NFAIS Webinar: March 12, 2014

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Collaborating to Improve
Discoverability
NFAIS Webinar: March 12, 2014
Mary M. Somerville, MA, MLS, PhD
University Librarian and Library Director, University of Colorado Denver
Lettie Conrad, MA
Executive Manager, Online Products, SAGE

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Agenda
● Introduction
● Metadata
● Standards
● Transparency
● Partnerships
● Conclusion

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Scholarly Communication Supply Chain

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Shared Cross-Sector Goals

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SAGE White Paper: Collaborative Improvements
in the Discoverability of Scholarly Content

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Expert aspirations for discovery

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Recommendations
● Metadata – quality & compliance
● Standards – advocacy & adoption
● Transparency – cross-sector cooperation
● Partnerships – co-development

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1. Metadata
the building blocks of online publishing
Citation: Berners-Lee, Tim, “Metadata Architecture, “ Jan. 6, 1997, http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Metadata.html

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1. Metadata
discovery signposts

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1. Use case – Metadata done well
 SUNY student @ Buffalo State following
citation to educational research article:
“High School Socioeconomic Segregation
and Student Attainment”

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1. Use case – Metadata gone wrong
● SUNY student @ Buffalo State looking for
book chapter recommended by instructor
on human trafficking policy in other
countries.
● No publication title, just keywords:
“human trafficking foreign policy”

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1. Collaborative Efforts in Metadata

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2. Standards
● Common expectations
● Streamlining operations
● Collaborative foundation

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2. Existing Standards for Metadata

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2. Standards Development
● Code of practice in library
discovery
● Project Transfer
● NISO Bibliographic
Roadmap
● Pie-J, IOTA, and more!

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2. Use Cases
standards in action

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2. Collaborations in Standards
● NISO Work Groups
• Journal Article Version (JAV)
• Open Access Metadata and Indicators
● UKSG/JISC
• Project Transfer
• KBART

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3. Transparency
new ways of doing business
● Cross-sector studies
● Understanding researcher workflows
● New business models
● “Promiscuous metadata”

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3. Use Cases in Transparency

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3. Transparency works!
● Research question: What does the average
research pathway look like beyond the
borders of our websites?
● Participants: 3 MA & 8 PhD students, during
literature review phase
● Methods: data analysis, observation,
interview
● Transparency: sharing proprietary data,
sharing research findings, trust!

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3. Collaborations in Transparency

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Recommendations
● Metadata – quality & compliance
● Standards – advocacy & adoption
● Transparency – cross-sector cooperation
● Partnerships – co-development/co-design

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Ideal discoverability

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Co-Development Partners

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Library Best Practices
● Nontraditional partnerships
● Iterative communications
● Re-invented workflows
● Environmental scans

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Vendor Best Practices
● Project overviews
● Clear deliverables
● Customized trainings
● Reference materials

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Publisher-Vendor Best Practices
● Compliant metadata (publisher)
● Metadata mapping (vendor)
● Search results
● User experiences

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Conclusions
SAGE White Paper urges cross-sector
progress through a three-fold purpose:
● Propose actionable recommendations for
discoverability improvement,
● Advance heightened collaboration among
librarians, publishers, and service
providers, and
● Encourage ‘new ways of thinking and
doing’ that improve researcher experience.

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References
Collins, M., Somerville, M., Pelsinsky, N., & Wood, A. (2013). Working
better together: Library, publisher, and vendor perspectives.
Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Charleston Conference, Charleston,
South Carolina, in press.
Conrad, L. (2011). ‘Discovering authoritative reference material: It’s all
about ‘location, location, location,’ in E-reference Context and
Discoverability in Libraries: Issues and Concepts, ed. Sue Polanka.
Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 137–147.
Somerville, M. M., & Conrad, L. Y. (2014). Collaborative improvements
in the discoverability of scholarly content: Accomplishments,
aspirations, and opportunities. A SAGE White Paper. Los Angeles,
CA: SAGE Publications Ltd. DOI: 10.4135/wp140116. Available:
http://www.sagepub.com/repository/binaries/pdf/improvementsindisc
overability.pdf