The migration of traditional online academic and public library catalogs to
the notion of "discovery platforms" promises new ways to expose library
collections and other resources tailored to individual patron needs. For
patrons, this personalized search and discovery experience can encompass
functions and tools unheard of just a few years ago, such as powerful
faceted searching tools and tagging, and can provide a collaborative portal
for social media and other online scholarly community initiatives. For
libraries, the discovery platform can provide an efficient method for
maximizing the use of and investment in its online resources.

NISO's November webinar, New Discovery Tools: Moving Beyond Traditional
Online Catalogs-to be held on November 9, 2011 from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.-will
explore the areas of the discovery platform marketplace, selection and
implementation strategies, and usability.

Topics and speakers are:

. A Web Scale Discovery Refresher - Athena Hoeppner (Electronic Resources
Librarian, University of Central Florida Libraries) will put web-scale
discovery systems in context by reviewing the core concepts and terminology
and looking at the major systems side-by-side.

. Usability Testing of Discovery Interfaces - Rice Majors (Faculty Director
for Libraries IT/Librarian, University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries)
will share data about the methodology and results of his own research: a
task-based usability test of vendor-provided next-gen catalog interfaces and
discovery tools (Encore Synergy, Summon, WorldCat Local, Primo, and EBSCO
Discovery Service).

Registration is per site (access for one computer) and includes access to
the online recorded archive of the webinar for one year. Can't make it on
the webinar date/time? Register and watch the recorded version at your own
convenience. NISO and NASIG members receive a member discount and there is
also a student discount available.

For more information and to register, visit the event webpage:
http://www.niso.org/news/events/2011/nisowebinars/discovery/

This webinar is sponsored by CrossRef (www.crossref.org).

Cynthia Hodgson
NISO Technical Editor Consultant
National Information Standards Organization
Email: chodgson@niso.org
Phone: 301-654-2512