JISC

The final report from this study is now available at the foot of the page. 

Introduction  

The adoption of locally developed and commercial library portals in academic institutions is having a profound impact on the use of quality information sources, as well as on internal library workflows and efficiency. Library portals will be crucial to interoperation with national services and institutional portal and VLE developments. Building on previous studies and accounts, the LibPortal project will provide a comprehensive review of current practice and future prospects. A subsidiary Project will feature a  case study of the introduction of Metalib at a specific institution. 

LibPortal defines a library portal as: a network service that brings together content from diverse resources, including the library catalogue, on-line subscription reference material, e-journals and learning and teaching material. A portal offers a gateway to a range of high quality sources, presented to the user through a single interface, for example the library web site or a commercially produced package. Click here for further explanation of portals.  

Aims and Objectives  

The primary aim of the Project is to gather information that enables the JISC community to understand the development, implementation and use of library portals by FE and HE institutions. To achieve this aim, the project will address the following objectives, to:

• Define the scope of portals and associated access tools
• Determine the scale of development of in-house and purchased systems, and factors in choices such as whether to buy a system or develop one
• Examine the relevant technologies, with particular reference to future integration and interoperability with the JISC Information Environment
• Explore other interoperability issues relating to interworking with VLEs, CMS, and the relationship between library and institutional portals
• Gather views of stakeholders including developers, library staff, academics and students, and bring together existing evidence on the impact on information literacy and user behaviour
• Explore cultural issues amongst users, the library profession and publishers, e.g. about cross searching and the impact on required skill sets for professionals
• Look at how portal use has been effectively promoted
• Explore legal and contractual issues
• Arrive at a summative view of the costs and benefits of developing or implementing a portal
• Explore relevant experience in other information sectors, such as national libraries, the NHS, the People’s Network and commercial libraries and international experience
• Inform the supplier community of UK FE and HE activity and needs.

Overall Approach  

A national survey of FE and HE institutions will be carried out to establish current practice, and existing thinking on issues such as system selection, implementation, use, promotion and more technical issues related to interoperability. The survey will comprise two parts: an e-mail questionnaire to librarians, and a web-based questionnaire for users. Librarians in all institutions will be contacted, and asked to promote the web-based survey to their users. Telephone interviews will be used to follow up responses. Existing user metrics may be used. Two invitation focus groups will be organised; one on technical aspects, and one on implementation issues. In addition, discussions with stakeholders including portal vendors and funding agencies will be undertaken. 

The subsidiary case study will explore local experience of introducing Metalib with SFX in the Pilkington Library at Loughborough University through examining relevant documentation and by undertaking a series of interviews with key participants. The reasoning behind the choice of portal will be examined, and its implementation described. The impact on user searching behaviour will be assessed by looking at statistical returns and qualitative data. The study will also make estimates of staff resources required to maintain the system and predictions about impact on local workflows. 

Project Consortium  

The Project represents a partnership of Loughborough University Library, the Department of Information Science and the Library and Information Statistics Unit at Loughborough.