Hi all,
I sent a question to the list regarding catalog overlay products and was
asked to summarize for the list. Here is the pertinent information I
received. Thanks for sharing your insight!
* I know that Yale Law uses Endeca, and that Syracuse University
is in the process of implementing Endeca.
* We are going with Ex Libris' Primo. We looked at Endeca,
Interwoven's OEM of Vivissimo, and Encore. Endeca was excellent (and I
like how it's been implemented at NCState) but, as a special library, we
weren't sure it was overkill. The Interwoven product was not really a
catalog overlay but was supposed to replicate a similar function; I
don't think it does. Since we're all Ex Libris (Voyager, Digitool)
otherwise, we decided to stay with a known quantity.
Another alternative you might consider would be the Extensible Catalog
(http://www.extensiblecatalog.org/ <http://www.extensiblecatalog.org/>
) which looks like a very solid open source product, that we would have
considered if we weren't such a small library. A University IT staff
may be able to provide a greater deal of support.
* At Duke Law Library we are using Endeca over our Ex Libris
Aleph OPAC. This was not our decision. We share an ILS with our main
library. It's working OK, although there are some functions that we were
able to perform in our "classic" catalog that we can't perform in the
Endeca version. Placing a hold on a book or requesting one, must be
done in the "classic" catalog. Our IT staff is working to modify this.
Many librarians don't like the way items are displayed. Some of the
searches that were previously possible can no longer be done. Many of my
colleagues here in the law library still use the "classic" catalog,
rather than the Endeca enhanced version to search for materials. Some
Endeca enhanced catalogs, like the one at NC State Univ. work very well.
But they use Sirsi as their ILS. Our problems probably stem from the
fact that Endeca and Aleph don't "play nicely" together. A lot of
tweaking has been and continues to be done to make the catalog work. If
I can be of any further help, please let me know.
Cindy Bassett
Cynthia Bassett
Electronic Services Librarian
School of Law Library
University of Missouri
bassettcw@missouri.edu <mailto:bassettcw@missouri.edu>
573.884.9150
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