Social Discovery Systems in Libraries: If We Build Them, Will They Come?

Spiteri, Louise F.; Tarulli, Laurel

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/34599 Copy

Description

Title

Social Discovery Systems in Libraries: If We Build Them, Will They Come?

Author(s)

• Spiteri, Louise F.
• Tarulli, Laurel

Issue Date

2012

Keyword(s)

• Next-Generation Discovery and Access
• Library Catalogs

Abstract

If the public library catalogue is to continue to have relevance to its users, it needs to move beyond its current inventory model, where all content is designed and controlled by library staff and client interaction with catalogue content is limited, to a social catalogue, where users can contribute to, and interact with information and with each other. The goal of this report is to present the results of an analysis of four months worth of log analysis of two social discovery systems used in two Canadian public libraries to examine: (a) how public library users interact with social discovery systems; (b) how usage compares between the two social discovery systems; and (c) whether the use of the features in social discovery systems is consistent over time. Results suggest that clients are making limited use of the social features of the system that allow them to interact with the catalogue records and with one another.

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

ISSN

0024-2594

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/34599

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2012.0019

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2012 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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