There are too many to go through them searching for something. I recently went to Adam Matthew for the first time, but only something, if memory serves a WorldCat result, sent me there. Deisenbe (talk) 11:12, 26 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I usually stick to the libraries I know, too. Mostly because I know that they give me the most efficient outcome. I'd like to discover other collections and sometimes I scroll through the Library card platform to see which collection could fit, but the tags are rather unspecific and therefore not that helpful. Sometimes, a collection might be holding one specific piece of information for me, but I would need to apply - which I don't do if I'm not sure that I will use it regularly, of course. I tried maybe once or twice other collections than my usual ones and found some rather interesting additional information, but the "cost-benefit-ratio" seemed rather low to me: I had to adapt to the GUI, see which kind of search works best, etc. --Fuchs B (talk) 12:48, 26 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I find that some text that I want to use is inaccessible through ordinary Web use. So then I try to find the otherwise inaccessible database through its possibly corresponding member in the Wikipedia Library. Larrykoen (talk) 15:18, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
When I am not able to find sources for an article I am writing on The Internet Archive, then I search for them here. I'm not familiar with any of those libraries. --ValeJappo【〒】15:24, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
As my research focuses on women and they have typically been obscured in the historic record, I search anything and everything, often relying on the Resource Exchange for access to things I cannot otherwise access. SusunW (talk) 15:36, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I have a fair amount of experience doing research so I am familiar with most of the products in the Wikipedia Library (and can easily explore the ones I'm not) and so I know which databases are likely to contain information about most topics I explore. On occasion I will come across a paywalled article (perhaps academic, perhaps just from a magazine archive) I then need to see if I can find in a database. That tends to be more of a trial and error process for me. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 15:45, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
If I know that the information I am looking for is contained in one database, I will go to that. On occasion, I browse other databases in order to see what content they have. What I would find particularly useful is an index of all resources and which database includes them; it can be very difficult to look through all databases to find a particular journal. RolandR (talk) 16:20, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I mostly just use one, newspapers.com, for the subjects I'm researching. The 26 other "Instant access" ones I have access too I don't use much as the icons and names mean little too me. It would be nice to have descriptions and to be able filter those by tag like on the apply section. I sometime use HeinOnline but find most search results just say I don't actually have access so usual a waste of time. KylieTastic (talk) 17:48, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@KylieTastic: Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Regarding HeinOnline, it sounds like something might not be working as intended there. Could you provide some examples of content you've tried to access but weren't able to? I'll look into this. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 11:11, 11 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Samwalton9 (WMF): NP - for instance I search for "William A. Smith" and the first result when opened then goes to a page that says "Not Subscribed Your institution does not subscribe to Bar Journals.". Sometimes it can be the majority of results like this, and I can;t find how to filter these out nor is it obvious from the results so you just have to try and open. I had just assumed it was one of those deliberate annoyances to try to get you to subscribe to more. Cheers KylieTastic (talk) 22:28, 11 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
So far I did only one first "run" through the library. I browsed through nearly all the journals and stopped at the ones that interest me, mainly history, cultural sciences and military. After I got a first overview I bookmarked the direct links to the journals that seem to be valuable and downloaded some of their newer essays in pdf-format. Now I'm in the process of reading these round about 800 essays. I'm planing to monitor those bookmarks regularly in the future to stay up to date with new essays. On two or three occasions I also used the search tool at some of the bigger collections, like JSTOR, to find sources for my work on articles that was not initially triggered by articles from the library. Probably the later approach will increase in my future work. Asdrubal (talk) 19:27, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Both, in fact. First, I took the time to have a deeper look into and explore those databases that caught my eye, and I was impressed again and again by the content I found there. Then, I searched the collections I needed straight ahead. I have a background in using digital library collections and catalogues.--Aschmidt (talk) 21:34, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I have not yet used the library as a primary search location. I usually do research in specific databases and books or jpournals, and only switch to the library when I become aware of an article that is only accessible via Jstor, Ebsco, etc. A cross-platform search tool would be helpful and would then be used more often by me.--Der wilde bernd (talk) 12:51, 6 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I just only the collections I know the most, such as JSTOR and EBSCO, or Nature for example. This tool would be very useful and could help many users including me. --Ján Kepler (talk) 14:40, 6 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I mostly use just the ones I recognise (which is very few). If I have more time I explore a couple of other collections to get an idea of what's there. I'm a novice user of the Library so I need to learn what's out there. Redwidgeon (talk) 19:50, 6 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I'm a heavy user of Newspapers.com but I also use ProQuest, Ebsco, Gale and others at the time. I find Ancestry of great use. I've been editing here for a while and I want to take this opportunity to thank the Library team for doing a great job of attracting such fine-quality databases! They rival what's available for faculty at some universities. Neat job. I have further thoughts I'll share below. And yes I would like to try new databases. Coretheapple (talk) 18:35, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I use the collections I know, JSTOR and EBSCO, but have had extreme frustrations in trying to find sources for medical data. Some of the medical collections are hopeless to search. I appreciate access to all the Oxford collections, I find them a breeze to fly through. I have dipped my toe in other collections in the Bundle, and would return when I have the need. I do appreciate the Bundle logo on collections; this is most useful. Whiteguru (talk) 21:09, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I just recently discovered the "Library Card Platform" and I didn't have the chance to actually use it for research. I'm familiar with only a few of the databases and would stick to these (until I have a better understanding of the other platforms).--Franky Fusion (talk) 14:00, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Most of the time I stick to the ones I already know. Trying out other ones is quite time consuming, since (if you don't the new one) it is not possible to even sense what is there to find. Maybe besides a global search being able to save some own remarks for the different libraries would help too. --Mirer (talk) 06:15, 9 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Due to time constrains, I'm currently approaching the platform on a per need basis. So while I might stick to the familiar with typical queries, less common ones, plus my curiosity, take me to the rest. Assem Khidhr (talk) 09:39, 9 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Would you use a cross-publisher search tool instead of going to specific publishers' websites?[edit]
Anything at all that makes searching easier would be an improvement. Typically, I cannot even find what I want on WP unless I do a web search and find there is an article on the topic. How things are titled on WP in general is not intuitive for me. SusunW (talk) 15:38, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, as in the scenario above where I am trying to find a specific article. I am less likely to use it when I'm conducting general research as the results could be overwhelming and make it harder to find the articles of value for me (especially because databases have their own peculiarities in how to most effectively search which an integrated search isn't going to be able to adjust). Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 15:47, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Temp3600: Just to clarify, we're not building a tool or trying to reinvent any wheels here, we're integrating an existing piece of (well-used) software and collecting feedback mostly to ensure we've got it configured and designed in a way folks will find useful. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 16:03, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Certainly! Most of the publishers are so broad that when seeking information on topic so many seem relevant. Though I don't think you could build a tool for all publishers given their specialities i.e Ancestry. Qazwsx777 (talk) 16:57, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Depends on how it is done. If you can select just some sources then maybe, but if just a general search on all I think for my work it would mostly turn up too many false matches. For instance on newspapers.com I usually have to filter by location and date range and then play with spelling variants of names, so I cant see a large cross search working. If researching subjects that are non-location based and/or with more unique names/terms I can see it would be very useful, but I just haven't used the library that way (yet). KylieTastic (talk) 17:56, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Definitely! But you should be able to select languages and at least groups of sources e.g. scientific journals, monographs, general newspapers. Asdrubal (talk) 19:30, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I was just wishing for that ability this week. I don't know what platform to search... I want to search all just in case.
Not would not use a cross-platform tool instead, but side-by-side or vis-à-vis a particular platform. A one tool would not replace the other, is would be a complement.--Aschmidt (talk) 21:37, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Yes! Please add a search. Sometimes I am hard-pressed to figure out quickly what databases contain what sources. If I am looking for Publication X I am sometimes stymied. Coretheapple (talk) 18:37, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Sure! Not only is it more convenient for well-established users, but it can serve an educational cause for newcomers by showing them differential coverage and thus helping pick the appropriate sources for their thematic interests. Assem Khidhr (talk) 09:35, 9 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Absolutely. This would be a huge efficiency. Right now my workflow for looking for articles is something like 1) check EBSCO, 2) check Gale, 3) check ProQuest, 4) check JSTOR. A proper search tool would simplify this workflow to 1) check search tool. I think this is a great idea and I very much look forward to its rollout. –Novem Linguae (talk) 23:33, 25 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Do the user stories capture what you want from this feature? Is anything missing?[edit]
Yes, they do. For me all, but the fourth. User story five reminds me of my bad conscience, as most of the TWL sources are behind a paywall for the majority of readers and the automated references in de:WP seem to advertise Berg Fashion Library - see this article, that I wrote with a lot of TWL sources. I was even kind of "called out" for the "annoying formatting of the references with templates" I used in this article. I assume they meant ref. 8 or 14. Rather off-topic, I know, but so that you get the whole picture. Best --Fuchs B (talk) 13:12, 26 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
3 would be absolutely amazing. I find it frustrating to search for something like "nationality of married women" and have results returned on voting or marriage requirements. For me, they all would be helpful, except 4, really doesn't apply. SusunW (talk) 15:48, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I am very interested in number 6. I am sorry I haven't had time to explore the EBSCO tool in depth yet. But one resource I keep checking to see if it was added to the WP library/platform is some kind of access to the HathiTrust library. Warshy (talk) 16:37, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I subscribe to those statements, they are more or less complete, while # 3 and 5 probably describe best my research priorities. I strongly recommend to include Open Access repositories as indexed by https://www.base-search.net/ which is an excellent platform included in many discovery services. On the other hand, https://core.ac.uk/ provides full-text search results, albeit not as comprehensive as BASE. An integration of platforms such as Europeana, Trove, or DP.LA and archive.org would also be fine.--Aschmidt (talk) 21:42, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Aschmidt: Just a quick confirmation that in addition to indexing the publishers we have partnerships with, we'll be returning results from major open access repositories like BASE. Additionally, we've integrated the Unpaywall app, so free-to-read links should also be shown where possible. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 11:15, 11 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Stories 1, 2 & 4 resonate most strongly with me. Like the author of story 4, I would really appreciate some help (e.g. a tutorial or 2, maybe some volunteer mentors?) to help me make the most of the Library. Redwidgeon (talk) 19:50, 6 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It would take time I have other uses for just to go through those pages and figure out specifically what those apps do. Give us suggestions. Deisenbe (talk) 11:14, 26 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Great point @Deisenbe:, here are a few we considered:
OCLC: Nearby and Affiliated Libraries which would allow you to investigate whether a local library contained a particular item. This might be helpful if we only have an abstract for an item but the full (or original) version is accessible locally.
OpenSearch XML would provide an option for setting the default search for your browser to this one.
Too Many, Too Few Research Assistant which would allow us to present some guidance in the case that either a very large or very small number of results are presented. I don't know what exactly we would include here for either case.
Keep in mind that while these all sound like potentially useful features, each is another element to the interface which might confuse users or go unused. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 13:59, 26 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I constantly use the world cat feature "ask a librarian" to have chapters or articles sent to me digitally. Because I live in a place with no interlibrary loan or check out to the general public (libraries are private and open to members only), anything that tells who might have material is helpful. As I said above tailored searching options would be very helpful. (And as a side, but no less important issue, have we ever figured out access to All Africa or the Associated Negro Press news archival services?) SusunW (talk) 15:54, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Any tool that helps me tranfer my research results into Wikipedia articles and into my literature reference tool Zotero would be welcome.--Aschmidt (talk) 21:46, 5 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
