| Michael Gorrell Executive Vice President, CIO EBSCO Publishing |
Discovery Services have emerged to become a key element of libraries’ efforts to allow their patrons to satisfy their research needs. Harvesting and indexing millions of scholarly journal articles, books, biographies, reviews, and a vast array of other content types from thousands of sources, allowing users to find the best matches for their needs and presenting this information in a clear and understandable way is a tall order. Challenges include determining relevance for search results, providing users with ways to understand the depth and breadth of the collection being searched, and overall site usability. EBSCO has taken a data driven approach to solving these problems by testing various aspects of its Discovery Service, and using other data mining techniques. This session will describe the various methodologies that have been used and describe ways in which the service has evolved based on these efforts.
 Handout (PDF)