EbscoHost Integrated Search (EHIS)
I hope everyone has noticed this new option on the homepage and is using it for every assignment question possible!
(If you don't know your library card number off by heart yet, is a good time to learn it.)
We want to get your comments on how useful (or not) it is, before we work out whether we can a) afford it - (yes it is possible) and b) should we jump in now or wait (and wait and wait) until the new LMS, is in place?! Probably other questions as well.
I just happened to have done the online tutorial for the EHIS (took me halfway through the lesson to realise why they were calling it that, but I still got the gist) a couple of days before the trial went live.
Here's what I gleaned.
It will not be limited to Ebsco products only, can add in whatever we like
We can customise the look of that first page, where all databases are listed. We can group them like they are now so those wanting health info need not have to scroll through all listed databases wondering if they would be helpful. We can do that for them. Also the database descriptions can be customised to what we like.
We can nominate which of the grouped databases gets searched first. Tier 1 options will come back quickly with a result and then if/when the searcher wants more they can resume and the Tier 2 resources will be searched. or you can just do it all at once. The point of doing this is for speed...as we know everyone wants the answer now and having to wait 30 seconds for all sources to be thoroughly searched would just not do. (10 seconds max. and if it's not been found by then, it's not worth finding. Isn't that right?...not!)
I just happened to have done the online tutorial for the EHIS (took me halfway through the lesson to realise why they were calling it that, but I still got the gist) a couple of days before the trial went live.
Here's what I gleaned.
It will not be limited to Ebsco products only, can add in whatever we like
We can customise the look of that first page, where all databases are listed. We can group them like they are now so those wanting health info need not have to scroll through all listed databases wondering if they would be helpful. We can do that for them. Also the database descriptions can be customised to what we like.
We can nominate which of the grouped databases gets searched first. Tier 1 options will come back quickly with a result and then if/when the searcher wants more they can resume and the Tier 2 resources will be searched. or you can just do it all at once. The point of doing this is for speed...as we know everyone wants the answer now and having to wait 30 seconds for all sources to be thoroughly searched would just not do. (10 seconds max. and if it's not been found by then, it's not worth finding. Isn't that right?...not!)
Once you've chosen a few resources run a search and you can tell the progress of the searches it goes through each resource. You can also stop it at any time, view the results returned and then continue again. Once the search is complete it takes you directly to the results page. The 'details' link right next to the result number tells you how many results from each resource were found. Way more than displayed. EHIS will show the first 30 hits from an outside source and 150 from any Ebsco product. You can sort and/or limit the same as you can with any database. You can also just view the results of a particular resource via clicking on the required resource in the pane on the right. Any part of the bibliographic detail that is coloured green, are the fields that are the common features to all the databases you chose and so are the ones being searched. Any item returned from our catalogue has a link 'retrieve item' this will launch the catalogue in a new window and take you directly to the bib. record for the item in question.
Please try to use this as you answer each enquiry you get and see what you think of it. Is it too confusing? Do you love it as it saves running the same search a few times? Are the results too broad because of limited common fields in records?
Please try to use this as you answer each enquiry you get and see what you think of it. Is it too confusing? Do you love it as it saves running the same search a few times? Are the results too broad because of limited common fields in records?
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2 comments :
Like. Want. Now.
Max.
I agree with Max. It's really good to be able to find both books and articles for people - all in one search. I think it will be particularly good for student assignments where they are able to use a variety of sources. It also shows people that we have more than just print information available.
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