Web-Scale Discovery Services

We’ve long said that search isn’t the problem, findability is. Information management functions have struggled to find optimal solutions for enterprise search and federated search to help their clients identify and make the best use of the premium content purchased on their behalf. A new breed of content technology tool, referred to as web-scale discovery services, takes search to a new level and is increasingly being adopted by libraries to enable swift identification of an organization’s licensed and proprietary information via a centralized repository. This report sheds light on the new world of web-scale discovery services and examines the place and potential these services have for information management functions. It includes:
- An overview of web-scale discovery and library-centered search;
- A comparison of web-scale discovery to federated search;
- A landscape comparison of the four leading web-scale discovery services: EBSCO Discovery Service, Ex Libris Primo, OCLC WorldCat Local, and Serials Solutions Summon Discovery Service;
- Drivers, benefits, and caveats of web-scale discovery services;
- Considerations for implementation;
- Imperatives for information managers who are evaluating or considering implementation of web-scale discovery services.