New List: WebCat-L (fwd)

[Peter Scott]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 27 Jan 1996 13:27:26 -0600 
From: Jeff Huestis <Jeff-Huestis at LIBRARY.WUSTL.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list INTERCAT <INTERCAT at oclc.org>
Subject: New List: WebCat-L 

In the past year or two, the client-server model of library public access
catalogs has moved toward a scenario in which the library delivers catalog
access to standardized clients, such as Web browsers, rather than to
proprietary library clients which the library must deploy and support, and
which may not integrate well with other applications on the user's
desktop. 

While the evolving Z39.50 standard will not become irrelevant, its primary
application is likely to be as it was originally conceived: communication
among dissimilar systems over wide area networks. Some system vendors may
choose to offer desk-top Z39.50 clients, but the most important
application of proprietary clients (Z39.50 or otherwise) would seem to be
for staff workstations.  While the ultimate nature and extent of HTTP/HTML
and Z39.50 coexistence and cooperation is not clear, various bodies
(including system vendors) have begun development of "Web-Z" interfaces
providing generalized gateway and access control functionality for both
local and remote library catalogs and databases. 

Several vendors (III, Sirsi, ALS, for instance) are packaging the overall
concept as a "webcat" or "webpac".  (Demos: 

   http://www.iii.com/screens/opacintro.html
   http://www.sirsi.com/webcattoc.html
   http://webpac.als.ameritech.com/
)

There seems to be an emerging awareness, even on the part of vendors, that
the webcat model presents a new functional paradigm, not simply an
interface mechanism to provide library catalogs with a presence on the
Web.  However, when one looks at the demonstration projects currently
accessible, it appears that this awareness is uneven. At the user
interface level, for instance, HTML documents or dynamically generated
displays sometimes look as if the developers were still working within the
limits of a 24 x 80 screen, rather than relying on the power of the most
popular browsers.  On the server end, related-record (and
record-to-electronic-document) linkages are starting to appear, but there
is much untapped potential, particularly in regard to the interpenetration
of document surrogates, documents, and non-bibliographic information
resources. 

System developers need to hear from the library community (both librarians
and their users) about what a WebCat should look like.  We need to hear
from each other.  I've looked for a list server or news group dedicated to
such discussion, and it appears that there is none. 

So I have set up a new list, called WebCat-L.  To subscribe, send a
message to ListServ at WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU and enter

   subscribe webcat-l <your name>

as the first line of the message.

The list is set up so that messages will be archived and retrievable via
the LDBASE program.  If it gets off the ground and actually starts showing
traffic, I plan to set up a hypertext archive (on a machine other than the
VM host where it currently resides.)

Jeff Huestis
Washington University
St. Louis, MO