AMICAL-OCLC Forum on the Challenges of Discovery Services: problems, solutions and workflow
Tatevik who is working as Library Systems and E-Services Librarian in American University of Armenia at AGBU Papazian Library, participated in the 2 day forum organized by OCLC-AMICAL on The Challenges of Discovery Services: problems, solutions and workflow at Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon, on 8-9 of March 2013. Tatevik is currently responsible for OCLC WorldCat Local database updates for AUA. She will be in charge of integration and promotion of this service in future.
In 2008 AGBU Papazian Library has decided to join OCLC WorldCat Local and since that, library is contributing to the WorldCat Local database by providing their local collections.
WorldCat Local is a hub for AGBU Papazian Library to stay connected with world in terms of staying modern and providing patrons with modern information delivery solutions.
About the event
The event was intended to reveal the problems that libraries are encountering while they use Discovery services. 2 day thorough discussions show that there are still issues with e-resource coverage load, accuracy of the selected packages, getting local content indexed, link problems, landing page problems, syncing the catalog with the discovery layer and more.
This event was largely run by participants as the forum’s aim was to focus on what managers, librarians, and staff should be aware of, types of problems encountered, best practices, and how to devise workflows around a digital product that is now completely outside of the print legacy workflow environment which still guides many in their day to day operations. The main Discovery service products discussed were WorldCat Local, EBSCO Discovery Service, and Summon.
OCLC staff also presented talk about how their products and services can address these issues.
It is obvious that there is still much to be considered with this innovative service and this is a product that becomes its own management and technological challenge that requires a care and attention that for many will be unanticipated.
