A web-siting at The University of Rochester

I was struck by several things on the home page of The River Campus Libraries of the University of Rochester
One was the cover flow display of a small selection of new books. It may not provide a very full experience but it is a nice hook and links to more. Another was the conveniently visible listing of libraries, opening times and notices in the upper right hand corner (although I was disappointed that the clock was not actually telling the time).
However, what prompts the blog entry is an aspect of the prominently featured search. There is a tabbed single box search of the type we are becoming increasingly accustomed. Tabs provide access to the catalog, to articles, and so on. Here is the Catalog search which is the current default open tab.

Note the additional suggestions on the right: ‘related links’. It points to additional resources of potential interest to somebody searching the catalog.
Here is the Course resources and reserves tab (can’t link direct to tab):

Here the ‘related links’ point to BlackBoard, and to information about copyright and placing course materials on reserve.
This is simple but useful – it places potentially useful materials unobtrusively in the workflow.
Incidentally, I was interested to see that they placed the catalog first. I wonder what drove this decision …..