UPDATED: Discovery Service is Live!
Update 01-03-17
Events Calendar in Search Results
A keyword search of EDS will now also return matching events from the calendar (e.g. a search for dogs will return forthcoming occurrences of Children Reading to Dogs). We are aware that private calendar events are displaying in the search results and EBSCO is working on filtering them out of search results. Private calendar events no longer display in the search results.
NoveList Integration
EDS search results now include suggestions for similar titles, series, and/or authors as provided by NoveList.
Print Books Only Search Filter
Search results can now be limited to only (standard and large) print books using this filter option in the Limit To section on the left side of the screen.
Update 12-23-16
Check Availability
We've worked with EBSCO to enhance the "View Catalog Record" section of the search results in the DS. EBSCO has added a "Check Availability" link that redirects the user to the Details page of a title's record in LS2PAC. We hope this will remove some of the confusion with the "View Catalog Record" section and its inability to check a title's availabilty within the DS. We are also aware this is not functioning at 100% at this point. We are in communication with EBSCO to resolve the linking so it will display the proper LS2PAC content.
Update 12-12-16
Thank you for testing the new Discovery Service (DS) and sending your feedback. We've launched DS this morning and made some modifications based on feedback we received. We've updated the language for Available in Library Collection to Library Collection (Catalog & Articles) and Catalog Only to Library Catalog. We also posted for our members this am on our blog: http://www.metrolibrary.org/announcement/12-12-2016/introducing-our-new-discovery-service
We also released a brand new mobile menu on our website. You'll notice a much needed improvement to our mobile navigation. We updated this to help with our mobile user experience.
Please continue to share any feedback you receive from the public or from staff.
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Comments
I just did two sample keyword searches, and they both seem to return VERY long lists of results, even when limited to books. I'm worried that people will be completely overwhelmed when they do searches and see 5,000, 10,000, 30,000 or more results, even when limited. I'll be interested in hearing feedback from front-line staff when our patrons start using this.
I just performed a couple of random searches (dogs and mystery) and each platform returned results that weren't more than a couple of hundred search results apart as far as catalog. LS2 returned many more search results as they included magazine articles (nearly 2.5 million results for mystery & over 4.1 million for dogs) so maybe it's just a difference in the way the search results are displayed? What keyword searches did you perform?
In EDS the status of physical materials reads "View Catalog Record". This requires that members leave EDS open the OPAC and conduct the search again which is not very helpful to persons who are interested in quickly locating which library has the material available on shelf. Is this a permanent quirk or can we (in the future) expect the displayed status to be similar to the OPAC which indicates when materials are: In, On Hold Shelf, Loaned and when they are due back?
Hi Jen,
As for EDS not displaying a title's availability like LS2 does, we hoped TLC & EBSCO were going to resolve this issue before we went live but they obviously haven't done so. We hope they can resolve this issue in the near future. However, clicking the Place Hold link should direct the member to LS2 where they can see the title's availability, place a hold, add to a list, etc. without having to conduct the search again.
Thanks for being a guinea pig!
I clicked on the "place hold" link and it did direct me to LS2, however, it was to a blank search screen so I DID have to conduct the search again.
Hi Donna,
Can you share the name of the title with me that did this? I've been trying to recreate this problem & have so far been unable to do so. Thanks for your help in testing this!
I looked up "drawing of the three" by title. Then I chose the third choice. It is book format illustrated by Phil Hale. I did look it up in LS2 after making the comment. It is not listed as an item we carry so maybe that was why I got a blank screen. I would have thought it would say "no items found" rather than just blank though.
It looks like you hit the nail on the head by discovering that all copies of this title are lost/missing/withdrawn. When we go live with EDS, they will be updating our catalog records on a weekly basis. What we think has happened is that the last time EBSCO performed a major import of our catalog records was prior to the date that the last copy of this title was marked as Lost. So our catalog records in EDS are currently months out of date but they should be updated by the time we go live & should be kept up to date more frequently. Thanks for your work figuring this out.
On mobile...
1. Go to discovery.metrolibrary.org.
2. Search "hello".
3. Click the title of the first result, Hello ? / Liza Wiemer.
4. Click "Place Hold".
5. Watch in horror as the "responsive" mobile catalog eats the redirect.
The link in E.D.S. is http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/SmartLink/OpenIlsLink?sid=7369af90-b3b3-4...@sessionmgr120&vid=2&sl=smartlink&st=ilslink_new&sv=sdbn%253Dcat04814a%2526pbt%253DBook%2526issn%253D%2526ttl%253DHello%25253F%252520%25252F%252520Liza%252520Wiemer%25252E%2526stp%253DC%2526asi%253DY%2526ldc%253DPlace%252520Hold%2526lna%253DMetro%252520Library%252520LS2PAC%252520%252528cat04814a%252529%2526lca%253DlibCatalog%2526lo%255Fan%253Dmet%25252ECARL0000435507&su=http%3A%2F%2Fcatalog%2Emetrolibrary%2Eorg%2F%2F%23section%3Dresource%26hostRecordId%3D435507%26currentIndex%3D0%26view%3DallCopiesDetailsTab%26%3F. The link for L.S.2-Responsive is catalog.metrolibrary.org/responsive. When you click "Search" in Responsive you are taken to catalog.metrolibrary.org/mobile#searchPage & catalog.metrolibrary.org/mobile#loading. When we first "gained" Responsive I learned that using the addition of mobile will avoid the redirects of Responsive and will be further redirected on our "choice" of browser at work (on desktop computers also only at work). I don't know that this holds true in all O.S. and browsers, but it might be something that E.D.S. could quickly change in a script to avoid this issue.
e.g.
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/SmartLink/OpenIlsLink?sid=7369af90-b3b3-4...@sessionmgr120&vid=2&sl=smartlink&st=ilslink_new&sv=sdbn%253Dcat04814a%2526pbt%253DBook%2526issn%253D%2526ttl%253DHello%25253F%252520%25252F%252520Liza%252520Wiemer%25252E%2526stp%253DC%2526asi%253DY%2526ldc%253DPlace%252520Hold%2526lna%253DMetro%252520Library%252520LS2PAC%252520%252528cat04814a%252529%2526lca%253DlibCatalog%2526lo%255Fan%253Dmet%25252ECARL0000435507&su=http%3A%2F%2Fcatalog%2Emetrolibrary%2Eorg%2F%2Fmobile%23section%3Dresource%26hostRecordId%3D435507%26currentIndex%3D0%26view%3DallCopiesDetailsTab%26%3F
Hi Gatlin,
By eats the redirect, do you mean that clicking the "Place Hold" link in EDS on a mobile device directs the user to the catalog's mobile homepage instead of into the title's record in the catalog? That's what happened to me when I followed your steps so I want to be sure I'm understanding this issue. Thanks for any clarifying info you can provide & for your help rooting out these quirks.
That was exactly, but I was experiencing.
Gatlin,
I wanted to let you know we've been working with EBSCO to resolve this problem today. We have updated the "Place Hold" link to the specific title on mobile and desktop. Would you please clear your cache and cookies and try again and let us know if you are still encountering this issue? We are also working with EBSCO on a series of updates to continue to enhance the Discovery Service. Watch for updates soon!
I just retried this with the exact same steps and now am being directed to the entry on our O.P.A.C. So it seems to be working perfectly.
As it stands right now, it presents an overwhelming amount of information. Just going through and limiting the search takes much more time than in the past, and it still doesn't provide easy access to the information looked for. Maybe it's just that our branch, but here, folks come in looking for a known item, and they want to know two things about that item: if the item is on the shelf today, and where is that shelf. Discovery seems to make finding this information much more difficult and time consuming. Perhaps it's more useful for folks doing academic research, but I've found it to be counterproductive here. Is there a way to set a standard search with limits that we commonly use?
Hey Shanna,
While we would like everyone to use the Discovery service, we understand that some members may prefer our catalog for searching for books. I would recommend to anyone to use the resource he or she finds to best fit their needs. Discovery is a much more comprehensive view of materials and resources, our catalog would be more refined for those looking for materials available today in a location.
I will also let you know we're working on alternatives to show the availability of materials in our libraries within Discovery. This update will take some time, but it is something we are working towards. We are also hopeful having the availability would allow for additional search limiters. We will keep everyone posted as this service evolves.
Thank you again for helping us grow and develop our Discovery platform!
Could we develop a feature that allows us to sort by availability? Or perhaps a limiter like we have on the emedia side, where we can choose "items available now"? That would be immensely helpful!