Discovery
This section covers the management and administration of discovery solutions and content platforms.
The overwhelming majority of UK higher education institutions are now using some form of discovery layer as the primary means of resource discovery encompassing print and electronic resources. These ‘discovery services’ have largely replaced the library system OPAC. They may be supplemented by additional discovery tools including browser extensions. AI is beginning to be employed to enhance discovery capabilities. See the HELibTech AI page
Depending on the particular proprietary discovery solution used, discovery may be tightly integrated as part of a library vendor own library system. Other discovery solutions can work with a variety of library systems by harvesting the print library catalogue and integrating that with access to their own central index of electronic resources
Effective discovery is also dependent on authentication architecture. In many cases libraries will now integrate their chosen authentication solution with single sign on for ease of access. Authentication systems such as OpenAthens and Shibboleth are necessary components for managing access permission sets for different cohorts of users.
Section updated June 2025