(Not) connecting search engine users to library resources
Now that the many of the content kings we work with in the library world (publishers, aggregators, etc.) have begun to expose their treasures to the spidering efforts of Google et al., we're beginning to see searchers encounter this content locked down tight. If someone finds a great article on JSTOR, say, from a Google search (or more likely, a Google Scholar search), how can we in the library world help connect that person to the article. Here are the usual options:
- if the user is in the library itself (or on a college campus) IP authentication lets them right in if the user's library is a subscriber to that content
- if the user is savvy enough to have bookmarked their link resolver or, even better, downloaded and correctly installed a bookmarklet like OCLC's OpenURL Referrer (Firefox only) that helpfully provides a "find it" link next to the resource listing in search results, then the user can navigate the treacherous shoals between discovery and access (assuming that the library's info about access is up-to-date and accurate)
- the poor soul can ask a librarian for help (maybe the library has online or print access or is willing to ILL it)
FYI: I found Matrullo's post via David Weinberger's site, Joho the Blog. I'm eagerly awaiting for my ILLed copy of Everything Is Miscellaneous to arrive any day now.
Labels: access, databases, JSTOR, search engines