New & Improved: OneSearch@IU

Not only are branded services easier to publicize, they are also easier to talk about. Since we see the launch of a discovery tool such as EBSCO Discovery Service as a logical next step in the process of better enabling discovery across all our collections, we have adopted the already existing OneSearch@IU brand, thus enabling EDS to be promoted and publicized at the Bloomington campus as “an all new, improved OneSearch@IU.” (This will have no effect on other IU campuses, or on existing OnCourse library services.)

Where can you see OneSearch@IU in action?

• Top Recommended Resources: OneSearch@IU appears as one of the top recommended resources, listed on the Libraries’ home page and on the Find Information page (see below for more on that!).
• Search results: Results from OneSearch@IU will be returned as part of the existing search results page (the orange box, or ‘resource discovery’ search). Icons indicating item type, and when available, book covers, will be presented as part of the results. We will be conducting user testing in the fall focused on the content and presentation of results returned on this page.

• Subject Guides: In lieu of the federated search, which was always limited to a small subset of available resources, we will be implementing OneSearch@IU as a tab within research guides (example: Gender Studies). Our intention is to provide easy access to this resource for all users while retaining the carefully constructed resource listings maintained by collection managers. (Speaking of which – collection managers, you can also add OneSearch@IU to your resource lists.)
• Find Information: The Find Information page has historically served as the page to which databases refer users upon ending or exiting a session. While many vendors have moved away from this behavior, the page still sees reasonably heavy use: it indexes high in Google search results for IUB Libraries, and the library link for some OnCourse course sites points here. We see an opportunity to begin to integrate search behaviors that we would like eventually to expand throughout the site – tabbed search box, etc. — and to evaluate and improve our approach.

What do you think? We’d love to hear your comments.