OPAL Updates and Tips

April 2022 OPAL IDEA Exchange: Unpacking the New EBSCO PFUI and EDS

Discussion Highlights

New Publication Finder (PFUI)

The new interface features more browsing options and loads information previously available on multiple layers of the platform onto one screen, streamlining access.

• For the new PFUI, search results can be filtered by relevance or by title. Classic PF only allows you to sort FTF results alphabetically by package name or collection. The new PFUI allows you the additional option of also sorting the list by coverage date (most expansive is listed first). This was referred to as “ranking” during the discussion, but the sorting is actually the functionality referred to in EBSCO's introductory video and controlled via the bottom branding options.
• Your existing print holdings packages configured in Holdings Management should still be showing up in new PFUI. It's only the search interface that has changed. The resource results returned are still dependent on your Holdings Management and FTF settings.
• Similarly, article level links, sharing, and other options are accessible once you click all the way through to the title from the results options.
• According to EBSCO, "A selected pre-search filter is only applied when running a keyword search using the search box. They are not applied when using the Publications, Database, or Subject browse options," meaning the filter won't stick if you run a search and then click over into the Subject browse section.

New EDS

Development on this new product is ongoing and evolving. Expect significant changes over the next few months. Here's what we currently know:

• Your preview link reflects the first result page that comes up after your EDS is searched. There will be some customization options available  (similar to what you control in classic EDS). We're waiting to hear more from EBSCO about how much control institutions will have in terms of navigation and placement of various sections on the page.
• You can see an example of a more built out, new EDS at West Virginia University. Their "Report a Problem" link is a custom link based on a version of EBSCO's new ILL form.
• The search boxes on your websites will need the old EDS URL replaced with the new. There may also be some additional adjustments necessary and we'll let you know what you might need to watch out for as we start testing some of these.
• The next generation EBSCO admin is expected to become available in July 2022. This will contain some of the admin functionality for the new EDS platform, including the app integrations for Springshare and LMS systems.
• Each institution will have 12 Supplemental Source links available to configure as needed (Proquest, Lexis Uni, Overdrive etc.)
• It looks like EBSCO is starting to add catalog search results (both local and OhioLINK) to the new EDS, although they are not yet appearing in the EDS preview results for everyone who has the catalog(s) selected in their classic EDS configuration.
• Not much appears to have changed in terms of how the platform displays catalog results i.e. it's still difficult to differentiate between local items and OhioLINK holdings. Another library's items can be shown first with your own institution's holdings collapsed and listed farther down, meaning your users may not see your item(s). For that reason, you may want to consider whether or not you would like to continue to include the OhioLINK catalog in your new EDS search results. 
• If you haven’t changed to the new PFUI by the time you migrate to the new EDS, the upgrade will also automatically trigger a transition to the new PFUI.
• Any custom folders will not be ported over. Signing into an EBSCO account will continue to be required to save items and make use of the dashboard functionality. 
• Migration to the new EDS may involve upgrading to the new 2.0 ILL forms. EBSCO is checking on this. 

• The EDS Roadmap is expected out in early May. We recommend taking a look at that as it becomes available and seeing how their timeline matches up with the functionality you feel is critical as you consider when to transition. 

Preparations

Things you can do to get ready:

• Make sure the packages selected in your Holdings Management accurately reflect your entitlements and check their links. URL changes to free publisher content, forgetting to have new titles/packages added to your proxy, or discontinued subscriptions are common sources of broken links.
• When off-campus access for Open Access or free publisher site titles results in an EZprozy error message along the lines of "To allow [URL] to be used in a starting point URL" you may need to change the proxy server option to "none" (at the title or OA package level only). 
• Work through EBSCO's Health Check checklist to optimize your users' experience with your EDS.
• Log into EBSCO Connect to access the EDS Transition Center. This is where you can actively start your transition and explore the new interface. Note that the new EDS URL generated there should be the same unique OPID URL we sent you.
• Run an Interface Usage Report to learn more about how your users search and which of your EBSCO profiles are most heavily used (EBSCOadmin > Reports & Statistics > Standard Usage Reports > select Interface Usage from the pull down options). In the future you will be able to hide profiles you don't want to have accessible. For now, you can reorder them to place unwanted profiles on the bottom of the page. 

Resources, tips and updates to ease the transition to the new PFUI and EDS will continue to be added to the EDS section of the OPAL website.

If there are groups of institutions that want to make the transition together, we can certainly help facilitate that, assist with configuration questions and arrange for training. 

Whenever you do decide to change over to the new PFUI or EDS, please let us know so that we can check integrated systems to make sure catalog files sent to EBSCO continue to be processed correctly and make any other necessary adjustments. It also helps us be prepared in terms of troubleshooting.