Kenning Arlitsch and Patrick S. OBrien. Improving the Visibility and Use of Digital Repositories through SEO. Chicago: ALA TechSource, 2013. 128p. (ISBN 9781555709068). LCCN 2012-049197

With the increasing creation and use of institutional repositories (IRs), Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is necessary to draw users to digital collections. Arlitsch and OBrien provide useful information in their book, Improving the Visibility and Use of Digital Repositories through SEO, part of the LITA Guide series. In the first chapter, the authors clearly define SEO and why it is important for libraries. As students, faculty, and even donors are using services such as Google and Google Scholar as research tools, IR content needs to be indexed. The authors conducted informal research on findability in regard to IRs and the results were eye-opening, as they found very low information retrieval percentages in harvesting IRs. An important point mentioned in at least two chapters is that everyone in the library has a responsibility to users to make content openly available. For example , the second chapter is written from a management perspective and focuses on the responsibility of SEO as belonging to multiple parties. There is a focus on leadership using quantitative data from SEO analysis tools to communicate the value of IR services. A very good point made in chapter 3 is that, while a user may find the IR using a search engine, that user is not a " customer " of said IR until he or she actually accesses the IR site. Arlitsch and OBrien explore the IR as a marketable product that provides information access to users. Additionally, it is an open access service and has the potential to reach a worldwide audience. How search engines index content by means of crawling and indexing, difference between IRs and websites, the usefulness of sitemaps, and common problems that may impede crawlers' performance are also important topics covered. Chapter 4 contains technical information , but the authors contend that there are times when administrators need to be aware of SEO concepts and tools. Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools are just a few of the services available. It is also important for them to be aware that every decision made in implementing the tools will affect the organization's ability to identify problems and may also have an impact on reporting factors to stakeholders. Arlitsch and OBrien discuss search en-gines' free webmaster tools, which aid in analyzing IR indexing, and identify where crawlers run into problems. There are additional tools that assist in gathering other site statistics including visitor counts, country …