Next Generation User Interfaces

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Next Generation User Interfaces
NEXT GENERATION LIBRARY TECHNOLOGIES -- A
conference sponsored by the Southeastern NY
Library Resources Council

• Delivering content and services for todays
  Web-savvy library patrons

Marshall BreedingDirector for Innovative
Technologies and Research Vanderbilt
University http//staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/
breeding http//www.librarytechnology.org/
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Abstract

• Marshall Breeding will begin the conference in
  the morning by presenting an overview of the
  developing scene in next-generation library
  catalogs.  Following an era where most libraries
  relied on the OPAC module that came with their
  ILS, today many libraries are implementing a new
  generation of library interfaces with more appeal
  to todays Web-savvy library users.  Breeding
  will talk about whats different about these new
  interfaces and give an overview of the products
  and projects to consider as libraries move away
  from the OPACs of the past to a new generation of
  library interfaces.  

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Troubling statistic

• Where do you typically begin your search for
  information on a particular topic?
• College Students Response
• 89 Search engines (Google 62)
• 2 Library Web Site (total respondents -gt 1)
• 2 Online Database
• 1 E-mail
• 1 Online News
• 1 Online bookstores
• 0 Instant Messaging / Online Chat

OCLC. Perceptions of Libraries and Information
Resources (2005) p. 1-17.
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Usage / - from 2005 to 2007
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-10
30
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The unfortunate exception is the use of library
Web sites usage has dropped from 2005 to 2007.
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Source Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our
Networked World. OCLC 2007
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Crowded Landscape of Information Providers on the
Web

• Lots of non-library Web destinations deliver
  content to library patrons
• Google Scholar
• Amazon.com
• Wikipedia
• Ask.com
• Do Library Web sites and catalogs meet the
  information needs of our users?
• Do they attract their interest?

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The Competition
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The best Library OPAC?
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Better?
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Demand for compelling library interfaces

• Urgent need for libraries to offer interfaces
  their users will like to use
• Move into the current millennium
• Powerful search capabilities in tune with how the
  Web works today
• Meet user expectations set by other Web
  destination

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Inadequacy of ILS OPACs

• Online Catalog modules provided with an ILS
  subject to broad criticism as failing to meet
  expectations of growing segments of library
  patrons.
• Not great at delivering electronic content
• Complex text-based interfaces
• Relatively weak keyword search engines
• Lack of good relevancy sorting
• Narrow scope of content

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Disjointed approach to information and service
delivery

• Books Library OPAC (ILS module)
• Articles Aggregated content products, e-journal
  collections
• OpenURL linking services
• E-journal finding aids (Often managed by link
  resolver)
• Local digital collections
• ETDs, photos, rich media collections
• Metasearch engines
• All searched separately

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Change underway

• Widespread dissatisfaction with most of the
  current OPACs. Many efforts toward
  next-generation catalogs and interfaces.
• Movement among libraries to break out of the
  current mold of library catalogs and offer new
  interfaces better suited to the expectations of
  library users.
• Decoupling of the front-end interface from the
  back-end library automation system.
• Eventual redesign of the ILS to be better suited
  for current library collections of digital and
  print content

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Next-Generation Interfaces

• Scope and Concepts

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Working toward a new generation of library
interfaces

• Redefinition of the library catalog
• Traditional notions of the library catalog
  questioned
• Better information delivery tools
• More powerful search capabilities
• More elegant presentation

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Redefining the catalog

• More comprehensive information discovery
  environments
• Its no longer enough to provide a catalog
  limited to print resources
• Digital resources cannot be an afterthought
• Systems designed for e-content only are also
  problematic
• Forcing users to use different interfaces
  depending on type of content becoming less
  tenable
• Libraries working toward consolidated user
  environments that give equal footing to digital
  and print resources

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Comprehensive Search Service

• Current distributed query model of federated
  search model not adequate
• Expanded scope of search through harvested
  content
• Consolidated search services based on metadata
  and data gathered in advance (like OAI-PMH)
• Problems of scale diminished
• Problems of cooperation persist
• Federated search currently operates as a plug-in
  component of next-gen interfaces.

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Web 2.0 Flavorings

• Strategic infrastructure Web 2.0
• A more social and collaborative approach
• Web Tools and technology that foster
  collaboration
• Integrated blogs, wiki, tagging, social
  bookmarking, user rating, user reviews
• Avoid Web 2.0 information silos

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Web 2.0 supporting technologies

• Web services
• XML APIs
• AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and XML)
• Widgets

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The Ideal Scope for Next Gen Library Interfaces

• Unified user experience
• A single point of entry into all the content and
  services offered by the library
• Print Electronic
• Local Remote
• Locally created Content
• User contributed content?

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Next Generation Interfaces

• Functions and Features

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Interface Features / User Experience

• Simple point of entry
• Optional advanced search
• Relevancy ranked results
• Facets for narrowing and navigation
• Query enhancement spell check, etc
• Suggested related results
• Navigational bread crumbs
• Enriched visual and textual content
• Single Sign-on

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Relevancy Ranking

• Based on advanced search engines specifically
  designed for relevancy
• Endeca, Lucene, etc
• Web users expect relevancy ordered results
• The good stuff should be listed first
• Users tend not to delve deep into a result list
• Good relevancy requires a sophisticated approach,
  including objective matching criteria
  supplemented by popularity and relatedness
  factors.

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New Paradigm for search and navigation

• Let users drill down through the result set
  incrementally narrowing the field
• Faceted Browsing
• Drill-down vs up-front Boolean or Advanced
  Search
• gives the users clues about the number of hits in
  each sub topic
• Ability to explore collections without a priori
  knowledge
• Visual search tools
• Navigational Bread crumbs
• Select / deselect facets

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Query / Result Enhancement

• Did you mean? and other features to avoid No
  results found
• Validated Spell check
• Automatic inclusion of authorized and related
  terms
• More like this recommendation service
• Make the query and the response to it better than
  the query provided

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Appropriate organizational structures

• LCSH vs FAST (Faceted Application of Subject
  Terminology)
• Full MARC vs Dublin Core or MODS
• Discipline-specific thesauri or ontologies
• tags

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Enriched content

• Rich visual information book jacket images,
  rating scores, etc.
• Syndetic Solutions ICE ()
• Amazon Web Service (AWS)
• Recent changes in term of use seem to preclude
  use by libraries
• Google Book Search API
• Released March 13, 2008
• Liberal terms of use
• No open content approach (yet)

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Personalization / Single Sign-on

• Customized content and service options based on
  personal preference and profile of user
• Persistent sign-on horizontal and vertical
• Seamless navigation in and out of appropriate
  sub-systems
• ILL / ILS patron requests, federated search,
  proxy services
• Credentials follow as user navigates among Web
  site components
• ILS / Interlibrary Loan / proxy services /
  shopping cart / etc
• Carry sign-on into and out of institutional
  resources
• Ability to select and save content initiate
  requests customize preferences, etc.

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Deep search

• Entering post-metadata search era
• Increasing opportunities to search the full
  contents
• Google Library Print, Google Publisher, Open
  Content Alliance, Microsoft Live Book Search,
  etc.
• High-quality metadata will improve search
  precision
• Commercial search providers already offer search
  inside the book
• No comprehensive full text search for books quite
  yet
• Not currently available through library search
  environments
• Deep search highly improved by high-quality
  metadata
• See Systems Librarian, May 2008 Beyond the
  current generation of next-generation interfaces
  deeper search

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Beyond Discovery

• Fulfillment oriented
• Search -gt select -gt view
• Delivery/Fulfillment much harder than discovery
• Back-end complexity should be as seamless as
  possible to the user
• Offer services for digital and print content

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Library-specific Features

• Appropriate relevance factors
• Objective keyword ranking Library weightings
• Circulation frequency, OCLC holdings, scholarly
  content
• Results grouping (FRBR)
• Collection focused (vs sales-driven)

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Enterprise Integration

• Ability to deliver content and services through
  non-library applications
• Campus portal solutions
• Courseware
• Social networking environments
• Search portals / Feed aggregators

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Interoperability

• Decoupled interface implies data synchronization
• Mass export of catalog data
• Hooks back into the ILS for holdings and patron
  services
• Real-time availability

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Architecture and Standards

• Need to have an standard approach for connecting
  new generation interfaces with ILS and other
  repositories
• Proprietary and ad hoc methods currently prevail
• Digital Library Federation
• ILS-Discovery Interface Group
• Time to start thinking about a new generation of
  ILS better suited for current library collections
  and missions.

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Smart and Sophisticated

• Much more difficult than old gen OPACS
• Not a dumbed-down approach
• Wed library specific requirements and
  expectations with e-commerce technologies

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Deployment and Transition

• How will libraries Join the next generation?

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Great Benefit, Great cost?

• A whole new level of expense to the library to
  achieve needed automation results
• Patron interface was previously expected to be
  part of ILS
• Cost of ILS OPAC module very modest relative to
  new discovery products
• Can the library community bear the cost?
• Can the library community afford not to move
  forward?

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Can we afford a slow Transition?

• Deployment of older OPACs widespread
• Were very early in the adoption cycle
• Libraries tend to cycle to new technologies at a
  slow pace
• Time on the Web moves quickly!
• Urgency to move quickly
• One year in NYC is like 7 years in LA
• One year on the Web is like 7 years in Library
  Time

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ILS Deployments
Unicorn 1704
Horizon 1612
Millennium 1289
Voyager 1183
Aleph 500 1970
Library.Solution 700
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Next Gen Interface Deployments
Innovative Interfaces Encore 2006 81
Ex Libris Primo 2006 77
Medialab solutions AquaBrowser 2002 128
Endeca 2004 5
VTLS Visualizer 2007 1
Source Automation System Marketplace, Library
Journal April 1, 2008
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Open Source opportunity?

• Commercial traditionally licensed solutions
  currently far ahead of open source alternatives
• Time-to-market a critical factor
• Challenge to catch up

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New-Gen Library Interfaces

• Current Commercial and Open Source Products

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Endeca Guided Navigation

• North Carolina State University
• http//www.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog/
• McMaster University
• http//libcat.mcmaster.ca/
• Phoenix Public Library
• http//www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/
• Florida Center for Library Automation
• http//catalog.fcla.edu/ux.jsp

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AquaBrowser Library

• Queens Borough Public Library
• http//aqua.queenslibrary.org/
• Oklahoma State University
• http//boss.library.okstate.edu/
• University of Chicago
• http//lens.lib.uchicago.edu/

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Ex Libris Primo

• Discovery and Delivery platform for academic
  libraries
• Vanderbilt University
• http//alphasearch.library.vanderbilt.edu
• University of Minnesota
• http//prime2.oit.umn.edu1701/primo_library/libwe
  b/action/search.do?vidTWINCITIES
• University of Iowa
• http//smartsearch.uiowa.edu/

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Encore from Innovative Interfaces

• Designed for academic, public and special
  libraries
• Nashville Public Library
• http//nplencore.library.nashville.org/iii/encore/
  app
• Scottsdale Public Library
• http//encore.scottsdaleaz.gov/iii/encore/app
• Yale University Lillian Goldman Law Library
• http//encore.law.yale.edu/iii/encore/app

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OCLC Worldcat Local

• OCLC WorldCat customized for local library
  catalog
• Relies on hooks into ILS for local services
• Tied to library holdings set in WorldCat
• University of Washington Libraries
• http//uwashington.worldcat.org/
• University of California Melvyl Catalog

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The Library Corporation

• First ILS company involved in promoting new
  interface technologies
• Initially based its strategy on AquaBrowser and
  Endeca
• Indigo announced at ALA Midwinter Jan 2008
• Library Positioning Software
• Based on Lucene / SOLR

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SirsiDynix

• No faceted search product currently available
• Enterprise Portal Solution
• Rooms / SchoolRooms
• iLink / iBistro (legacy)
• Product based on FAST announced in March 2006
  withdrawn
• Product based on Brainware Globalbrain announced
  in Nov 2007
• Prototype Expected by April 2008

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LibraryThing for Libraries

• Not a full next-gen interface
• Provides a way to add tagging to existing
  interfaces
• Deal with social tagging critical mass problem

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Scriblio

• Formerly WPopac
• Built with WordPress
• Plymouth State University
• http//library.plymouth.edu/
• Searches library Web site catalog
• http//about.scriblio.net/

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VUFind Villanova University

• Based on Apache Solr search toolkit
• http//www.vufind.org/

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eXtensible Catalog

• University of Rochester River Campus Libraries
• Financial support from the Andrew W. Mellon
  Foundation
• http//www.extensiblecatalog.info/

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ILS products w/ next-gen catalog features

• Products where the OPAC offered as an integrated
  module includes relevancy, facets, enriched
  content, etc
• Same scope as traditional ILS
• Polaris
• Koha
• Evergreen

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Polaris
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Evergreen
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Koha
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For more information

• Next Generation Library Catalogs by Marshall
  Breeding
• Library Technology Reports June/July 2007
• ALA TechSource

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Questions and Discussion