UC-eLinks Principles for Adding Services

Note: These are still under discussion by the Tools and Services Working Group.

Categories of services that might be implemented include:

1. Library catalogs: Local catalogs, union catalogs, other area catalogs.
2. Web search engines: Google, Yahoo, etc.
3. Cited references: Link to Web of Knowledge.
4. Online full text (other than ejournals): Some of these may require special work and may be database specific (e.g., ERIC to EDRS, ESTC to EEBO); others may be more generally applicable (e.g., Dissertations, Oxford Reference Online).
5. Book related: Book reviews, Books in Print, Amazon, etc.
6. Citation management: Links to EndNote, etc. (can OpenURL hold all of the metadata?).
7. Ask a Librarian: To be implemented in March 2003.

See the table below for services currently supported by SFX.

Emerging principles discussed by Tools and Services Working Group September 24, 2002:

• Number of services: Should be “manageable” for a given resource to minimize confusion and need for scrolling.
• Some services will apply only to certain formats.
• Some general services could be grouped, e.g., check holdings in library catalogs could offer a menu for local catalogs, the Melvyl Catalog, or union catalogs.
• Order of services: Are there logical ways to present services, e.g., by accessibility (online version first, catalog for holdings next, interlibrary loan (ILL) third, related resource fourth, etc.)?
• Customization: Campus libraries will be able to customize services offered in their version. Users should have the option to customize from the options available from their library (future functional enhancement).
• Priorities:
  • For non-transitioning resources, continue to give priority to three main services: full text, holdings, and Request.
  • If a service exists from a vendor, give priority to providing it more broadly via UC-eLinks (e.g., cited reference searching in PsycINFO only goes back into Psyc—extend it to Web of Knowledge via UC-eLinks).
  • Other full text resources should have priority for the investigation of linking possibilities (e.g., poetry databases).
  • Give priority to services that are not database-specific. There is extra technical overhead/development needed for database-specific implementation.
  • For services that are database-specific, give priority to those that are essential to the content of the source database.

Request threshold: Some sources cannot provide metadata that is parsed sufficiently to populate an ILL request. Some requests were coming through with so little metadata that ILL staff could not identify the item, nor could it be automatically requested. The threshold for metadata is being raised for Request to keep these from going through, but users will also have the option to manually fill out a form to email to ILL staff. This experience indicates we may need principles for deciding when to turn on Request for a given resource.

The group recommended the following:

• Because good metadata is the foundation of the service, we should work toward improving its quality and the understanding of its importance.
  • The CDL defines minimum standards for Request and communicates this to source and target vendors.
  • Resource Liaisons test UC-eLinks for all known document types in the resource to see if the metadata is sufficient for Request.
  • CDL staff and Request Liaisons review test results to see where problems occur for Request.
  • The CDL may be able to work with the vendor and/or the data producer to improve metadata.
• Providing one-stop convenient service to users for as many resources as possible is paramount, even if it introduces some additional staff workload.
  • If problems still exist for Request, the Resource Liaison can recommend turning it on by providing a justification (e.g., it works for most of the document types in the database, the chances for improvement are slim, etc.)
  • Alternative access to ILL will be offered (e.g., links to fill-in-the-blank forms).
  • CDL and advisory groups will review the alternative mechanisms for Request (e.g., the blank form) for user satisfaction and impact on ILL staff and could revisit the decision on whether and how to offer Request for a given source.

SFX Services

Shaded = services implemented by CDL

The Tools and Services Working Group plans to explore which sevices have been implemented by other major libraries.