Getting our patrons to use our online catalogs can be a challenge, making much of our collections invisible. This summer, PowerNotes unveiled the new “Library Search” feature (conceived by Richard Leiter). When the patron enables the Library Search feature and performs a search in Google or Google Scholar, a PowerNotes box will show the top ten results from the patron's library on the same page along with the Google search results. The library results and the “see all results” link takes the user straight to their library’s catalog. This feature enables libraries to highlight their holdings without having to do anything beyond instructing patrons to turn on the feature in their PowerNotes extension.
Along with making our collections more visible, the feature allows libraries to meet the users where they are (i.e., Google) and provide them with authoritative library resources directly from our catalogs.
How it works:
The Library Search feature currently works with the following discovery services: ExLibris Primo, ExLibris Summon, EBSCO EDS, and more coming soon. PowerNotes uses a unique read-only API key generated by the institution (for EBSCO EDS the API credentials are generated by EBSCO). Only authenticated users in our institution can use this feature. Currently the PowerNotes browser extension is the only way to use the Library Search feature and it is only compatible with Chrome and Firefox browsers.
Users must have the PowerNotes extension enabled for the search integration to run. Users can enable the Library Search feature and disable for 24 hours or disable indefinitely.
