Summon™ Service Debuts Database Recommender
March 17 2010 (SEATTLE) – Serials Solutions’ Summon™ web-scale discovery service has pioneered a new feature that expands exploration of library collections even further. The Summon™ service’s new Database Recommender points users to not only the indexed content in a library’s collection, but also to valuable, targeted research tools that are rarely captured by any discovery service – all within the context of a single search. Now, a user’s Summon search will return the specific books and articles that are relevant along with a list of recommended databases to consult for additional pertinent information.
“Database Recommender addresses an issue that plagues all discovery solutions, whether it’s web-scale discovery or federated search or something in between: the inability to access all of the electronic content a library holds in a single search,” said Jane Burke, senior vice-president, Serials Solutions. “This database discovery function points users to specialized resources that can assist their research, whether they’re indexed by Summon or not. By highlighting these sources for researchers, Summon is able to provide the best search experience possible, inspiring users to return to the library for every research task.”
Through the Summon™ service, users are able to use a single entrance to the library’s collections, searching all formats in one integrated and instant search. Search results are returned in less than a second and now include not only indexed content, but advice on databases held by the library that are particularly pertinent to their research. This latest feature of the Summon™ service showcases sources that don’t lend themselves to be indexed by any service—such as dynamic or statistical databases – but make the library so well fitted to its academic community. In keeping with the Summon™ service’s uncomplicated interface, recommendations are integrated in the results screen and a mouse click takes users to the resource’s home page.
Database Recommender is the latest innovation to the service libraries are embracing as their path to bringing students and faculty back to the library as the starting point for research. The Summon™ service was built from scratch using an entirely new technology architecture that delivers a search experience rivaling those found on the Open Web. Rather than federated search, the Summon™ service is powered by a massive single index that enables sub-second searches and completely unbiased results.
Called “absolutely fantastic,” “superb,” and “the best method” by students around the world, the Summon™ service can transform a library’s search experience in a proven six-week set-up. The service provides simplicity and portability (with a new mobile interface) for users and exposes the breadth of the library’s content, allowing more resources to be discovered – a boon for libraries, who want to get more from collection investments, and publishers, who want to drive greater usage.
About Serials Solutions
Founded by a librarian for librarians in 2000, Serials Solutions is the global leader in E-Resource Access and Management Services (ERAMS) that serves more than 2,000 libraries of all sizes and types. Serials Solutions® KnowledgeWorks, the authoritative e-resource knowledgebase, is the foundation for Serials Solutions® 360, the only complete and integrated e-resource access and management solution. Serials Solutions recently introduced the Summon™ web-scale discovery service, a revolutionary tool that provides instant access to the full breadth of the library’s collection through a single search.
Serials Solutions also is the exclusive source for Ulrichsweb.com™ and Ulrich’s Serials Analysis System™ worldwide, and represents the AquaBrowser® Discovery Layer in the academic market in North America and Australia. The WebFeat® federated search service is also part of the Serials Solutions family of access and discovery services.
Serials Solutions provides fast implementation, easy customization, and outstanding value to libraries throughout the world.
Serials Solutions is a business unit of ProQuest LLC.
About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research, discovery, and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as CSA™, UMI®, Chadwyck-Healey™, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich’s™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.
More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.
For more information, visit http://www.proquest.com or the ProQuest parent company website, http://www.cambridgeinformationgroup.com.