From Metasearching to Discovery

Many academic libraries implemented a metasearch or federated search platform as a way to expand the amount of relevant information available to library users. While the metasearch concept seemed to hold great promise, it failed to live up to expectations and users failed to embrace the technology. Nevertheless, the single search box proved to be popular with search engine users, and metasearch would prove to be a forerunner to more evolved discovery solutions. In this chapter, the authors describe experiences with a metasearch product, usability testing, and how that experience shaped decision-making for the chosen discovery solution platform. The available discovery services are explored, and the process for selection at the University of Florida Libraries is described along with the plans for future evaluation of the implemented service.