ENCompass at Cornell

Prepared by Karen Calhoun for the

ARL Meeting on Portal Implementations

ALA, Atlanta GA

June 14, 2002

~Cornell University Library ~

Why DevelopA Portal?

A NOT

B

AAND

B

BNOT

A

A B

A OR B

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Key Problems and Needs

• KEY PROBLEMS

– Countless information resources, little time

– Searchers on their own to be aware of collections, know how to link, know how to search

• WE NEED TO HELP USERS QUICKLY AND CONVENIENTLY…– Learn what collections

are available– Learn which

collections are relevant to their needs

– Find the particular parts of collections that meet their needs

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Discovery Tool

“Central to the Scholars Portal service is a discovery tool that enables a user to search

across certain limited but diverse and distributed websites, library catalogs, and

databases of information resources to retrieve and integrate the results in a single

presentation.”

--Jerry Campbell,

Chair, ARL Scholars Portal Working Group

A Three Ring Circus

Digital Collections

NetworkedResources

Portals

WhyENCompass?

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Cross Collection Searching

• Unified access to widely distributed, variously described digital assets– EAD finding aid– Bird images– Full text (pamphlets)

• Complex challenge– Granularity of search results– Size and relationships of result sets– Hierarchy, context, navigation– More

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Differentiated Searching

• “Branding” a collection

• Many advantages to building and retaining “native” or “custom” interface

http://www.library.cornell.edu/mayantislavery

Search

http://www.library.cornell.edu/mayantislavery

Cornell University Librarye-Reference Collection

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Project Plan

• Phase One– Move e-Reference

Collection to ENCompass

– Run as test system

• Phase Two– Fully migrate rights

management to ENCompass

– End support for legacy system

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Added Functionality

• Direct searching of selected high-use databases– HTTP, XML Gateway, Z39.50

• Reference linking (LinkFinderPlus)

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Portals

Search box(es)

Channels(Content)

Other linksCalendars, Schedules

E-Mail, AddressBooks

Discussion groups,Chat

Shared workspace

Personalization(“My stuff”)

Campus Portals, Learning Management Systems

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ENCompass and Portals

• Deliver content outside ENCompass – To campus portal– To another Web site

• ENCompass 3.0– Personalization features (Like “MyLibrary”)

• Strategic alliance between Endeavor and major provider of learning management system

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Summary of Current Status

• Production ENCompass system– May Anti-Slavery Collection

• Test ENCompass system– Cross-collection searching

• Immediate next steps:– Migrate e-Reference Collection– Implement reference linking

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Future Directions

• Integrate Cornell OPAC searching into ENCompass• More Cornell-developed digital collections in

ENCompass• Continue using multiple technologies (ENCompass,

DLXS, Luna)• Linkages between technologies (e.g., ENCompass

and Luna)• Take part in campus portal and learning management

system initiatives• Collaborate on digital initiatives outside library