Research has never been so easy: Summon at the

University of Huddersfield

Graham StoneE-resources Manager

g.stone@hud.ac.uk

5th UNICA Scholarly Communication Seminar 7 – 9 November 2010Universidade Nova de Lisboa

http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/8918/#summon4hn

University of Huddersfield

• 24,000 students (16,000 FTE); 7,500 p/t

• 57% female; 68% mature; 19% declared non-white

• Broad spread of courses • Increasing international focus• Increasing focus on research

E-resources @ Huddersfield

“Why is Google so easy and the library so hard?” [Duddy, 2009]

“Why do we want to teach our users to be librarians?” [Pattern, 2009]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ppl_ri_images/4019188259/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/manfrys/2226178289/

Vision

1. A first class search engine– capable of returning relevant, accurate results and provide a Google-like

experience for users

2. The ‘one-stop-shop’– a single interface was required for users to be able to access ALL library

resources via a single search

3. Improved value for money– for purchase and ongoing maintenance costs– while significantly reducing administration costs for library staff

4. Improved system management– to provide ‘back-end’ system management by being interoperable and running on

open standards

Implementation

• Conference call with United States staff• MARC21 mapping spreadsheet returned

– Default settings

• 360 training• 6 week installation

– Branding etc.

Key dates

Project planContract signed Aug 2009Implementation starts Sep 2009Summon instance delivered Oct 2009360 goes live Feb 2010Launch at Research Festival(beta alongside MetaLib)

Mar 2010

Questionnaire and focus groups May-Jul 2010Training sessions May-Sep 2010Summon replaced MetaLib Aug 2010Launched to new Students Sep/Oct 2010

Challenges encountered and Lessons learned

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exfordy/1184487050/

MARC records

• Separated all print and e-journal MARC records• Previously merged e-book/monograph records were split• Initial upload did not include:

– E-books, e-journals, fast adds, temporary ILL records, records that were on order or unavailable

• Issues with deletions – now resolved

Rogue cataloguing!

• Summon highlights bad cataloguing!– Music scores– DVDs– Copy cataloguing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohiouniversitylibraries/3513453431/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/benchilada/2878939636/

Electronic Resources Wiki

Results for journal search in Summon

Database search in Summon

Database search in Summon

Excellent User Community

• Very active email discussion list• Summon community wiki – Coming soon!

– A list of Summon customers, including:• a link to their Summon• LMS/ILS and link resolver product used• authentication methods used (e.g. Shibboleth, etc)• links to PR and training materials

– MARC mapping tips• implication of choices, etc

– A place to share code, scripts and general tips

Beta launch

• Launched in March 2010

• Start of the Marketing Strategy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/denemiles/3971887734/

Simplifying resource discoveryand access in academic libraries

• JISC Call: Enhancing library management systems –Theme A – Use of new resource discovery interfaces

• Joint case study of the implementation, evaluation and launch of Summon at Huddersfield and Northumbria

• 6 month project from April to October 2010– http://library.hud.ac.uk/blogs/summon4hn/

Marketing strategy

Work Package Objective

Interface To promote Summon front page and make necessary interface changes

Publicity To disseminate promotional material throughout the University

Evaluation and Feedback Ensure Summon is fit for purpose by launch

CLS Staff training To ensure full training across service

User training To ensure relevant stakeholders are offered training

Publicity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myVyP4jC9m8

Questionnaire results

How easy are the screens to understand?

Was the layout of the results clear?

Full results to be published in an open access journal in early 2011

Information strategy

• The very nature of the way users search will be turned on its head– from searching databases that include ALL content and then

hoping that the abstracts chosen will hold the full text– to searching the full text subscribed material first and then

widening the search if necessary– Will take time to move users from choosing a database to search

to using Summon as a one-stop-shop– We can concentrate on search techniques rather than different

interfaces

Early indicators

• Careful planning and consultation have overcome any perceived problems with the launch

• More qualitative user feedback data is being sought– Focus groups– Feedback from information literacy sessions– Analysis of search results

• Good development of the product over the last 12 months

• Close monitoring of full text and database subscriptions

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The users love it!

“Summon is bloody brilliant… …It gives fast, efficient and above all relevant search results”

Abdul Jabber, PhD student

http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/8918/