Presented by Courtney Greene McDonald, Head, Discovery & Research Services, at Indiana University Libraries. Presentation given on the Indiana University Blacklight discovery layer implementation at the Kuali Days UK conference, 29 October 2013. The session focused on discovery layer choices – software-as-a-service, open source or community source – of three libraries that are actively planning integration with Kuali OLE, including perspectives from the University of Chicago, Indiana University and the University of London and featured specific use cases for OLE discovery layer implementations at their institutions and what influenced their choices.

1. Discovery Layer Strategies
for Kuali OLE
Indiana University
Courtney Greene McDonald
Head, Discovery & Research Services
IU Bloomington Libraries
crgreene@indiana.edu
29-30 Oct 2013 | Senate House, London | tweet at #kduk13

2. A few words about Indiana University
Nine campuses, 50 libraries
IUCAT – shared statewide online catalog
SirsiDynix Symphony ILS
System-wide request delivery
Diversity of collections (monographs,
e-resources, various media, digital
collections)
8 mil bibliographic records
Statewide participation leads to a complex
data environment:
- Who shares records? What records?
How?
- Cataloging services provided to “extra-systems”
libraries
- Vendor records
- Widely varying formats, classification
schemes; numerous languages
IPFW

3. A few words about Indiana University
Nine campuses, 50 libraries
IUCAT – shared statewide online catalog
SirsiDynix Symphony ILS
System-wide request delivery
Diversity of collections (monographs,
e-resources, various media, digital
collections)
8 mil bibliographic records
Statewide participation leads to a complex
data environment:
- Who shares records? What records?
How?
- Cataloging services provided to “extra-systems”
libraries
- Vendor records
- Widely varying formats, classification
schemes; numerous languages
IPFW

4. A few words about Indiana University
Nine campuses, 50 libraries
IUCAT – shared statewide online catalog
SirsiDynix Symphony ILS
System-wide request delivery
Diversity of collections (monographs,
e-resources, various media, digital
collections)
8 mil bibliographic records
Statewide participation leads to a complex
data environment:
- Who shares records? What records?
How?
- Cataloging services provided to “extra-systems”
libraries
- Vendor records
- Widely varying formats, classification
schemes; numerous languages

5. IUCAT Classic
One-size-fits-all public interface has its costs
How to best serve all campuses and enable flexibility?

6. Discovery Layer Selection
• Review took place in early 2011, candidate
applications were Blacklight & VuFind
• Either system judged able to fulfill baseline
requirements
• Report & recommendations available at:
http://hdl.handle.net/2022/13621

7. Highlights on Selection
• Reasons for choosing Blacklight
• Exceptional flexibility
• Development community
Other general requirements included
•
•
•
•
•
Integrate non‐MARC metadata from local collections
Integrate with technologies enabling single sign on for login to IUCAT services (My Account, tagging, lists,
etc) & off‐campus access to online resources.
Permalinks for records & searches
Generate properly formatted citations for major styles (Chicago, APA, MLA).
Single search box on screen (with access to advanced search) that performs a keyword search using an
index defined by librarians.

14. Implementation
• Work began in Summer 2011
• public beta release in November 2012
• transition to Blacklight interface as primary entry point
in May 2013
• A few details
•
•
•
•
Ruby v PHP
Data: Indexing, refreshing, displaying
Campus views
Browse Call Number

15. Core Functionality
•
•
•
•
General Features & Functionality
Authentication & Account Management
Export & Sharing
Search Functionality & Results Display

16. Core Functionality
• General Features & Functionality
• Authentication & Account Management
• Export & Sharing
– Create multiple lists
– Print / Email / Save search results, Text call #
– RSS feeds for searches / new titles
– Generate citations for major styles, export
• Search Functionality & Results Display

17. Core Functionality
•
•
•
•
General Features & Functionality
Authentication & Account Management
Export & Sharing
Search Functionality & Results Display
–
–
–
–
–
–
Faceted searching
Single search box with access to advanced search
Limit to library/group of libraries
Browse search
Display call number for each location on search results
Alternate spelling suggestions

18. Core Functionality
•
•
•
•
General Features & Functionality
Authentication & Account Management
Export & Sharing
Search Functionality & Results Display
–
–
–
–
–
–
Faceted searching
Single search box with access to advanced search
Limit to library/group of libraries
Browse search
Display call number for each location on search results
Alternate spelling suggestions

19. Core Functionality
•
•
•
•
General Features & Functionality
Authentication & Account Management
Export & Sharing
Search Functionality & Results Display
–
–
–
–
–
–
Faceted searching
Single search box with access to advanced search
Limit to library/group of libraries
Browse search
Display call number for each location on search results
Alternate spelling suggestions

20. Core Functionality
•
•
•
•
General Features & Functionality
Authentication & Account Management
Export & Sharing
Search Functionality & Results Display
–
–
–
–
–
–
Faceted searching
Single search box with access to advanced search
Limit to library/group of libraries
Browse search
Display call number for each location on search results
Alternate spelling suggestions

21. Core Functionality
•
•
•
•
General Features & Functionality
Authentication & Account Management
Export & Sharing
Search Functionality & Results Display
–
–
–
–
–
–
Faceted searching
Single search box with access to advanced search
Limit to library/group of libraries
Browse search
Display call number for each location on search results
Alternate spelling suggestions

22. General Features & Functionality
Required
• Create custom campus views
• Permanent, stable URLs for records & searches
Highly Desirable
• Campus-specific “Ask a Librarian” links

23. Implementation: campus views

24. Implementation: campus views

25. Implementation: campus views

26. Implementation: campus views

27. Implementation: Ask A Librarian
Improved patron service:
 directing reference questions submitted via
IUCAT to the appropriate campus reference
service
 routing patrons directly to campus library
websites
More details at: https://blogs.libraries.iub.edu/iucatbeta/2013/01/ask-a-librarian/
11/8/2013

28. Implementation: Ask A Librarian

29. Implementation: Ask A Librarian

30. Implementation: call number browse

31. Implementation: call number browse

32. Implementation: call number browse

33. Implementation: tricky bits
• Data
•
•
•
Configuration of indexes
Going from more to less structured search
Format fun!
• Authentication & account management
•
•
•
•
My Account services
Off-campus authentication
Single sign-on (sort of: 2 systems + limited resident access)
Requesting items (2 systems: Sirsi + offsite storage)
• Statewide scope

34. Implementation: tricky bits
• Data Structures Group
– Formed Data Structures Group: technical services
staff (incl representatives from serials, music
library, law library)
• Charge: make and document recommendations
for configuration of indexing and record display
within Blacklight. This includes but is not limited
to search indexes, faceting, the display of
bibliographic records and other search and
browse displays.

35. Implementation: tricky bits
• Data Structures Group
– Formed Data Structures Group: technical services
staff (incl representatives from serials, music
library, law library)
• Charge: make and document recommendations
for configuration of indexing and record display
within Blacklight. This includes but is not limited
to search indexes, faceting, the display of
bibliographic records and other search and
browse displays.

36. Implementation: off-campus access

37. Implementation: off-campus access

38. Implementation: off-campus access

39. Implementation: off-campus access

40. Implementation: off-campus access
11/8/2013

41. Publicity & user feedback

42. Publicity & user feedback

43. Looking forward
• Lists
• New titles
• Enhanced views /
additional customization
by campus or format
• Transition to Kuali OLE
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waikikiweekly/3639971503/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/afeicht1/2797850952/

44. Discovery Strategy for Kuali OLE
• Implement catalog discovery layer overlay (Blacklight) - check
• Expected Kuali OLE Implementation December 2015
• Integration with Blacklight and Ebsco Discovery Service for subscribing
campuses (Bloomington, Kokomo, South Bend) [using Ebsco Blacklight
gem; similar functionality available for VuFind]
•
Integration with other structured data sources (not explicitly dependent
on OLE migration)
• IU Digital Collections
• Other campus specific or contextual search data

45. Ebsco Discovery Service
• IU Bloomington
o EDS beta partner, launched as OneSearch@IU in August 2011
o Integrated into library site search/resource gateway search, link on home page,
tab in subject guides, tabbed search box on Find Information page
o Drupal 7 module for website integration
• IU Kokomo
o Launched Sept 2011
o Search box on home page, Find Information page, resources A-Z guide, and
Public Access & Research Resources page
• IU South Bend
o Just launched for this academic year
• All campuses share a single catalog extract

46. Architecture
IUCAT (Blacklight)
Campus specific
IU Kokomo
IU Kokomo
IU Southeast
IU Bloomington, South Bend
SD Symphony
Archival
Collections
Digital Library
Collections
3rd Party Data APIs

47. Thank you!
Courtney Greene McDonald
crgreene@indiana.edu
Access IUCAT: http://iucat.iu.edu/
Additional reading on the project
•
Moore, Kate B., and Courtney Greene. 2012. “The Search for a New OPAC: Selecting an Open Source
Discovery Layer.” Serials Review 38 (1) (March): 24–30.
•
Greene, Courtney, Barbara Gushrowski, Randall Lent, Chris Evin Long, Mary Beth Minick, Kate Banet
Moore, Gwendolyn Pershing, Mary Pagliero Popp, and Susan Skekloff. 2011. “IU Libraries Discovery Layer
Task Force Summary Report and Recommendation”. Indiana University Libraries.
http://hdl.handle.net/2022/13621.