Onion Patch(sm): New Age Public Access Systems

[Gerry McKiernan]

                     Onion Patch(sm)
               New Age Public Access Systems

   I am pleased to announce the formal establishment of
Onion Patch(sm), a Web-based clearinghouse devoted to projects
research, products and services that support or demonstrate
alternative approaches to Second Generation OPACs and current
online public catalogs and indexes. Onion Patch(sm) also includes
descriptions of novel visual interfaces that have features that
potentially can enhance these access systems. The URL for
Onion Patch(sm) is:

    http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/Onion.htm

   Among the systems profiled in the new, experimental
Web-based catalog of the Library of Congress, a system that
provided direct access to all types of cataloged objects,
Cheshire II, the innovative effort of Ray Larson and his
team at Berkeley,and SuperPAC, the extraordinary vision of
the future OPAC conceived by Trudi Jacobson and Lynne Martin
that is now being realized in various WEB-PACs.

    I would greatly appreciate learning of similar efforts,
both commercial and experimental. I will be reviewing the
offered by the major library vendors over the coming weeks
for possible inclusion in Onion Patch(sm) but would greatly
receiving nominations for review from the vendors themselves or
from satisfied customers. I am particularly interested in
Web-Cats as well as those systems that provide access to
mixed-media.

    I am particularly interested in novel systems that make
use of advanced information visualization systems similar
to those that I have profiled in a new and expanded version
of _The Big Picture_, my clearinghouse devoted to IV and
Web and non-Web resources accessible at URL:

     http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/BigPic.htm

    I'd also appreciate recommendations of appropriate seminal
works for inclusion in the Onion Patch(sm) General Bibliography.
I am aware of the work of Larson, Hildreth, Borgman and Bates,
and others, but would appreciate learning of personal favorites
of these and other innovative NewPAC thinkers

    As always, any and all reactions, critiques or suggestions
are welcome.

    Regards,

Gerry McKiernan
Curator, CyberStacks(sm)
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011

gerrymck at iastate.edu
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/

         "A Third Generation OPAC Should Be 'Usable at Sight'".