Hilda C. Landers Library & Archives

  • About
    • Hours
    • Directions and Maps
    • People
    • Policies
  • Research Help
    • Get Research Help
    • Research Tools
    • Research Guides
    • Get Endnote
    • Cite your Sources
    • Subject Librarians
  • Services
    • Print, Scan, Copy
    • Computers and Software
    • Group Study Rooms
    • Accessibility
    • St. Mary’s Project Resources
    • Services for Faculty
    • Borrow, Renew, Request
    • Notary Public Services
  • Archives
Library & Archives > Musings > Discovery, but not so discoverable

Discovery, but not so discoverable

February 4, 2014 by Melissa Rushing

Image

OneSearch.  We like it a lot.  It’s the main search on the library website and will give you everything from journal and newspaper articles to books, images and DVDs.  It’ll retrieve anything it can find somehow related to your search terms.  It’s a great tool and time saver.

Despite all the positive things we have to say about OneSearch, we’re feeling a bit frustrated at the moment.  We always knew, and do our best to explain, the results in OneSearch would not include everything which the library owns or has access to. OneSearch provides a service.  It pulls results from the library catalog and databases in one search, on your behalf, so you do not have to search the catalog and databases individually.  In exchange for this service (and in order for this service to function properly and legally) the company which owns OneSearch, EBSCO, has signed licensing agreements with other database vendors and publishers.  The providers who do not agree to such terms do not participate in the service.  We knew about these agreements, always and from the beginning.

OneSearch is accessible from off-campus.  Students, faculty and staff members can search and must only authenticate into the system to access the full text of articles.  Members of the community can search our holdings and view citations, but not access licensed materials.  To borrow a book or read an article, a community member would have to physically come to the library.  This “guest access” is helpful to our community members who rely on our resources for their research needs, and to students from other academic institutions who also use our resources.

Something has changed in the licensing agreements. Now, some of the citations themselves are inaccessible and un-viewable to anyone off-campus unless that person authenticates using a network ID and password.  What does that mean?  Faculty, staff members, and students, have to login before being able to view all the results displayed.  It’s an extra step, but not any different from searching a database from off-campus.  Members of our community, however, can no longer search across our collection and view article citations from the databases while off-campus.  Essentially, OneSearch, which is designed to promote discovery and access, is now limiting that freedom and access and our patrons are suffering because of it.    What to do about it?  We’re not really sure yet.

Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: access, discovery, EDS, information access, OneSearch

Recent Posts

  • UPDATED Library Hours – Spring Break 2023 March 8, 2023
  • Library Winter Break Hours 2022-23 December 14, 2022
  • Library Hours – Fall 2022 Finals Week December 7, 2022
  • Library Hours – Thanksgiving Break 2022 November 14, 2022
  • Shauna Siggelkow on “Understanding the Great Replacement Network on YouTube” November 4, 2022

Categories

  • Announcements (2)
  • Archives (12)
  • Database Trial (8)
  • Events (52)
  • Exhibits (6)
  • Faculty and Staff Profiles (4)
  • Library Building (34)
  • Library Collection (60)
  • Library Ethnography Project (2)
  • Library Hours (54)
  • Library People (27)
  • Musings (34)
  • Services (31)
  • Student Employees (21)
  • Summer Reading (284)
  • Teaching & Education (2)
  • Web Resources (11)

Archives

Contact Us:

(240) 895-4264

ask@smcm.libanswers.com

47645 College Drive
St. Mary's City, MD, 20686-3001

Follow Us:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Follow Library News

  • Directions
  • Archives
  • Directory
Support the Library
St. Mary's College of Maryland, the Public Honors College
St. Mary's College of Maryland
47645 College Drive
St. Mary's City, MD, 20686-3001
(240) 895-2000

Next Steps

  • Request Information
  • Visit Campus
  • How to Apply
  • Discover Our Value
  • Virtual Tour

Just For You

  • Current Students
  • New Students
  • Parents
  • Faculty | Staff
  • Employment

Resources

  • InsideSMCM
  • Directory
  • Events | Newsroom
  • Hilda C. Landers Library
  • College Rankings
© 2023 St. Mary's College of Maryland Consumer Information Copyright Privacy Policy Campus Rights & Responsibilities Help Desk Website Feedback
National Human Trafficking Hotline 1-888-373-7888 BeFree Textline Text HELP to 233733 (BEFREE) More resources on human trafficking in Maryland