Enhancing Discovery at the Georgetown University Law Library

Last summer the Georgetown University Law Library partnered with the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) to deploy a new library services platform, including an overhaul of our online catalog. Since then, library staff have been working hard to improve our data and take advantage of the new technology. Here are a few highlights.

External Repositories

The new platform makes it easier for the library to automatically include resources in addition to what is in the catalog. Users can now find information from our research guides, archives, manuscripts, Digital Georgetown, and the Georgetown Law Scholarly Commons.

Featured Collections

The library has great collections that enrich the lives of the Georgetown Law community. We have started highlighting some of them in the library search, starting with the Cool Stuff collection of chargers, tech gadgets, umbrellas, and other useful objects.

Recommended Resources

The new online search includes a number of features that users expect in 2019, including auto-completion and search suggestions. We have tuned this for Georgetown Law users, providing recommendations to help you find useful research guides, databases, and websites.

Microform Locations

It used to be that library patrons would have to visit our media room and leaf through a printed directory to figure out where to find things in our microform collection. But a little bit of computer programming and some insight gave us the power to add specific cabinet locations for our microform holdings.

Behind the Scenes

This article has pointed out some highly visible enhancements to the library search. There is also a lot going on behind the scenes to clean up and improve our data in the wake of last summer’s migration. For example, the Acquisitions team is working to make information about our print holding visible to patrons via the library search. This will allow users to better understand exactly what we have when it was updated.

Electronic resources are also a major focus. Expect continuous improvement as the library digs into this new platform and finds new ways to collaborate with our partners in the consortium.