College of Charleston Libraries announces the introduction of new, state-of-the-art search technology that will make finding what the library has to offer easier and more engaging than ever before. The new web-based search engine, called Encore, is similar in look and feel to current popular websites and will reveal content like media and e-books, suggestions of recently added or popular items, tags or reviews added by library users, faceted search results for easily modifying queries, and pathways to relevant websites and library databases. Encore is available on library workstations and remotely on the web at http://www.cofc.edu/library/.
Whether searching on a subject or a specific book or CD, users will be more likely to be able to find what they are looking for more easily than ever before. Encore will return items that are clearly listed by relevance and can be effortlessly expanded or refined according to publication date, branch or library, language, or subject as presented in a Tag Cloud. The Tag Cloud, which is found on websites like the Flickr photo-sharing service, helps users by presenting a grouping of words related to their searches that they can click to launch new queries.
According to James Williams, assistant dean of public services, “Encore provides highly sophisticated search results presented in a very simple way. We think everyone will find it extremely useful, whether you’re an undergraduate searching for information for a paper or a graduate student looking for in-depth research materials.”
Williams continues, “Now, for the first time, our users can easily move beyond the traditional online library catalog to a richer online discovery experience. You can get results that are expert without having to be an advanced user of an online library catalog.”
For more information, contact James Williams at 843.953.8015.
