More on Summon

I learned a bit more about Summon by reading my fellow classmate's review of the discovery layer.  She commented in her summary that Summon provides libraries with social media integration and allows tagging.  As I did not identify these features during my review, I referred back to the University of Sydney Library's catalog for further exploration.  I immediately noticed social media links near the top of the page, and am left wondering how on earth I missed them before.  I was not, however, able to locate the option to tag an item or a list of tags associated with an item.  Perhaps my fellow student was referencing another catalog which made use of this feature.  I did discover that Summon allows for the use of QR codes, which is pretty cool and state of the art.  The QR code stands for the permanent link, or the permalink, of the mobile version of the webpage for a particular item.  This eliminates the need for patrons to go through the archaic act of writing down the physical location of the item, as they can simply read the QR code with their mobile device and take that with them on their search through the stacks.  Finally, Summon allows users to rate an item, which simulates Amazon's user reviews.  Here is a screen shot containing the features I have discussed (click on it for a larger view)...

Adding social media integration and user contribution to the list of features offered by Summon means that it actually rates a 10 1/2 out of 12... not bad at all.  Libraries have realized that in order to remain relevant in the current technological landscape, the searching experience must be simple and intuitive, and must produce relevant results that are easy to navigate.  It seems that discovery tools are, if rather slowly, rising to the challenge of meeting the needs and expectations of users.