BARBARA ARNETTWEB SERVICES LIBRARIAN

VALERIE FORRESTALCOMMUNICATIONS & NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES

LIBRARIAN

STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Bridging the gap from Wikipedia to scholarly sources:

oneSearch bookmarklet

Discovery tool project:

Key questions:

How do you prompt students to use scholarly sources for research?

What if they could search the library’s subscription databases without having to go through the library website?

How do you create a bridge between common student research sources, such as Wikipedia, and the library’s collections?

Solution

Solution: Cross-browser compatible bookmarklet (inspired by bit.ly, etc) + Summon (Serials Solutions Discovery Service)

Bookmarklet = Bookmark + Applet small program run from your browser’s favorites menu Easy to install (drag-and-drop) OS/browser independent Only runs when clicked, so it doesn’t slow down your

computer like some browser add-ons

Browser use at Stevens Library website

2009 2010 20110

10

20

30

40

50

60

Internet ExplorerFirefoxSafariChrome

Inspiration: Bit.ly bookmarklet

How students use the Bookmarklet

Install page

Bookmarklet in browser

Search prompt

Search results

Usage Statistics

How libraries can set up a Bookmarklet

Parts of the Bookmarklet:

1 – HTML : display bookmarklet on your webpage Contains the JavaScript that sits in the bookmarklet (in user’s

browser)

2 – JavaScript: on your server sits in search.js, referenced in bookmarklet HTML Google Analytics tracking + Prompt box for user to edit search

terms (uses the Page Title for initial search terms) Executes search and returns results in federated search or

catalog

3 – CSS: make it pretty Optional (places button image under link) Can be inline or separate stylesheet

JavaScript code in bookmarklet:

javascript:(function(){document.body.appendChild(document.createElement('script')).src='http://www.stevens.edu/library/js/search.js';})();

this executes JavaScript in a file that resides on our web server

Javascript in http://www.stevens.edu/library/js/search.js--

{// ***************** Google analytics code BEGIN *******************// var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-18930XXX-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);

(function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async =

true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') +

'.google- analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();// ***************** Google analytics code END *******************//

var Ti=document.title.replace('- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia','');

void(Ti=prompt('Edit search terms:',Ti));if(Ti){var searchString='http://stevens.summon.serialssolutions.com/search?s.q='+(Ti);

window.location.href=searchString;}

}

Hasn’t this been done before?

Catalog search bookmarklet (Indiana State University) Added functionality – code on our server, no version updates for

the user to install Uses federated search to retrieve all types of information

Libx toolbar Add-ons / extensions can slow down browser, bookmarklet only

executes / uses resources when clicked Can be used in all browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, IE)

Bookmarklet: Manage code updates easily No memory hogging

Results

Analytics tell us: Number of clicks Where clicking from

University of Michigan http://www.lib.umich.edu/mlibrary-labs/articlesplus-quick-search-

bookmarklet

Next steps:

Have students install bookmarklet in all info lit classes (laptops are required.)

Place oneSearch button in library website footer, so it’s easy to find and accessible from any page on our site.

Campus-wide announcement (email) in September 2011.

After roll-out and promotion, compare Fall 2011 usage stats for key databases vs. Fall 2009/2010.

Edit Google Analytics code to track search terms (anonymously.)

More info:

Contact:Barbara Arnett: barnett@stevens.eduValerie Forrestal: valerie.forrestal@stevens.edu

Details:Instructions available at: http://bit.ly/LibTech11Server-side code: http://www.stevens.edu/library/js/search.js