Electronic research databases provider EBSCO Publishing, US, has announced that Chadron State College has chosen EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) as part of its overall goal to improve information literacy. The college was looking to wean students off typical search engines while encouraging students to access valuable library resources by reducing the intimidation factor that searching the OPAC typically causes.
The goal was to provide students with a search system that offers the convenience they are accustomed to from searching online while delivering the rich resources they need to complete their assignments. Providing a single search experience and encouraging critical thinking to improve student assignments were additional factors that brought faculty support for EDS and a new required course. Customisation options available in EDS, including the ability to import Lib Guides, will allow Chadron State to further hone results to direct students to the highest usage materials available in a given subject.
The addition of EDS comes before the addition of Information Literary 101 to the course list. Information Literary 101 is a required course being introduced in the Fall of 2011. The information literacy course is designed to highlight resources like EBSCO Discovery Service, and also to teach students to be critical about the information they are receiving.
EBSCO Discovery Service creates a unified, customised index of an institution's information resources, and an easy, yet powerful means of accessing all of that content from a single search box. The EDS Base Index forms the foundation upon which each EDS subscribing library builds out its custom collection. Beginning with the Base Index, each institution extends the reach of EDS by adding appropriate resources including its catalog, institutional repositories, EBSCOhost and other databases, and additional content sources to which it subscribes.
The EDS Base Index is comprised of metadata from the world's foremost information providers. At present, the EDS Base Index represents content from approximately 20,000 providers in addition to metadata from another 70,000 book publishers.
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