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Integrating Reference Universe into your Library's New Discovery Service
12 August 2011 by Paratext Editorial

News | Reference Universe

Your library may be considering (or have already acquired) a new ‘discovery service’ for your library to simplify searching and open up your content.  That’s good.  Wouldn’t it be better to also see your reference collection represented in these services with the kind of detail you now see within Reference Universe?

Paratext is pleased to announce that some integration has already taken place, and more is to come. There are two ways to integrate Reference Universe content into your discovery service:

• Federated Search Option
• Integrated into the service’s ‘master index’

The first option is currently available to all libraries with a Z39.50 compliant discovery service. We’re actively working to provide the second as an option for all of the main discovery layers in the near future. There are advantages to both approaches, which we’ll be discussing with our customers in the weeks ahead.

However, we’re pleased to announce that the Federated Search Option has already been deployed by some libraries.  The librarians at the College of St. Scholastica are currently using this feature and have found that it has both greatly increased use of their reference collection and added value to their bibliographic instruction courses.

Librarians Heidi Johnson and Todd White outline their work to bring reference front and center in a newly published case study.  We are confident that you will recognize in their discussion the kinds of challenges your library may face regarding enhancing the use of your specialized reference collection, while keeping up with the latest technological advances in web-scale discovery applications.

Stay tuned for more information on additional enhancements and progress on integrating Reference Universe more fully into your broader discovery service.