Discovery tools: the only way to connect patrons to information?

As e-resources have become more important in libraries, new methods have had to be created in order to help patrons “discover” them. Most patrons do not understand the intricacies of library holdings, the OPAC, and how different “silos” of information are kept for different types of resources. Some of this can currently be explained by patrons expecting a “Google” experience from their library’s website or OPAC. Patrons expect to be able to enter their own natural language search phrase and get access to all types of resources, both print and electronic. Federated searching is one development which tries to tackle this problem. By searching multiple silos of information at once, the patron can get those varied sources s/he is looking for. 

Unfortunately, I do not believe as librarians we should accept technological developments such as federated searching as the only solution to helping patrons locate the resources they need. First of all, federated searching is usually not as detailed or accurate as searching multiple silos of information individually, so meanwhile, as kinks are worked out on the technical end, I think librarians should be focusing on other foundational things such as information literacy education. While this would probably not fall under the responsibilities of the ERM librarian, it cannot be denied that in order to best equip our patrons for their searches and need for information, we should teach them and encourage them to become even more discerning and expect more from their library searches and the resources they use. This can be done not only through collaboration with faculty in order to teach bibliographic instruction classes, but it can also be done through reference interactions or online tutorials about how to use library resources. 

Certainly I am not discounting the incredible usefulness and added value that technologies like federated searching have afforded library patrons, but in many respects, a successful search is the result of an intelligent searcher, and not the technology that carries it out. In the long run, patrons will be best served if we offer then great technological tools along with the proper skills and knowledge to use them.