Aquabrowser, a Library Search Paradise?

So, what exactly is an Aquabrowser? Well, Medialab, the owner of the Aquabrowser product, has branded it as a “Library Search Paradise” and two libraries in South Carolina are finding out. Saluda County and Greenwood County have recently implemented the Aquabrowser with their TLC systems.

To get back to the original question, a library using an Aquabrowser (as opposed to the traditional ILS interface) uses associations, stemming and spelling alternatives to help patrons who may not be familiar with the best approaches to searching. It uses relevance ranking to build the associations based on your catalog data. But it doesn’t present your standardized headings. Instead it pulls out keywords and presents them on a search map.

The visual search map is the key to the Aquabrowser’s success so far. Otherwise, it might be just like all other OPACs. This visual map, usually to the left of the search results, presents each association and spelling alternative as an active search link. When you select the link, it changes the scope of your original search and updates the associations and word variations.

Something else to note about the Aquabrowser is that it’s not vendor specific. Right now it works with TLC and SirsiDynix’s Horizon system. However, Medialab claims that it can work with any ILS system that supports MARC or OAI based catalog standards. I think it’s very likely that we will start to see this offered as an add-on feature for several automation vendors before long. So, check it out. Below are a few links to Aquabrowser catalogs, including those in SC:

Greenwood County Library: http://207.232.138.34/aquabrowser/
Lexington Public Library (KY): http://search.lexpublib.org/
Queens Library (NY): http://aqua.queenslibrary.org/
Saluda County Library: http://www.saluda.lib.sc.us/aquabrowser/

Finally, check out this FAQ: http://www.aquabrowseronline.com/faq.aspx?cat=1

If you decide you are interested in this product for your library, contact your vendor to find out where they are on testing this product with their ILS system.