Representation of Atypical Resources in the Discovery Layer: Metadata and Cataloging Aspects

The discovery layer is commonly used in libraries to provide a more “Google-like” experience that offers one-stop searching. The original selling point of the discovery layer was that journal articles could be retrieved as well as monographs. But as libraries have acquired many other formats, particularly non-print, the discovery layer has struggled to provide results that include these “atypical” resources. Metadata is crucial to the discovery layer because it is what is used for the search. The higher the quality of metadata, the better the retrieval results will be. NISO has provided a list of elements to be considered best practices when creating metadata for the discovery layer. Not everything a library has available can be found through the discovery layer. This is a particular problem for those items who have their metadata stored only in an institutional repository. These repositories are often not loaded into the discovery layer. Solving discovery layer retrieval problems will take all parties working together on solutions. Then all relevant results can be delivered, and fulfill the goal of “one-stop” searching.