Eric Larson and Steve Meyer present the annual UW Forward update for the Council of UW Libraries conference.

1. UW · Forward
> Eric & Steve
> For the Forward Development Task Force
> June 2, 2011 - CUWL
> http://forward.library.wisconsin.edu

2. UW · Forward
Forward Update

3. Madison Linked to Forward “Experiment” from Home Page
BETA LAUNCHED

6. How Are People Really Using Forward?
TRACKING STATISTICS

8. Who Needs the Experts?
OPEN YOURSELF UP

10. “I just want to say that I am loving Forward so far!
Great improvement on searching. It's a much
nicer user interface especially for first time
searchers. I think it feels a lot younger and up-to-
date, which appeals to the college student especially
with the top bar where you can access your
account. I also like the integration of the digital
collection. It brings almost your research needs
closer!
Great work! Keep it up!”

11. “I love this process of requesting books. It was so
much simpler than using madcat! I love that it
only took about 5 clicks to order a book and that
was only because I wasn't signed in yet.
THANKS!!!!!!!!!! :)”

12. “Just wanted to quickly say "thanks"! It has been
years since I have used MADCAT to check out
books from campus. I have been frequenting my
local public libraries instead. I decided tonight to try
it. I noticed the "try Forward link", but opted for
Madcat first. I gave up after several minutes of
looping around and around the title I wanted, but
not being able to figure out how to select the copy
that appeared to be available. So I went back to
the Forward link, and had my request placed
in about 30 seconds. Love it! Great job!!”

13. “I'm very much liking the ease of use with the new catalog. I especially like
that I can request books from other schools in the system without having to
re-do my search or navigate away from the page.
One book-request-related comment, though: I would love to be able to
navigate back to my search after I've requested a book. Right now
it's possible to get back to the record for the book that I just requested, but
I have to use the browser's "back" button to actually get to the full search
results. It's a very small thing, but since you're in the feedback-gathering
stage...
Thanks for your work on the site re-do. Very nicely done.”

15. And Then We Received A Scathing Review Of…
SUBJECT BROWSING

16. Feedback Subject: Wow, This Is Horrible

20. This Resource Is About
• Science

23. “Once a category is established, it suggests or imposes others, so that no cataloguing
method, whether on shelf or on paper, is ever closed unto itself. If I decide on a number
of subjects, each of these subject will require a classification within its classification. At a
certain point in the ordering, out of fatigue, boredom or frustration, I’ll stop this
geometrical progression. But the possibility of continuing is always there. There are no
final categories in a library.”
Alberto Manguel, The Library at Night

24. Abstract expressionism--United States--Exhibitions.

26. “It’s not really a hierarchy.”

28. Linguis8cs–Methodology.
Language and languages–Philosophy.
Empiricism–History–20th century.

29. USER TESTING THE LIVE APP

30. Forward Usability Report – Beta Release
hYp://forward.library.wisconsin.edu/moving‐forward/?p=839

31. The D’oh List
1. Carry search terms from basic to advanced search.
2. Advanced search opbons, such as pre‐search limibng by format and language.
3. Make item availability more explicit. Clarify green checkmark and/or use language to
describe status.
4. Idenbfy locabon of libraries to help users determine where items are located on campus.
5. Change the Compact Discs facet label to CDs.
…

32. Invesbgate ways to incorporate browse
and search opbons more consistently
throughout Forward.

33. Major Informabon Architecture Overhaul Informed by User Tests
UI UPDATE

34. Always Know Where You Are
MAIN NAVIGATION

37. This is the Core of a Catalog, So Do It Well
AVAILABILITY UPDATE

38. BE SMARTER
PUT AVAILABILITY FRONT & CENTER

42. URL Cataloging Rules Are Maddening
GET EVEN SMARTER ABOUT ONLINE
STUFF

46. UPGRADE BLACKLIGHT

47. INSTALL PROPER
ADVANCED SEARCH

49. LIMITS

51. FIELDED BOOLEAN SEARCHING

53. ?
UW System
Resource Discovery RFP
How does that impact Forward?

54. MOTORCYCLE!

55. UW · Interface

57. UW · Web-Scale

60. UW · Forward
• Forward + Summon API
• Adds access to >132M:
- Journal Articles
- Newspaper Articles
- Conference Proceedings
- Trade Publications
• EXPERIMENT NOT LIVE

61. ANY MEGA-AGGREGATE

62. UW · Forward
Unified UW System index search results, and deliver relevant contextualized l
Forward supports catalog data from all 26 UW System services to patrons.
campuses and a growing number of digital collections
and data sets.
Rich resource discovery and requesting interface
Forward allows items to be discovered and requested
across the entire UW System easier then ever before.
Extensible interface for future growth
Forward is designed for integrating with vendor-supplied
remote article indexes, like Primo Central or Summon,
via vendor APIs.
Evolving interface for researchers
Forward can meet the changing needs of researchers
and patrons, allow local control over the presentation of

63. ANY MEGA-AGGREGATE

64. UW · Forward
The Good

65. UW · Forward
> Mitch, Eric, Steve
> July 21, 2009 - CUWL
> http://disco.library.wisc.edu

68. UW · Improvements
Information Field-directed Boolean-able
architecture searching advanced search
*Yonks* better Nested facet
Save items
relevancy formats
Result type Local vs System
It’s now pretty
icons toggle

71. UW · Improvements
Return to Result set
Sign in
search results pagination
Save, cite, email Help on
Staff view
or txt the item every page
Localized
Subject browse It’s now pretty
availability

72. UW · Opportunity

73. UW · Forward
Unified UW System index search results, and deliver relevant contextualized l
Forward supports catalog data from all 26 UW System services to patrons.
campuses and a growing number of digital collections
and data sets.
Rich resource discovery and requesting interface
Forward allows items to be discovered and requested
across the entire UW System easier then ever before.
Extensible interface for future growth
Forward is designed for integrating with vendor-supplied
remote article indexes, like Primo Central or Summon,
via vendor APIs.
Evolving interface for researchers
Forward can meet the changing needs of researchers
and patrons, allow local control over the presentation of

74. UW · Forward
The Bad

76. UW · Opportunity

77. UW · Forward
The Ugly (data)

84. UW · Opportunity

85. ?
Questions

86. UW · Thanks