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1. Display Worldcat materials within Primo via a separate search profile
Access using this option:
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Melvyl-like functionality for ILL is a desired feature - especially for books not held in the UC system.
WorldCat results can be “blended” with other results; however, it doesn’t work as smoothly as we’d like and ExLibris recommends against this option.
Dependencies
Work with
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Fulfillment FG and CDL to ensure all options are viable
Adequate time for any implementation work and testing required by CDL
Adequate time for implementation work and testing required by local teams
Questions to consider
User needs. How much will our researchers appreciate the ability to start an ILL directly from the Primo interface?
Common use scenarios. How do our researchers use WorldCat Worldcat searching, and how well are they supported by including a separate WorldCat scope or including WorldCat records in a blended searchWorldcat scope versus a link out to Worldcat?
Example scenario: WorldCat Worldcat (on campuses that do not use WC Discovery) is used frequently by more advanced researchers looking for a known item that’s not available on their campus. So, for example, a search for older, more unique monographs.
Quality of WorldCat-only search scope. Primo’s search functions for WorldCat data are significantly worse than WorldCat for precision searches. (Other libraries, e.g. Northwestern, have handled this by providing a link to WorldCat instead of using Primo. )
No facets display in Primo.
No fielded searches in Primo, e.g. in WorldCat you can search ti:[title term] au:[author name] (but Advanced Search does work with the WC search profile)Quality of blended search. How well does it work?
Results are worse with WorldCat. ExLibris strongly discourages using WorldCat records in default search. Default search ends up the most-used search, and including WorldCat records sort of breaks the facet display because it hides number of results in the facets.
(From experience, the format of a highlighted “Note” field in Ex Libris documentation is deceptive. It looks mild, with subtle yellow highlighting, but in reality it means ALARM.)“It is not recommended to blend third-party indexes with local and Primo Central searches in the library's default scope since this may impact the end users experience in the areas of facets and relevancy between the different indexes.“ https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/020Primo_VE/Primo_VE_(English)/040Search_Configurations/010Configuring_Search_Profiles_for_Primo_VE
Action Log
Action/Point Person | Expected Completion Date | Notes | Status |
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Each Disco FG member: get feedback from local group on WorldCat search profile | Jan 15, 2021 | complete | |
Disco FG: perform environmental scan that 1. reviews choice (separate, blended, neither and point to WorldCat) and 2. reviews functionality | Complete | ||
Disco FG: confirm common use scenarios |
| Complete | |
Discovery FG finalizes recommendations | June 8, 2021 |