For the past several years academic libraries have been adopting discovery systems to provide a search experience that reflects user expectations and improves access to electronic resources. University of Houston Libraries has kept pace with this evolving trend by pursuing various discovery options; these include an open-source tool, a federated search product, and two index-based discovery systems. In our pursuit of better options for users and improved access to electronic resources, important criteria for evaluating discovery systems have been identified, as well as valuable lessons that may be applied during future system-evaluation processes and implementations.