1. Web Scale Discovery and
Information Literacy –
Solution or Problem?
Sheila Corrall, University of Sheffield iSchool
Mike Sweet, Credo Reference
2. The context for web scale discovery
Social Economic
• 24/7 online networked society • world financial crisis
• self‐service and mutual support • exchange‐rate volaDlity
• learning communiDes • service closures and job losses
• Google generaDon • high unemployment
Technological PoliDcal
• digital asset management • public expenditure cuts
• cloud compuDng • doing more with less
• mobile connecDvity and apps • shared services
• business use of social technology • demonstraDng value and impact
3. Perceptions of libraries, 2010
“When comparing libraries to search engines, overwhelmingly,
Americans consider search engines to be more convenient,
faster, more reliable and easier‐to‐use. Americans consider
libraries to be more trustworthy and more accurate.
While Americans ranked libraries ahead of search engines in
trustworthiness and accuracy, this disDncDon evaporates when
asked about the informa(on that is provided by search engines
and libraries. Most Americans (69%) believe the informaDon
they find using search engines is just as trustworthy as they
would find from their library.”
(OCLC, 2010, p. 40)
4. Next generation discovery services
Commercial Open source
• AquaBrowser Library • Blacklight
• BiblioCommons • Fac‐Back‐OPAC (Kochief)
• Ebsco Discovery Services • LibraryFind
• Encore (InnovaDve Interfaces) • Rapi
• Primo Central (Ex Libris) • Scriblio (WPopac)
• SirsiDynix Enterprise • SOPAC (Social Opac)
• Summon (Serials SoluDons) • VuFind
• Visualizer (VTLS) (Breeding, 2010;
• WorldCat Local (OCLC) Yang & Wagner, 2010)
5. Desired features of discovery services
• Single search/point of entry • Did you mean . . .?
− for all library materials − spell‐checking mechanism
• State‐of‐the‐art web interface • RecommendaDons
• Enriched content • User contribuDons
e.g. book cover images, user input e.g. summaries, reviews,
• Faceted navigaDon of results raDng, tagging, folksonomies
e.g. dates, formats, locaDon • RSS feeds
• Simple keyword search box • IntegraDon with social
− on every page networking sites
• Relevancy ranking • Persistent links
e.g. influenced by circulaDon data (Yang & Wagner, 2010)
6. Web scale discovery – the story so far
• Combining next‐generaDon catalogues with federated search
− integraDng print and digital, local and remote, records and content
• Providing access to library resources within user workflows
− search from library homepage, LibGuide, uni portal, Blackboard, etc
• Allowing libraries to create mulDple profiles for communiDes
− subject subsets of discovery resources to avoid overwhelming users
• Early reports of dramaDc impact on use of licensed resources
− students able to find things easily, but not able to interpret results
• ImplicaDons for informaDon literacy and reference support
− from database searching to understanding and evaluaDng informaDon
(Gross & Sheridan, 2011; Howard & Wiebrands, 2011; Luther & Kelly, 2011;
Kenney, 2011; Way, 2010; Wisniewski, 2010)
7. “InformaDon literacy is knowing when and why you need
informaDon, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and
communicate it in an ethical manner.” (CILIP, 2004)
Seven Pillars of Information Literacy (SCONUL, 2011)
8. One-stop info-shopping: pros and cons
✔ Convenient, easier and ✘ Dumbing down of the
faster access to informaDon informaDon search process
✔ Exposure to a wider range ✘ Less funcDonality than
of sources and material naDve database interfaces
✔ Focus on higher‐order ✘ NeglecDng development of
informaDon literacy abiliDes basic informaDon skills
✔ More visibility and use of ✘ Poor foundaDon for higher
library scholarly resources degrees and future careers
✔ Beier value for money
from investment in content
9. Competing visions of the library
The resource‐based view InformaDon literacy view
• The library is essenDally a • The library is essenDally a
bundle of informaDon and place of learning
other resources • It creates value through the
• It creates value through use development of the ability
of its disDncDve resources to find, evaluate and use
• Resource uDlisaDon is the informaDon in context
key performance measure • InformaDon capability is the
(Barney, 1991; Wernerfelt, 1984) key performance measure
10. How?
Advanced search opDons
Librarians, faculty and
grad students want
more funcAonality
Students need help What?
Open in understanding Approved
web search results scholarly
content Some use content
Most people Google Scholar Web scale discovery
start a search (with library links) steers users back
with Google to the library
Single search box
11. Four questions for reflection and debate
1. Are web scale discovery tools a good starDng point
for subject searches or for exploring new topics?
2. Will such tools help students become competent
informaDon users in the work place and later life?
3. Do we need to change our informaDon literacy
educaDon to fit the new discovery environment?
4. Can we augment our discovery services to support
and deliver our informaDon literacy mission?
14. InformaDon Literacy Skills
• Finding research tools beyond Google and Wikipedia
• Understanding the purpose of the library
• NavigaDng the library
• Assessing quality and reliability of informaDon
• Discerning between different types of materials
• ConducDng effecDve searches
• Narrowing topics
• CiDng sources & avoiding plagiarism
The ERIAL Project: hip://www.erialproject.org/
15. Not All Searches Are the Same
Known Item Searching Exploratory Searching
-Have specific information -Information
(article, book, journal, etc.) Need -Need general information
in mind
-Opportunity for -Lack subject orientation or
-Familiar with keywords or Information familiarity with keywords
relevant search terms Literacy
Skill -Need guidance to start
-Know where to start Reinforcement searching
(website, database, stacks)
22. Wikipedia
• Advantages
– Provides background and vocabulary
– Comprehensive, consistent, easy to access and use
– Provides potenDally useful links
• LimitaDons
– Not always trustworthy
– Not customized for audience
– Doesn’t acDvely promote informaDon literacy skills
35. Define information need
Access, search, find, retrieve
Evaluate currency and accuracy
Manage and organize
Integrate and synthesize
Create, adapt, summarize
Communicate and present
Novice • Advanced Beginner • Competent • Proficient • Expert
36. InformaDon Literacy
• key factors to library/faculty informaDon literacy success (as stated by the
ERIAL Project: hip://www.erialproject.org/).
– Finding research tools beyond Google and Wikipedia
– Understanding the purpose of the library
– NavigaDng the library
– Assessing quality and reliability of informaDon
– Discerning between different types of materials
– ConducDng effecDve searches
– Narrowing topics
– CiDng sources & avoiding plagiarism
38. Library’s Answer to Wikipedia
• Provide relevant contextual informaDon
• AuthoritaDve sources
• Curated links to local resources
• Help and tutorials to build informaDon literacy skills
• Provide for alternaDve modes of topic exploraDon
– VisualizaDon tools
– Related vocabulary
• Integrated in key educaDon systems, including
Discovery Systems
41. It’s the Context, Stupid
“The scarce resource will not be stuff, but
point of view...
The future belongs to neither the conduit or
content players, but those who control the
filtering, searching, and sense‐making tools
we will rely on to navigate through the
expanses of cyberspace.”
(Saffo, 1994)
42. Four questions for reflection and debate
1. Are web scale discovery tools a good starDng point
for subject searches or for exploring new topics?
2. Will such tools help students become competent
informaDon users in the work place and later life?
3. Do we need to change our informaDon literacy
educaDon to fit the new discovery environment?
4. Can we augment our discovery services to support
and deliver our informaDon literacy mission?