Library Services
Concordia University Texas Adds Discovery Service
Concordia University Texas has adopted a new discovery service in an effort to provide better results for student library searches.
The 2,500-student private school chose EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) for its intuitive interface and ability to deliver relevant results.
"EDS provides the 'best match' results when a student does a query, and these rich results help students select the best sources," said Mikail McIntosh-Doty, director of library services at Concordia, in a prepared statement. "We rely on relevancy ranking in EDS as well as using many of the features including discipline and scholarly peer-reviewed limiters, persistent links and citation format."
The service, renamed "Jump Start" by students, allows library staff to see which resources are being used by students and has been particularly useful in connecting students with library materials from off campus.
"Technology is the only way we can move students — from all across the state and beyond — from where they are to what they need. EDS helps us do that," added McIntosh-Doty. "Over a third of our students — those at centers across the state or in online programs — never enter our building, so having an almost 'intuitive' way to get good resources was very important."
The university plans to adopt EBSCO's Curriculum Builder, a plugin for learning management systems for creating and managing course reading lists, in the near future.
About the Author
Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].
