Web-Scale Discovery Services

Abstract

Web-scale discovery tools or services represent a streamlined model of end-user information discovery services. These tools began gaining traction in the library marketplace around 2010, as multiple library vendors placed multiple services into general release. These services consist of a modern web interface used to search and retrieve results from a large content database centrally hosted by a discovery service provider. Compared to earlier library search tools, web-scale discovery tools offer a single search box approach, with queries searched against a large content database and returning results to a much greater level of granularity than the traditional library online public access catalog (OPAC) (such as returning results indexed at the individual article level). Web-scale discovery tools search a greater quantity of content, sourced from both local library repositories (e.g., OPAC bibliographic records, digital collection records) and remotely licensed sources (e.g., publisher hosted electronic journal content). Web-scale discovery tools can be compared to an earlier predecessor, “federated search.” A primary differentiator with web-scale discovery resides in the fact that a pre-indexed central database is searched, as opposed to a real-time search of multiple, disparate targets. Compared to earlier library search technologies, web-scale discovery tools offer the promise of quickly returning results at a granular level, typically ranked by relevancy. Web-scale discovery tools are at an early stage of development, with some noted concerns which may be addressed in the future as the product space matures.