Discovery services have been used in libraries for over 10 years, supporting integrated searching of and access to full text, subject indexes, and a library’s collection. In this session, panelists, representing different perspectives, will discuss the representation of atypical resources – meaning content other than primarily article- or chapter-based journal, book, or full-text collections – in the discovery layer. Atypical resources provide numeric data, maps, other types of visualizations, etc., as well as content housed in a library’s special collections. These types of resources present challenges for providers, participating publishers, the library, and, ultimately, for the end user searching for relevant content. The discussion will address the following topics:
- Discoverability of atypical resources in discovery systems
- Discoverability and the first-time user
- Tactics for driving/promoting usage
- Metadata elements of atypical resources vis à vis discovery systems indexes
- Granularity of content suitable for discovery systems indexing
- Indexing of open access atypical content in discovery services
- NISO Open Discovery Initiative update on guidelines related to atypical resources
Attendees can expect to gain a greater understanding of the complexity of these topics and will be encouraged to raise questions and comments.
