STAFF RESOURCES |
The committee welcomed Theo Haynes as the new public services representative from Camden. Although not officially appointed to the committee, Sam McDonald offered to remain as a guest member until all web-related DIG work is complete. McDonald will post all previously distributed DIG meeting minutes (available on Sakai) to the RUL staff website.
Configuration
Selectors were sent an email inviting them to review database assignments in their subject area(s) and submit any recommended changes via an online form. A total of twelve responses were received. In cases where the selector did not respond or the selected resources were unavailable, resources were selected based on the subject listings of the Indexes & Databases page. The revised configuration schema is available on the Sakai site under "Meeting Agendas & Documentation" for August 2012.
Deodato sent a list of new connectors to Smulewitz who forwarded them to EBSCO to determine their availability. Of those requested, EBSCO responded that roughly half should already be included in our profile while the other half would need to be custom built. The committee decided not to pursue any connectors that would need to be custom built. Warwick will check to determine whether the remaining connectors are in fact already included in our profile. If not, Smulewitz will request that EBSCO add them.
Smulewitz noted that customizations affect many different aspects of the account because of the interoperability of the systems. Although the interoperability is beneficial, we need to pay close attention to how all aspects of the account are affected. For example, the customized connectors we created for the EBSCO databases to "democratize" results created multiple entries on our profile and consequently created multiple entries and confusion in EBSCO Publishing Usage Statistics Reporting and Consolidation.
Training Workshop
The committee will host a training workshop on federated searching on September 27th at 2pm in the Pane Room with videoconferencing to Dana and Robeson. The workshop will provide an overview of Searchlight and respond to librarian questions and concerns. Another workshop on RUL's link resolver (LinkSource) will be held separately in the spring. Most DIG members expressed interest in attending the workshops to hear what will be presented so we can all be consistent how we communicate and respond to queries.
The committee discussed and finalized its activities for the current year. All activities support strategic goal 2, objective C: "Facilitate the search and discovery of library collections by providing tools that are accessible, easy to use, and user-centered."
| Activity 1 | Continue to maintain and improve the functionality of Searchlight | ||||
| Outcome | Provide a usable federated search interface that produces efficient and effective results | ||||
| Indicator | Subject groupings, database connectors, and search options are regularly reviewed, updated, and configured for optimal performance | ||||
| Note | Combines and continues activities #2 and #4 from 2011-2012 | ||||
| Comments: Discussion of the definition of 'indicator'; there was a group consensus that DIG interprets and represents indicators comparably to other RUL committees- the indicators are the components of an activity that lead to the outcome | |||||
| Activity 2 | Draft and implement a comprehensive link resolver testing protocol | ||||
| Outcome | Identify and resolve systematic performance and usability problems with the link resolver | ||||
| Indicator | A testing protocol is implemented and the collected data is used to identify and resolve systematic link resolver problems. | ||||
| Comments: Deodato explained to new members (Li and Theo) the link resolver testing and reason for re-testing; all approved Activity 2 | |||||
| Activity 3 | Provide staff training on federated searching and link resolver products | ||||
| Outcome | Increased staff awareness of products, features, and functionality | ||||
| Indicator | Staff workshops offering guidance on the use of federated search and link resolver products | ||||
| Note | Revises and continues activity #7 from 2011-2012 | ||||
| Comments: Continuation of previous goal, we can do separate trainings for the different tools; all approved Activity 3 | |||||
| Activity 4 | Devise a database management workflow | ||||
| Outcome | Improved management and accessibility of library databases | ||||
| Indicator | A workflow plan specifying tasks and responsibilities for making library databases publicly accessible | ||||
| Comments: Discussion of the workflow specific to DIG; Activity 4 was approved with changes | |||||
| Activity 5 | Explore the feasibility of developing a help ticket reporting and tracking system | ||||
| Outcome | Improved technical support and management of user-reported problems related to library databases | ||||
| Indicator | Consult with IIS about the possibility of developing a DIG-specific or system-wide help ticket tracking system | ||||
| Comments: Hoover and Smulewitz suggested that if any DIG member receives a question directly, they should include the DIG email list in the reply so everyone sees the information and is aware of the problem. This builds our knowledge of the products and issues and collectively improves our ability to respond to different questions. All approved Activity 5. Smulewitz will add all DIG members to be able to post/reply to the Serials Team. Hoover noted the problems that are reported depend on the placement of the error reporting form. We will talk in the future about problem reporting for the link resolver. Deodato suggested that a problem reporting form be added to the staff website. | |||||
| Comments: All agreed to remove Activity 6 | | ||||
Theo noted that she reviewed DIG's charge and it sounds like initially DIG was assigned to look at the "big picture" but now it sounds like DIG is more involved in "day-to-day" issues.
McDonald led a discussion on database management workflow. In particular, he proposed updating the "Making Additions to Our Web Pages" procedures since they are outdated and since WAC no longer exists DIG might be able to take ownership of the page. There was a discussion regarding which parts of this process might actually fall under DIG's jurisdiction. Smulewitz and Pecoraro agreed to work with McDonald to update the DTS components and look at the overall workflow. The group will make initial changes and report back to DIG by the next meeting.
The committee reviewed the status of outstanding trouble reports.
| Product/Case | Problem | Reported/Received By | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Searchlight [EBSCO #953731] | PsycINFO response time in Searchlight is slow | Mullen/Deodato 07/23/2012 |
Unresolved (but EBSCO claims there is little they can do about it) |
| Searchlight [EBSCO # 961826] | Failure to export to RefWorks from Searchlight | Oswell/Pecoraro 08/02/2012 |
Unresolved |
| Searchlight [EBSCO #???] | "Retrieve Item" resulting in internal server or authentication errors | Haynes/Hoover 08/27/2012 |
Unresolved |
| Searchlight [EBSCO # 985284] | Request to change wording (or disable) "Retrieve Item" to avoid confusion with "Get it @ R" | Glynn/Deodato 09/06/2012 |
Unresolved |
| LinkSource [EBSCO #983632/987907] | Link resolver failures due to inaccurate metadata | Ren/Deodato 08/28/2012 |
Unresolved |
| EBSCO Databases [EBSCO #???] | IE's handling of mixed content may prevent display of "Get it @ R" button | Borisovets/Hoover 09/10/2012 | Unresolved |
Hoover and Deodato provided detailed descriptions of the "Retrieve Item" issue and how EBSCO uses SSL on their site causing an anomaly with how IE handles mixed content that may prevent the display of "Get it @ R."
Smulewitz invited DIG members to attend an upcoming NISO webinar - "Innovations and Challenges w/ Index-Based Discovery Systems" - to be held on September 27th at 1pm in the University Librarian's Conference Room.
Sun proposed that DIG create a poster on the database acquisition lifecycle for State of the Libraries. However because members have already done that type of session and because of time constraints and schedules it is unlikely the group will pursue it. Smulewitz proposed that a poster on platform changes might be a more relevant and timely topic to consider for the future.
The next meeting is scheduled for October 10th at 10am in the Heyer Room at the Alexander Library (note room change). Tentative agenda items include: update on Searchlight connectors (Warwick), update on database management workflow (McDonald, Smulewitz, Pecoraro), Searchlight workshop discussion/feedback (Deodato), and Error reports feedback (Hoover)
Meeting adjourned at 12:30pm
Submitted by Cathy Pecoraro