Liveblogging the Primo Webinar

I will continually be updating this post during the webinar. Tamar Sadeh is leading the seminar. If you miss the webinar, Ex Libris is archiving it.

• User expectations
  • Users expect sites like Google, Answers.com, Del.icio.us
  • Google ranking helps users find what they need quickly
  • Google provides links to resources that they think are unessential
  • These type of sites have high tolerance, spelling correctors, did you mean, etc.
  • Amazon has personalized results
  • Sites like Scirus let you drill down into results
  • Del.icio.us allows you to tag, offers alternative ways of viewing results.
  • Amazon suggests what similar items other users have viewed
• Facts about users
  • Users typically begin searching for information with a search engine, especially college users.
  • They believe this is so because
    • user information is outdated
    • information is not consolidated
  • Karen Calhoun of Cornell has called for change in OPACs
  • UCal says something similar

[Drat! I lost the feed. This thing takes forever to get back into!]

[Drat again. I can't get back in. No, wait, I am in. Just picking up where I came back in now.]

• Primo harvests information from several types of sources and is in one interface.
• It allows you to group similar items. You can ignore, view all, etc.
• Simple display. It has more curves than a 55 Chevy!
• Provides an interface where users can find, not just search.
• Will take users to homepage of online journals using SFX
• Integrates with DigiTool to provide images and digital repository content
• Can provide covers, tables of content in conjunction with Syndetics
• Can provide links to Amazon.com from OPAC (important for reviews, etc.)
• Allows for personal tags and allows you to see the tags the community used!
• Lets you drill down with a column on the right hand side (like clutsy or aquabrowser)
• Suggests different results and recommends different searches.
• Washes dishes, Bakes cornbread–no, wait. That's my beautiful wife Michele.
• Offers alternative items that appear to be only partially relevant (Think Google offering books or maps at top.)
• My buddy Paul is firing questions left and right at them already. I'm just a notetaker.
• Quick results and more results separated
• Paul says "Hi, everyone. I am the world's foremost authority on IM."
• EL believes social computing is important to users.
  • Primo has a view most popular tags page.
• A few words about Primo
  • focused on end-user. User centered design.
  • social nature enriches experience of user
  • Can be used with any type of digital repository, deep-linking service. Not just EL's products
  • Exposes hidden collections
  • It is a "total solution"
    • integrated
    • scalable
    • something else
  • Uses four layers to accomplish all this.
• Q&A
  • would it replace OPAC?
    • new paradigm. shift from OPAC. OPAC part of ILS. Primo is "decoupling front end from the back end." OPAC front end for lib collections. Primo finds all collections of all types.
  • What is relationship between Primo and Metalib?
    • Primo discovers local and digital content. Gives library option of discovering remote resources. Metalib finds remote stuff. Primo displays it. Primo doesn't search it like ML does.
  • Do you offer Primo in non-English interfaces
    • Yes. Several languages. French, German, Korean, and it is can be translated.
  • What technology is used? How resembles NCSU OPAC.
    • goal to be comprehensive product for delivering scholarly content. Not just a search engine. Has powerful publishing platform.
  • Do catalog and metalib searches have to be in separate tabs
    • Takes more time to get metalib results than local
    • remote sources not normalized
  • Will it work with other systems than MetaLib
    • plan to make it work well with ML.
    • Doesn't say that it will work with others.
  • When will it be available
    • One partner in Europe and two in US are testing.
    • One partner in US will launch next week.
    • Several offering to participate at different levels (Man, I want to be one of these. I've been blogging this thing to death. Throw me a bone!)
    • Will be released in first quarter of next year (2007) for several institutions.

Sorry, folks, I did miss a couple of things, but that is the gist of it all. I hope I missed nothing important.

Well, enough fun. Off to a staff meeting.