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Introduction
The purpose of a library gateway is to guide library users to appropriate resources that return relevant answers to research questions. It uses a structured approach to categorizing and deploying research tools to accomplish this. When the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Library implemented the Ex Libris MetaLib federated search engine, it positioned it carefully within its library gateway to achieve this end.
The library had specific objectives in mind when it selected a federated search engine and made it available to its user community. Those objectives included enabling users to do the following:
- avoid the hurdle of having to know a lot about databases when making decisions about where to search;
- search multiple relevant databases simultaneously;
- use a common interface without the distraction of multiple interfaces that behave differently; and
- start searching right away without having to navigate multiple steps from the library's homepage.
To achieve these objectives the library leveraged its evolving gateway environment and the flexibility of MetaLib to create an integrated starting point for research. The key enabling functionality of the product is its deep linking capability which allows a user to submit queries to the search engine from locations other than its native user interface. This enables the library to craft contextually relevant starting points for its users from its own web space rather than having to forward the user to the federated search engine interface to begin the discovery process.
Before federated searching the discovery process usually required users to leave library controlled web space to do their searching. After federated searching was implemented, the library was able to keep users in library controlled web space for a greater part of the discovery process. This allows the library to customize the discovery layer to a significant degree.
The key features of the library gateway are the quick search, the list of database categories (mostly by subject), and the database A-Z list. Each of these features represents a starting point for research. The key features of MetaLib are the quicksearch federated search, the categories federated search, and the A-Z list. As with the gateway, each of these features represents a starting point for research.
The discovery process involves forming a query, identifying the "best" places...