Answered By: Nava Cohen -- PHSC
Last Updated: Jul 14, 2015     Views: 5079

According to the University of Georgia, discovery tools are a type of search engine. The following was taken from their website describing discovery tools.

WHAT ARE DISCOVERY TOOLS?

The library software and electronic content markets have been offering “Discovery “ tools for several years. These products are designed to provide a “Google”-like single-search experience of the world of library electronic resources, including the library online catalog, databases, ejournals, digital collections, and more.

Common Features of Discovery Tools Include:

  • Single search box
  • Consolidated index of bibliographic metadata from many sources
  • Fast, single set of results tailored to a library’s collections
  • Facets for easy search refinement by subject, author, type of material, and more
  • Recommendations
  • Bibliographic tools (folders, citations, persistent links)

Examples of Discovery Tool Brand Names and Vendors Include:

  • EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS)
  • Summon from Serials Solutions / ProQuest
  • Primo from Ex Libris
  • WorldCat Local from OCLC
  • Encore from Innovative Interfaces

Comments (1)

  1. Excellent and extremely helpful response!
    by Tressia Edwards on Oct 16, 2019