Federated Searching: Do Undergraduates Prefer It and Does It Add Value?

C. Jeffrey Belliston is Chair, General Information Services, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University; jeffrey_belliston@byu.edu. Jared L. Howland is Electronic Resources Librarian, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, jared_howland@byu.edu; and Brian C. Roberts is Process Improvement Specialist, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University; brian_roberts@byu.edu. Abstract Randomly selected undergraduates at Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University Idaho and Brigham Young University Hawaii, all private universities sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, participated in a study of federated searching. This paper reports the study results including differences in time spent between searching databases in federated and non-federated fashion, satisfaction with citations gathered using each method, preference between methods, and quality of citations retrieved by each method judged by two different rubrics. Undergraduates rated their satisfaction with the citations gathered by federated searching 6.5 percent higher than their satisfaction using non-federated search methods. Additionally, 70 percent of undergraduates at the participating schools prefer federated searching and saved time using a federated search compared to a non-federated search. Which search method yields higher citation quality was ultimately indeterminable. The study sheds light on assumptions about federated searching and may interest librarians in different types of academic institutions given the diversity of the three institutions studied.