At Denver Public Library, WebFeat Prism makes database searching customer-friendly

Old Brookville, NY, April 6, 2004 - Making information more accessible to users - that was the goal of a recent initiative at Denver Public Library (DPL) that included a complete website overhaul and implementation of WebFeat Prism, the federated search solution for public, academic, government, and corporate libraries. According to Michelle Jeske, Manager of Web Development and Resource Sharing at DPL, "WebFeat gives our customers an easier way to access the variety of resources we make available online."

At Denver Public Library, there are 85 online databases covering a multitude of subjects. From the user's perspective, the problem is that each of the 85 resources has different information, a different interface, and different search functions. Most users cant begin to navigate the whole collection.

"Just as we have a variety of resources, we have a range of people who use them - people with very different needs," said Jeske. "The majority of our customers know what they want to search for but don't necessarily know where to find it, while our library staff and other power users have experience working deep inside the databases. To provide search capabilities appropriate to this diverse population, we worked closely with WebFeat to custom design a number of searching options within a single, easy-to-use interface."

The main entry into DPL's WebFeat system is the "Search for the Answer" page under Research Resources on the DPL web site (http://www.denverlibrary.org). By entering a search term in the Quick Search text box, customers do a federated search of the richest databases in the collection, including the Denver Public Library Catalog, Business & Company Resource Center, InfoTrac OneFile, Grolier Encyclopedias, and 12 others. Also on the "Search for the Answer" page, customers can select from a dozen database categories, including Business & Money, Jobs & Education, Health, and more. When a customer enters a search term on any of the category pages, the WebFeat federated search accesses the top 5 databases in that category as pre-selected by DPL librarians.

Alternatively, searchers can begin their work on the "Databases A-Z" page. Here, they can select available resources by clicking one or more check boxes beside database titles, enter their search term, and do a comprehensive federated search of any or all of the 85 resources. For expert searchers, the page also provides direct access to each database's native interface through the hot-linked database title.

Added Jeske, "The people at WebFeat have been attentive and have worked with us to help us reach our goals for customer service. As part of our WebFeat package, we also implemented the WebFeat Usage Tracker. In less than two months with WebFeat, we have seen a marked increase in database usage. We attribute this to the clear fact that WebFeat provides an intuitive way for our customers to get to the wonderful resources we provide for them."

About WebFeat
WebFeat (US patent #6,807,539) is the developer of the WebFeat Prism, used by over 1,500 leading public, academic, government and Global 1000 libraries and information centers—including over half of the top 20 largest U.S. public libraries and one out of every 10 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions.

WebFeat’s latest release, WebFeat 3, offers a suite of next-generation federated search tools, PRISM, the SMART™ COUNTER-compliant usage tracker, and MyWebFeat™ personalized federated search system. Originally founded in 1992 as an information technology consultancy, WebFeat has earned industry recognition from leading organizations such as the Gartner Group and Library Journal. Learn more about WebFeat at www.webfeat.org.