[WEB4LIB] Maintaining Web catalogs?

[Janet Crum]

We've had a Web catalog, purchased from our library system vendor (VTLS), for
over a year.  It was generally easy to set up and requires minimal day-to-day
maintenance.  However, since our catalog is Unix-based, some knowledge of Unix
is necessary for any customization, as is some knowledge of HTML.  

Now for the questions to ask vendors.  You'll want to ask them what catalog
functions are available in the Web interface.  Is it just OPAC searching,
designed for end users, or are staff functions included?  Can you do all the
searches you can do in the "old-fashioned" OPAC--keywords, authorities,
browsing, etc.?  Can you limit by various criteria?  Truncation?  Proximity
operators?  Etc.  Are patron records accessible?  If so, is the security
adequate?  Can patrons change information in their records?  Can they
renew/place holds/etc.?

Display/Print/E-mail:  Can you display all information?  How about a MARC view? 
Can you format output especially for printing?  Can you e-mail search results? 
Can you mark and/or sort records for output?  Does the software display records
using standard HTML that can be easily handled by older browsers?  How well does
the catalog render in a text-based browser such as Lynx?  (Especially important
if you have lots of Lynx users or visually-impaired users who must rely on
text-based output only)   

Customizabilty: Can you customize the screens?  To what degree?  Can you
customize help files?

General user interface: Is the catalog easy to use?  Is it easy for novice users
to understand how to perform various functions?  Is there an expert mode for
library staff and experienced users?  If not, is the standard mode satisfactory,
or is it so clunky/slow/awkward that it will frustrate experienced users?

Of course, you'll also want to ask the standard questions you'd ask about any
library software--How much support is available, and at what cost?  Are there
any maintenance fees or upgrade fees?  Etc.

Just FYI, Sara Brownmiller (U of Oregon) and I did a conference presentation on
Web-based catalogs earlier this year.  An outline of the presentation is
available on the Web at
http://www.ohsu.edu/bicc-Library/staff/crumj/onlinenw98/online98.htm  I also
have a copy of the executive summary and my notes.  If anyone would like them,
just drop me a note, and I'll e-mail a copy.

Hope this helps. 


Janet





--------------
Janet Crum (http://www.ohsu.edu/bicc-Library/staff/crumj/)
Bibliographic and Database Services Librarian
Oregon Health Sciences University
Portland, OR