Nina McHale (University of Colorado Denver) discussed the hype of federated search engines and discovery interface tools. These high levels of overblown expectation have led to consistent disappoint with the performance and lack of features of these systems, hence the title. [Unrealistic expectations, I might add.]
The lack of features is in comparison to the native interfaces that vendors provide with their databases. Over all performance relates to speed and the failure of functions such as limits on search results. And since many resources either because of vendor restrictions or because of licensing models (simultaneous users, fee per search), not all resources can be searched from within these technologies. These troubling features appear to be across the board, and not vendor or product specific. The extended search times in federated search engines also disrupt the flow of instruction sessions and reference transactions, and at times force a switch in pedagogy therein.
There seems to be a shared [mis]understanding among some reference and instruction librarians that discovery tools dumb down the research process by not supporting the use of controlled terms. Usability studies show, however, the weakness of assuming that users see the world the same way librarians do.
Some earlier implementation issues with these tools have improved dramatically, thus helping to reduce the frustration. Implementation times have improved drastically, as have de duping routines. These tools now also tend to integrate better with other tools.
Are discovery tools the holy grail? Certainly not. But they can and do serve a purpose in getting users to appropriate resources. After all, isn’t that what they are for? A used tool that is good enough is better than an unused one that is arguably more precise.
