4:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Discovery services for libraries, whether vendor supplied or free tools such as Google Scholar, have proliferated. Users can easily get millions of results returned from a single search with little effort, but little has been done to improve linking to content once discovered. For users, linking remains the single biggest point of failure in the research process as libraries are largely reliant on OpenURL linking technologies which are notoriously error prone when getting to the desired items. This panel discussion features several e-resource librarians discussing how linking is really the most critical aspect of the discovery process for libraries, but it is often the most overlooked and taken for granted. In an era where discovery of content is relatively easy, libraries need to be aware that linking—the process of fulfillment and delivery of desired content—is still hard. When links fail, users think the library has failed and go elsewhere. This panel discusses the latest advances in linking technology, strategies that have improved their library’s access to discovered content, and new technologies being introduced to improve linking. They share experiences with usability tests, real world feedback centered around linking to content as well as results of adopting specific technologies/strategies.
