harnessing open source search (solr power) in a library context
DESCRIPTION
Presented by Zena Mulligan, SUNCAT Project Officer for EDINA, at Internet Librarian International, London, 21 October 2014. Zena goes through the stages of the redevelopment of the SUNCAT online serials catalogue, moving from Ex Libris to Solr and improving the interface and functionality along the way.TRANSCRIPT
Internet Librarian 2014
Harnessing open source search (Solr power) in a library context
Zena Mulligan (Project Officer, EDINA)[email protected]
SUNCAT contains ………….
Community Data: 99 Contributing
libraries
Licensed Data: ISSN Register &
CONSER Database
Harvested Data: Directory of Open Access Journals
SUNCAT:Journal Titles (print &
electronic) Bibliographic & Holdings
InformationTables of Contents
Table of Contents (Zetoc &
JournalTocs)
Redevelopment factors• Limitations in software (Aleph 500) with lack of
flexibility• Jisc provided development funding but Ex Libris
announced that they did not wish to do any more development work – busy, for example, with development of Alma
• Wanted to modernise the ‘look and feel’• Wanted to take advantage of the functionality &
flexibility available with Solr• Provided the opportunity to be more responsive to
user requirements (revealed, for example, by impact
surveys)
Start of development
Public preview & feedback
Public availability
Primary interface
Public survey of new interface
Removal of access to original Aleph interface
Continuing improvements
February 2012
April/May 2013
October 2013
March 2014
May/June 2014
Sept 2014
Sept 2014 -
Stages for new interface
Key Enhancements to the New Interface 1Core Functionality EnhancementsWeb based interface Improved responsiveness for mobile
devices
Website with supporting information
No login required, link directly to the search page, but with links to all the website content.
Map listing the main locations of Contributing Libraries
New map highlighting ALL the locations of the Contributing
Blog link on website Feed of latest blog posts onto basic search
Basic search option Basic search – same indexes to search on as before, plus auto suggestions as you enter your search
Limit your search by a particular library
Limit your search to any number of libraries
Limit your search by a geographic location
Limit your search to any number of locations and to more specific locations
View your results Choose how many results to display per page
Results sorted by title Results sorted by relevance with option to sort by title or year
Key Enhancements to the New Interface 2Core Functionality EnhancementsIndication of holding libraries in results screen
Alphabetical list of holdings libraries in results screen
Full results list Filtering by institution, subject, publisher, first year of publication etc.
Display full bibliographic details, with links to related searches
As before, but with alphabetical links to all the records in the set
Links to latest ToCs from Zetoc Links to latest and older ToCs from Zetoc & JournalTOCs
List of holding libraries with shelfmarks and summary holdings
As before with links to local library catalogues
Links to holding libraries’ homepages
Links to homepages, Google directions, general contact details, British Library codes and ILL contact details and details of when last updated in SUNCAT
Advanced search option Additional flexibility to create more complex searches
Additional pre-search filters by language & year
New format filter enabling filtering to electronic only or print only material
Search history and ability to mark/email records
Search history and ability to mark/email records
NHS Birmingham, July 2013
Links out to information, help and support guides, videos,
FAQs etc. on website
Map showing all the
locations of Contributing
Libraries
Latest feed from
the SUNCAT
Blog
NHS Birmingham, July 2013
Auto suggestions made as you enter your
search
NHS Birmingham, July 2013
Limit your search to particular geographic locations
NHS Birmingham, July 2013
Limit your search to particular libraries
You can combine location and library limits
NHS Birmingham, July 2013
Choose how many records to display
per page
Results relevance ranked but you can
click on “Title” to sort alphabetically or on “First published” to sort chronologically
Results include alphabetical list
of libraries holding each title
Filter your results by institution, format, subject, publisher
etc.
NHS Birmingham, July 2013
Preferred record showing bibliographic
details including:• ISSN• Publication details• Subject headings
You can also view all the
bibliographic records in the set.
Click on the “Table of Contents” button to see recently published articles via Zetoc and JournalTocs
NHS Birmingham, July 2013
Holdings info includes:
• Alphabetical list of holding libraries
• Shelfmarks• Online availability• Summary holdings• Links to institutions local
catalogues
Click on the library name to get further details
NHS Birmingham, July 2013
Details include:
• Link to library homepage• Link to Google map &
directions• General contact details• ILL details• Latest update received
Challenges of moving to open source
• Challenges of a union catalogue and matched sets of records
• Indexing and searching on sets of records• Grappling with the title search• Relevancy ranking• Limits and filters
Future plans
• Continue to add more contributing libraries• Replacement of ‘back end’ software
– Enhance matching algorithm and reduce duplication• Add to interface functionality
– Tailored views of the database or mini union catalogues– Holdings comparison facilities – My SUNCAT– Links to the Keepers Registry, JUSP and KB+
Further integration with other JISC Services
Journal Usage Statistics Portal
Support and information about SUNCAT
• SUNCAT website at http://suncat.ac.uk• Information about the service
– Description and coverage– Case studies– How to contribute– How to integrate SUNCAT into your services and website– Downloading MARC records
• Quick start, search guides and FAQs• Introductory video• Blog at http://suncat.blogs.edina.ac.uk/
• Follow us on Twitter at @suncatteam