UCSF Launches New Cores Search to Support Researchers
With the goal of meeting a need identified by UCSF researchers — improving ways to connect to available services and resources, and to the facilities and people providing them — UCSF’s Research Resource Program (RRP) has announced the launch of a new UCSF Cores Search.
“We’ve made a big step forward in supporting investigators at UCSF,” said Julie Auger, executive director of the RRP. “This easy-to-use tool significantly improves the discoverability of the campus’ considerable resources.”
Since most UCSF users turn first to search engines to find resources, the new site is designed from the ground up to make core resources as discoverable as possible on popular search sites like Google or the UCSF.edu search engine, Auger said.
Features of the new search tool include:
- A focus on search engine optimization, and organization and presentation of information that makes resources appear near the top of Google searches (the majority of researchers interviewed for the project identified Google as their preferred search method);
- Resources now available under a wide variety of synonyms, allowing users to more easily find a resource;
- Two quick ways to find the right resource: a type-ahead search box, and an alphabetized category list for easy browsing;
- Search results listing the core facility’s campus location, relevant contact information, a link to the core’s website, and short definitions of instruments and services for context.
UCSF Cores Search is the result of a successful collaboration between the RRP and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), Auger said. Also noteworthy is that CTSI was able to build upon software and a common ontology from eagle-i, a popular open source system used to categorize and manage core data.
“This new capability to search for cores across campus adopts and extends the national standards, and in doing so prepares us to scale easily as our business models evolve,” said Mini Kahlon, PhD, CTSI deputy director and chief information officer.
The new Cores Search was a project of CTSI’s Virtual Home program, which promotes innovation in communications and technology to enable collaboration and efficiency in clinical and translational research and research administration. The new site replaces the previous CTSI-hosted Cores Search.