Three research libraries successfully launched the Scholars Portal in the collaborative Scholars Portal Project with Fretwell-Downing, Inc. (FD) and the Association of Research Libraries. During 2003 Iowa State University, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University have implemented federated discovery and delivery tools for their campuses using FD software (ZPORTAL, Z2Web, and related FD products). The remaining four participants expect to introduce the software to their campuses by early 2004.
Find It! , Iowa State University's version of the Scholars Portal, debuted in March 2003. Even in this early design, it is often referred to as their "academic Google" for its ability to simply search across numerous core library resources - often resulting in direct access to full-text journal articles. The Scholars Portal implementation has brought together staff from across the ISU library--public services, technical services, IT--to think both creatively and futuristically about their users' needs. As a practical research tool, ZPORTAL, has plenty of room for development. But even at this experimental stage, Find It! provides ISU with an exciting glimpse of the design and future of "discovery and delivery" tools for the academic community.
The Arizona State University Libraries released the Scholars Portal (renamed in its ASU implementation as Multi-Database Search ) for the Fall 2003 semester. It is fully integrated into the Libraries' web space and with the Universities' central authentication system (ASURITE). This system has met the expectations set for of ease-of-use and for value to the academic community. The Multi-Database Search (MDS) provides users with a convenient way to simultaneously search groups of related databases, and will undoubtedly become even more popular as more database targets and open linking features are added to the system in the coming months. The implementation of MDS has challenged many traditional roles played by library staff members, and has provided an opportunity to get library staff members working together in new ways; this was an unexpected, but very exciting result of this project, and one that will benefit the library in the future as it undertakes future digital library projects. This project has also presented many technical challenges for the systems staff, but in meeting these challenges ASU believes that they have enhanced their ability to succeed in future digital library projects.
The University of Arizona's early implementation of ZPORTAL has provided some important insight into the future of academic discovery and delivery tools. First, they know that their users like the ability to search multiple resources simultaneously. This feature has consistently ranked among their most frequently used resources - even without marketing the service. Second, ASU is developing the technical and organizational requirements to provide the meta-search and direct linking features that enable users to search multiple resources and simultaneously link directly to the appropriate content. Their initial results verify and underscore what they have known from the beginning - standards-based access to metadata and content is essential for libraries to provide the next generation of access tools.
Jerry Campbell, University of Southern California, first articulated the need for collaborative action in his white paper that encouraged ARL to take a lead in the portal environment. The ARL Scholars Portal Working Group was established in 2000 to advance the concept of a collective research library presence on the Web. The working group affirmed that access to disparate electronic resources and services can be improved through integration, both within a single institution and across multiples institutions. The group also believed that efforts to effect such integration should leverage work already being carried out in ARL libraries. The Scholars Portal Working Group completed its work when the Scholars Portal Project was launched in mid 2002.
The Scholars Portal Project Managers Group (PMG), established in early 2003, is a direct response to Campbell's call for collaboration. The PMG is co-chaired by Kris Maloney (University of Arizona) and John James (Dartmouth College). Other members include Marianne Afifi (University of Southern California), Fred Gulden (Iowa State University), Scott Herrington (Arizona State University), Gary Rasmussen (University of Utah), and Jenny Reiswig (University of California at San Diego). The Project Managers Group has developed collaborative processes to identify priority subject areas, select specific resources for each of those subject areas, write and review templates for the resources, and reach consensus on configuration issues identified during this process. The group is also working with FD on authentication issues and configuring the OL2, FD's open linking software, according to each participant's holdings.
Established in May 2002, the Scholars Portal Project seeks to provide software tools for an academic community to have a single point of access on the Web to find high-quality information resources and, to the greatest extent possible, to deliver the information and related services directly to the user's desktop. The project will demonstrate the viability of the vision articulated by the ARL Scholars Portal Working Group with one vendor's products. Additional background on the Scholars Portal Project and related activities is available on the ARL website http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/portals/scholarsportal.shtml.
University of Southern California: Marianne Afifi afifi@usc.edu
University of California-San Diego: Jenny Reiswig jennifer@library.ucsd.edu
Dartmouth College: John James john.r.james@dartmouth.edu
University of Arizona: Kris Maloney maloneyk@u.library.arizona.edu
Arizona State University: Scott Herrington scott.herrington@asu.edu
Iowa State University: Fred Gulden gulden@iastate.edu
University of Utah: Gary Rasmussen gary.rasmussen@library.utah.edu