ENCompass at Cornell Prepared by Karen Calhoun for the ARL Meeting on Portal Implementations ALA, Atlanta GA June 14, 2002 ~Cornell University Library ~

Why Develop A Portal?

A NOT B A AND B NOT A AB A OR B

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 4 Key Problems and Needs KEY PROBLEMS –Countless information resources, little time –Searchers on their own to be aware of collections, know how to link, know how to search WE NEED TO HELP USERS QUICKLY AND CONVENIENTLY… –Learn what collections are available –Learn which collections are relevant to their needs –Find the particular parts of collections that meet their needs

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 5 Discovery Tool “ Central to the Scholars Portal service is a discovery tool that enables a user to search across certain limited but diverse and distributed websites, library catalogs, and databases of information resources to retrieve and integrate the results in a single presentation.” -- Jerry Campbell, Chair, ARL Scholars Portal Working Group

A Three Ring Circus Digital Collections Networked Resources Portals

Why ENCompass?

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 8 Cross Collection Searching Unified access to widely distributed, variously described digital assets –EAD finding aid –Bird images –Full text (pamphlets) Complex challenge –Granularity of search results –Size and relationships of result sets –Hierarchy, context, navigation –More

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 9 Differentiated Searching “Branding” a collection Many advantages to building and retaining “native” or “custom” interface

Search

Cornell University Library e-Reference Collection

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 13 Project Plan Phase One –Move e-Reference Collection to ENCompass –Run as test system Phase Two –Fully migrate rights management to ENCompass –End support for legacy system

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 14 Added Functionality Direct searching of selected high-use databases –HTTP, XML Gateway, Z39.50 Reference linking (LinkFinderPlus)

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 15 Portals Search box(es) Channels (Content) Other links Calendars, Schedules , Address Books Discussion groups, Chat Shared work space Personalization (“My stuff”)

Campus Portals, Learning Management Systems

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 17 ENCompass and Portals Deliver content outside ENCompass –To campus portal –To another Web site ENCompass 3.0 –Personalization features (Like “MyLibrary”) Strategic alliance between Endeavor and major provider of learning management system

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 18 Summary of Current Status Production ENCompass system –May Anti-Slavery Collection Test ENCompass system –Cross-collection searching Immediate next steps: –Migrate e-Reference Collection –Implement reference linking

Cornell University Library 6/14/02 KSC 19 Future Directions Integrate Cornell OPAC searching into ENCompass More Cornell-developed digital collections in ENCompass Continue using multiple technologies (ENCompass, DLXS, Luna) Linkages between technologies (e.g., ENCompass and Luna) Take part in campus portal and learning management system initiatives Collaborate on digital initiatives outside library