A MAP for the library portal: through the labyrinth of online information sources

Abstract

In as little as 25 years, online information provision has been transformed. This has largely been uncontrolled, yet the resources now available offer rich returns for the data-hungry end user. Increasingly, many users require their information immediately and really do not care where it is stored. Such demands, coupled with librarians’ natural tendency to apply order, have led to the development of library portals which aim to solve the problems arising from trying to navigate this labyrinth of information. The MAP portal is one such product. Using the NISO OpenURL standard, MAP offers three main elements – contextual linking via WebBridge, one step “multi” searching using MetaFind and resource authentication through Web Access Management (WAM). Use of this portal at the University of Exeter Library has made a considerable, positive impact on the recent use of online full-text systems and services and the experiences undoubtedly point to a strong future for such interfaces everywhere.