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Taking control of discovery: in-house development to improve student experience and break down silos

Faculty Advisor

Date

2014

Keywords

user experience, libraries, discovery, APIs, responsive web design, web programming

Abstract (summary)

When it comes to software, libraries have many more options today than they did ten years ago. While still reliant on vendors for some aspects of library software, more and more libraries are turning to in-house development and open-source software to take back a measure of control over their data and their users’ experience. MacEwan University and University of Alberta Libraries are both taking advantage of these new options in software development to create discovery and access systems that are more flexible and more intuitive. While these libraries differ greatly in their focus, and in the needs and requirements of their users, their approach to discovery has evolved along a similar path, with similar outcomes. Do projects like those at MacEwan and U of A represent a fundamental shift in how libraries understand discovery, or more broadly, a shift in how they understand their relationship with software vendors? This presentation examines the discovery projects at U of A and MacEwan, and probe some of the big-picture questions such projects raise.

Publication Information

DOI

Notes

Presented on October 1, 2014 at the Access Conference held at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta.

Item Type

Presentation

Language

English

Rights

All Rights Reserved