SAGE White Paper on Discoverability in the Twenty-First Century

Discoverability enables scholars to locate the content needed to advance their research and other creative activities. Improved discovery experiences require heightened collaboration among (1) scholarly publishers and their published authors; (2) search engine developers, database providers, abstracting and indexing services, and academic publishers; (3) electronic resource management and integrated library system vendors; and (4) librarians who advance institutional discoverability. To further exploratory cross-sector conversations, SAGE commissioned a White Paper, “Improving Discoverability of Scholarly Content in the Twentieth Century: Collaboration Opportunities for Librarians, Publishers, and Vendors,” released in January 2012. The research report presents highlights of interviews conducted from July to October 2011 with fourteen value chain experts. The White Paper also summarizes results of peer-reviewed publications and proprietary research studies to further characterize the currently fragmented discovery environment. In conclusions, the authors propose cross-sector conversations among publishers, vendors, and librarians to further visibility and, ultimately, usage of the scholarly corpus on the open Web and within library services. Discoverability Study In May 2011, SAGE commissioned a fourmonth research study which culminated in a White Paper released in January 2012 at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. The study was intended by SAGE to benefit “the community” of publishers, vendors, and libraries. Research project outcomes included: 1) discussion of best practices emerging in discovery and access of content in libraries; 2) identification of problems that publishers, librarians, and vendors need to resolve; 3) suggestions for some real solutions that can be implemented by librarians and publishers; and 4) further observations for improving discoverability and visibility of scholarly content in the 21st century. In addition to a review of published literature and commissioned studies, co-authors interviewed fourteen library, publisher, and vendor industry experts. This value chain ‘convenience sample’ was generated through a concluding interview question: Who else should we talk to, and what else should we read? So the list of authoritative interviewees and information sources “snowballed” organically. As reported in the SAGE White Paper acknowledgements, experts contributed insights from 1) scholarly publishers and their published authors and journal editors; 2) search engine developers, journal database aggregators, and abstracting and indexing (A&I) services; 3) electronic resource management (ERM) and integrated library system (ILS) vendors; and 4) academic librarians and library consortium leaders who advance institutional and multi-institutional discoverability. During the course of the study, “discoverability” was defined as scholars’ capacity to locate relevant content in the scholarly corpus as needed to advance their research and other creative activity.” Therefore, structured interview questions explored how publishers, libraries, and vendors could collaboratively advance improved discovery of the peerreviewed/quality-vetted content that academic publishers produce, libraries invest in, and scholars require at appropriate points in their research workflow. Analysis of detailed interview notes revealed that, in experts’ opinions, improved discoverability depends on a variety of strategic cross-sector strategies: • placing discovery acceleration tools in familiar Web environments, • detailed indexing for highly relevant and precise search results, and • seamless identification and fulfillment