home page
Appendix G: Pre-searching limits of DT
Appendix H: Assessment metrics The Discovery Interface Group identified several quantitative measures we think could be used to help evaluate the impact of the tool. It should be noted that changes in the below metrics could have many causes that is, they could be the result of other factors than the discovery tool. We would want to see circulation numbers remain steady or increase. Since LEO Library Catalog would likely lose its primacy on the library web site, we would expect to see the searches and sessions in LEO go down. We would expect searches and sessions in Academic Search Complete to go down (as a general database, hopefully EDS does this part well). We would want searches and sessions for subject-specific databases not in EDS to remain steady or increase. For example if ITER traffic remains steady, then we could believe those who need it are still finding it. We would expect to see full-text article requests go up. We would want to see total electronic resource queries go up. We would need to be able to separate out federated search-initiated queries in order to use this measure to avoid counting accesses twice. We would want to see traffic to the subject guides, Ask A Librarian, and other parts of the library web site increase. For any web page with Google Analytics implemented (LEO, some parts of the library web site) we would be able to determine how much traffic is coming from the EBSCO server.
Appendix I: Data Warehousing
Appendix J: Bug list for product improvement